The House is scheduled to vote next week on a measure slamming President Biden for advocating an ";immediate ceasefire"; in Gaza in a call with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.Why it matters: The vote threatens to resurface the stark divisions between the pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian factions of the House Democratic caucus.It';s the latest in a series of Israel-related wedge votes House Republicans have held since Hamas'; Oct. 7 attack.Driving the news: The three-...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought to clarify his stance on the Jan. 6‚ 2021‚ Capitol attack‚ saying he believes both the Democratic and Republican parties are equally at fault for fanning the flames of partisanship over the issue‚ as scrutiny grows over the independent candidates views on the subject.Both establishment parties are using J6 to pour fuel on the fire of Americas divisions‚ Kennedy said in a Friday statement. Each side claims that a victory by their opponents means the end of...

Russia is being abandoned by its key allies amid tightening U.S. sanctions imposed in response to the war in Ukraine.Recent moves by a number of Russian President Vladimir Putin';s longtime allies‚ including China‚ Turkey‚ the United Arab Emirates‚ and India‚ suggest they are becoming more cautious of U.S. secondary sanctions.A number of large banks in China have stopped accepting payments from sanctioned Russian financial institutions‚ and banks in Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are no longer...

The U.S. CDC on Friday issued a health alert to inform clinicians‚ state health departments and the public of a case of avian influenza in a person who had contact with dairy cows presumed to be infected with the virus.The farm worker from Texas was reported to be infected on April 1‚ making it the second case of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza‚ commonly known as bird flu‚ identified in a person in the United States.It follows a 2022 case in Colorado‚ and comes as the virus is...

Billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk accused Reuters of lying after the outlet reported on Friday that Tesla scrapped its plans to make low-cost electric vehicles and will focus on developing robo-taxis.Reuters‚ which cited multiple anonymous sources and company messages‚ wrote that Tesla was abandoning its promise to begin producing cheaper EVs as soon as 2025. After the report was published‚ Teslas stock dropped by as much as 6.2% before it began to make a small climb back toward where it...

All 371 locations of the 99 Cents Only stores are shutting down‚ with company executives blaming the difficult decision on such causes as inflationary pressures.The company‚ which opened its first location in 1982‚ boasts of having the lowest price guaranteed on its website. That claim is soon to be no more‚ with the operators announcing Thursday that liquidation sales will begin Friday.An official press release said an orderly wind-down of its business operations is starting...

Millions of bags of laundry pods are being recalled because the packages aren';t child resistant and could pose a serious risk‚ a federal safety regulatory agency warned Friday.The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warning covers 8.4 million Proctor and Gamble Tide Pods‚ Gain Flings‚ Ace Pods and Ariel Pods liquid laundry detergent packets packaged in flexible film bags that were distributed in the United States.The recalled products have been sold at major retailers...

Parenting is the most important job that most people will ever have in life. Your decisions as a parent will be some of the most important determining factors in whether your child becomes a happy and productive adult or not. It';s a huge responsibility.Parenting is a difficult and important undertaking‚ but many parents simply repeat the same strategies used by their parents. How often do we hear people rationalize their decisions by saying‚ ";That';s what my parents did and I came out OK.";This approach to raising children negates the fact that with every generation there are countless studies done on child development‚ many of which run counter to popular parenting wisdom from the past.Dr. Kristyn Sommer‚ who has a PhD in child development‚ has received a lot of attention on social media because of her dedication to teaching ";evidence-based parenting."; This expertise has made her an advocate for strategies that run counter to conventional parenting wisdom and have stirred up a bit of controversy.Here are five TikTok videos where Sommer shares some of her evidence-based parenting strategies. @drkristynsommer Play &;gt; rote learning for toddlers #playbasedlearning #learningthroughplay #playmatters #earlylearning #earlychildhoodeducation #preschool #toddler original sound - DrKristynSommer Three Things I Do Differently as a Mum with a PhD in Child DevelopmentIn Dr. Sommer';s first video where she references her degree she admits she refuses to sleep train‚ co-sleeps with her daughter‚ and never calls her ";naughty"; or ";bad."; She delves deeper into her thoughts on discipline in the next video.How To Discipline Your Child So They Actually LearnDr. Sommer uses positive reinforcement to discipline her child and as she said in the previous video‚ avoids the use of terms such as ";naughty"; or ";bad."; If her daughter is doing something wrong she asks her to contemplate whether she';s making a good or a bad decision.How to Handle TantrumsMost people tend to think of a tantrum as naughty behavior. However‚ they are actually a combination of a bunch of little stresses that the child has experienced throughout the day that eventually overwhelm them. Once they hit the tipping point‚ all of their big feelings bubble up to the surface‚ resulting in a healthy expression of emotion.Should You Spank Your Child?Dr. Sommer is passionately against ";spanking‚ corporal punishment‚ physical punishment‚ what ever you want to call it."; She says it needs to stop because it has little effect on behavior and can lead to antisocial tendencies in the future.She Doesn';t Teach ABCs and 1‚2‚3sDr. Sommer isn';t worried about teaching her child her toddler alphabet or how to count. She says that it ";doesn';t really help them with anything"; but they should spend that time playing because that';s where they learn best.@drkristynsommerPlay &;gt; rote learning for toddlers #playbasedlearning #learningthroughplay #playmatters #earlylearning #earlychildhoodeducation #preschool #toddlerThis article originally appeared on 08.03.21

Recently a TikTok user who goes by Jahelis went viral for claiming Saturday Night Live has never hired a hot woman during the entire run of its show. Well‚ the ladies of SNL caught wind of Jaheliss insensitive remarks‚ and lets just say theyre having the last laugh.In the nearly four minute video‚ Jahelis clarifies Im not saying that every single woman who has been a cast member on SNL is ugly. Its just that none of them have ever been‚ like‚ hot. They all just kind of have looks that eventually grow on you.She then proposed the theory that this is because society cant accept that super beautiful women can also be funny‚ followed by a slew of out-of-touch observations to seemingly prove this her pseudo-analysis.Jahelis first pulled up a picture of Heidi Gardner (whom Jahelis couldnt even name) claiming Gardner often plays the super hot and super dumb girl in sketches‚ even though no offense‚ shes not that pretty.Jahelis surmised this must be because I guess technically the most conventional hot female on this cast. @jahelis Hoepfulky at least one person out there understands what Im trying to say #kristinwiig #palmroyale #appletvseries #snl #snlwomen #mayarudolph #jimmyfallon original sound - Jahelis To really drive her point home‚ Jahelis then went on to note that Jimmy Fallon‚ Andy Sandberg‚ Jason Sudeikis even Bowen Yang as relatively hot men‚ as if to suggest this injustice of hiring average looking people was one-sided.But hey‚ at least she conceded that Maya Rudolph was really beautiful. Sadly‚ while Kristin Wiig very conventionally attractive‚ she still didnt make the cut for hot‚ apparently.It didnt take long for the rant to make its way to actual female SNL cast members‚ who responded in rare form. Sarah Sherman‚ replied on X with this tongue-in-cheek post: Just found out Im not hot. Please give me and my family space to grieve privately and uglily at this time.just found out im not hot. please give me and my family space to grieve privately and uglily at this time. https://t.co/YXvXMGvbYN SARAH SQUIRM (@SarahSquirm) April 1‚ 2024 Meanwhile on Instagram‚ Chloe Troast hit back while singing Christina Aguileras Beautiful and not-so-subtly flipping Jahelis off with both fingers.See on InstagramOther viewers also chimed in to call out Jahelis random and mean analysis‚ not to mention question her logicas well as her eyesight. Ego Nwodim fan here and I will not stand this aggression man. https://t.co/vAxRkswCee pic.twitter.com/u40J1feEdH Macro-Data Refiner #88 (@RadioFreePav) April 2‚ 2024 Ego Nwodim is literally drop dead gorgeous‚"; one person commented.Have you SEEN CHLOE FINEMAN?! She';s so gorgeous‚ another said.I feel like the OP is just looking for GIFS of hot SNL ladies so Im happy to oblige because I too like looking at hilarious‚ gorgeous ladies who else should be here‚ folks? https://t.co/6WLaN3p47v pic.twitter.com/bAz7Lk96Q3 Aislinn OLoughlin - BIG BAD ME is out now!!! (@AshiLockie) April 1‚ 2024 Other perplexed reactions include: Kate McKinnon??!!! Melissa Villasenor?! Amy Poehler?!?? Kristen Wig?!!! helloOoOo.Kate McKinnon is unironically one of the most beautiful people Ive ever seen.Julia Louis Dreyfus is one of the hottest women of all time?back to my theory where people dont like it when super beautiful women are funnyCome on now. https://t.co/I6RxN58MQ7 pic.twitter.com/XMJ0iX3qKt Kristi Yamaguccimane (@TheWapplehouse) April 2‚ 2024 And perhaps this comment really sums it all up: normalize journaling.Sure‚ we want to be able to express ourselves‚ and part of TikToks charm is being able to give those raw‚ unfiltered opinions. But degrading other people to make a point is probably not the best use of the platform. Luckily‚ nobody took this hot take too seriously.

Have you noticed that clouds are looking a bit different than you remember them when you were younger? Less fluffy and more wispy? Fewer billowing clouds against a bold‚ blue sky and more washed out skies with see-through cloud patterns? There have always been different kinds of clouds‚ of course‚ but people are remarking that something seems to have changed‚ which has led to all kinds of conspiracy theories. Combined with the debunked theories about contrails being ";chemtrails‚"; a whole new wave of suspicions about our skies is taking hold. Some people say it';s all in their heads‚ but others are insistent that the sky just isn';t the same.There is a scientific explanation for why clouds might actually be changing‚ but not one that conspiracy-minded folks are going to like. It';s most likely due to climate change‚ as climate scientists predicted that these cloud changes would be coming years ago.First‚ let';s look at the different kinds of clouds and where they form in the atmosphere. Those billowy‚ cartoon-like cumulus clouds we all enjoy are formed at lower altitudes‚ while the wispy cirrus or spotty cirrocumulus clouds that make the sky look washed out or mottled are formed higher up in the stratosphere. In reality‚ all different cloud types are common‚ but climate change is making those higher‚ wispier ones more common. In 2016‚ Dr. Ilissa Ocko explained that models had predicted that climate change would push clouds higher in the sky and scientists were starting to see evidence of it happening. Ocko‚ who earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Princeton University‚ wrote‚ ";A warmer Earth elevates clouds because the troposphere‚ the lowest layer of our atmosphere where weather occurs‚ can extend higher with a hotter surface."; As the Not only are higher cloud formations an effect of climate change‚ but they also contribute to it. While clouds reflect the sun';s light‚ higher clouds also trap heat‚ potentially accelerating the warming of the planet';s surface. As Ocko explained:";Anything that absorbs energy must also re-emit energy. How much is released depends on the temperature of the object.Heat absorbed and then re-emitted by low clouds that are close to the ground is similar to the heat emitted by the surface because the temperature of the ground and the cloud are similar.But the higher the cloud is in the sky‚ the colder it is. So when these high clouds absorb Earths heat‚ they re-emit it at a much lower temperature‚ forming a blanket that traps heat in the climate system similar to how greenhouse gases trap heat.";So what we end up with‚ in theory‚ is a self-perpetuating issue of higher cloud formation both being propelled by and amplifying climate change. However‚ the science is still very much in flux when it comes to clouds and climate change. Predictive models aren';t perfect‚ and some phenomena scientists expected have played out differently in real life‚ both for better and for worse. For instance‚ more recent research shows that trade cumulus clouds‚ which help cool the Earth‚ are affected less than expected by a warming atmosphere. That';s good news. On the other hand‚ scientists have also found that mixed-phase clouds‚ which were predicted to have a dampening effect on climate change‚ don';t help as much as they thought‚ especially when temperature rise accelerates. That';s not good news. There are a lot of cloud-climate change connections and scientists are continuously looking for clues and possibilities for how clouds can help or hinder our efforts to battle the climate crisis. But what about the contrails that some folks erroneously call ";chemtrails";? Despite being a well-known phenomenon of clouds formed from the condensation of a jet';s exhaust‚ they too play a role in climate change. Contrails form when the humidity and temperature the plane is flying through are right (cold and humid)‚ and the troposphere where modern planes fly provide tend to provide those conditions.While contrails aren';t some big government conspiracy to drop toxic chemicals on the unsuspecting populous‚ they aren';t harmless. Some contrails dissipate quickly‚ but under certain atmospheric conditions‚ they can linger and spread out to create those wispy clouds that trap heat in the atmosphere. Some estimates cite contrails as being responsible for more than a third of the total aviation contribution to climate change.Thankfully‚ the aviation industry is testing ways to best reduce contrails‚ including flying at different altitudes. There are tradeoffs with fuel consumption‚ so a balance has to be struck‚ but as we learn more there will surely be more innovations that help. The bottom line is that yes‚ clouds may actually be different from what we remember in our youth‚ but it';s not because of anything nefarious or suspicious. It';s most likely what scientists have seen coming for years and we are now seeing the effects ofclimate change. All the more reason for us to take action to slow it down now.