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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced pushback on his views on abortion (and other issues) during his confirmation hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Wednesday with the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. Since his nomination, President Donald Trump’s highly controversial pick to head the nation’s top health post has elicited wide-ranging criticism for his radical views on a whole host of health issues, from vaccines and the U.S. healthcare system to our nations food supply. As Fast Company previously reported, Kennedy has been accused of making numerous false and misleading scientific claims, including those relating to autism and raw milk. If confirmed, he would oversee 13 federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, agencies regulating many of these important health issues. Democrats, including Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, pressed the nominee hard on his past support for abortion access and recent flip-flop against a woman’s right to choose. It remains unclear whether Kennedy has the votes, particularly from Democrats, to clinch the confirmation. Sanders quoted RFK Jr.’s own 2023 support for women’s autonomy over their bodies, adding, I have never seen any major politician flip on that issue quite as quickly as you did when Trump asked you to become HHS secretary.” Kennedy replied, Senator, I believe and Ive always believed that every abortion is a tragedy. He refused to answer Sanders’s question on whether healthcare is a human right. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada, asked RFK Jr. if pregnant women whose lives were in danger should be allowed to have emergency abortions in states where it is banned. His response: “I don’t know.” RFK Jr. ran against Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election as an independent candidate and after dropping out of the race, endorsed Trump (after reported conversations that Trump would reward him with a cabinet position). The son of former U.S. Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, he is a member of the prominent Kennedy family, longtime Democrats, most of whom have been quick to say publicly he is unfit for office. His first cousin, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, went one step further, writing a letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, urging the Senate to reject his nomination, referring to RFK Jr. as a “predator” and arguing that siblings and cousins who Bobby encouraged down the path of substance abuse suffered addiction, illness, and death. She read the letter in a video posted on X by her son, Jack Schlossberg, a popular social media political commentator, who also has strongly denounced the nomination.
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The devastating California wildfires have led to a number of benefit events, from concerts to comedy shows, with the intention to fundraise for wildfire recovery efforts. The team at Critical Role, meanwhile, is going to do what they do best: play Dungeons & Dragons. Critical Role announced a special live one-shot D&D adventure titled Freaky Thursday, featuring Bells Hells, the characters from its third D&D campaign. The charity event stars Ashley Johnson, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, Laura Bailey, and Liam OBrien, with game master Matthew Mercer. Lets do some chaotic good, wrote OBrien on X, sharing the announcement. The Freaky Thursday adventure will be livestreamed on Critical Roles membership service Beacon, as well as its Twitch and YouTube channels, on Thursday, January 30, at 7 p.m. PT. Fans, affectionately known as Critters, will be able to make donations or purchase rewards to shape the story through Tiltify. The group has set an ambitious goal of raising $180,000 with the livestream. Each milestone will unlock in-game surprises like new allies, unexpected adversaries or even character sheet swaps, ensuring an unpredictable and exciting adventure shaped entirely by the communitys contributions, Critical Role said. Story elements with the most donations will take center stage in the game. Where the money will go Donations will be split between the California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund, the Latino Community Foundation, and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. The company added that 10% of each donation will be stashed into our overall emergency fund, which allows [our foundation] to send help quickly in the event of a future unforeseen natural emergency. Through its Critical Role Foundation (CRF) nonprofit arm, the company has already contributed $30,000 from its emergency fund to the California Community Foundations Wildfire Recovery Fund. Even before the launch of the CRF in September 2020, Critical Role and its network of Critters have been active in raising money for a range of causes, including 826LA and First Nations Development Institute. Critical Role Foundation is just one of the many ways that Critical Role has expanded into new areas in recent years. Aside from its core show, one-offs, and spinoff web series, the group has also branched into comics and books, an animated series, and their own subscription-based streaming platform, Beacon. Its impressive work from what began as a show that highlighted the joy of playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends. You can donate and learn more here.
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Whats more motivating than a punch card? Thats the simple idea behind a recent so-called punch party that creator @emiliamariehome hosted with friends. On January 24, @emiliamariehome posted a video on TikTok of her group of friends creating punch cards (think: loyalty cards) as a Galentine’s day activity. It quickly went viral, gaining over 1.5 million views. Because whether its scoring a free cappuccino at your local coffee shop or a fresh loaf of bread at an independent bakery, the satisfaction from punching that final hole in a punch card is unmatched. Now, social media users are hacking that dopamine hit to achieve their own goals, from dating to reading. In @emiliamariehomes video, each friend picked a goal and a reward for finishing punching all the holes on their card. One of her friends used their card as motivation to try new flower arrangements. Once they punched all four holes, they would allow themselves to buy one new vase. Another wanted to try 10 new recipes before buying another cookbook. A third promised themselves 10 croissants if they went on 10 dates (10 croissants are needed after 10 hinge dates, the creator joked in the comments). In the spirit of January, the celebrated month of goal-setting, the punch cards have quickly taken off. Love this idea, one person commented. Especially as someone that struggles to celebrate her wins. Another added, this is ridiculously cute. I am doing it.” The New Year period is traditionally when millions take stock of how they live and set ambitious goals for the year ahead, often in terms of numbers. How many books will you read? How many exercise classes will you take? How many new recipes will you try? A recent YouGov poll found 31% of Americans said they would be making New Years resolutions or setting goals for 2025. But skip forward to the end of January, and a good number of those will already have given up on their goals set just a few short weeks ago. However, small lifestyle changes can often be transformative if you keep at them. And while there are a number of habit trackers that attempt to help us do that, from Apple watches and Oura rings to meticulously planned spreadsheets and Notion templates, punch cards may be a gentler way to keep yourself accountable in 2025.
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E-Commerce
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