Posts

vote

Taylor Swift Officially Endorses Kamala Harris For President After Debate 

/in , /by

One of the music industry’s biggest stars, Taylor Swift, has officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President in the 2024 election. She made her views public shortly after the presidential debate ended this week. 

Late on Tuesday in an Instagram post, Swift made her endorsement with a link to a website to register to vote. 

Embed from Getty Images

“I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”

Swift’s political stance for this election has been a topic of curiosity among her fans online. As a superstar with a large following of young women, fans have been calling on Swift for this election in particular with so many women’s rights up for debate. In just the first half hour of her posting her endorsement, she received more than 2.3 million likes. 

In her post, she attached her message with a picture of her holding her cat Benjamin Button and signed it off as a “Childless Cat Lady.” The signature is a reference to comments made by JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, three years ago when he talked about women without children not having an equal stake in the USA’s future. 

Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, learned of the endorsement during a live interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. 

Embed from Getty Images

“That was eloquent, and it was clear. And that’s the kind of courage we need in America to stand up,” Walz said after Maddow read Swift’s post. 

Swift stated that part of the reason she chose to make her endorsement was because of Trump’s post of an artificial intelligence generated photo of Swift dressed as Uncle Sam with the caption: “Taylor wants YOU to VOTE for DONALD TRUMP.”

“[Trump’s posts] brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice,” Swift wrote. 

Swift supported President Joe Biden during the 2020 election, and was also openly critical of Trump at the time, claiming that he had “stroked the fires of white supremacy and racism.”

“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election … because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”

meta

EU Launching Formal Investigation Into Meta Regarding Election Misinformation Before June Polls Open 

/in , /by

The European Union (EU) is set to launch a formal investigation into Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The investigation was prompted over the EU’s concerns that the tech giant isn’t doing enough to counter Russian disinformation ahead of the EU elections in June, according to reports. 

The EU is also likely to express their concerns regarding the lack of effective monitoring of election content, and the inadequate tools they use for flagging illegal content. 

Embed from Getty Images

Lisa O’Carroll, a correspondent for The Guardian, wrote that the European Commission is worried about Meta’s moderation system, claiming that it is not extensive enough to combat the presence of misinformation, and even suppresses voting. 

The Financial Times revealed that government officials are worried about how Meta is handling Russia’s specific efforts to undermine the upcoming elections. 

Meta’s plan to discontinue its CrowdTangle tool also has officials concerned. CrowdTangle is a public insights tool that allows researchers, journalists, and others within the EU to monitor in real time the spread of misinformation and any attempts to suppress voting. 

The EU currently has new laws in place that require tech companies to regulate their content and have systems in place to guard against any and all systemic risks involving election interference. 

Embed from Getty Images

“We have a well-established process for identifying and mitigating risks on our platforms. We look forward to continuing our cooperations with the European Commission and providing them with further details of this work,” a spokesperson for Meta stated. 

The commission recently carried out “stress tests” on all the major social media platforms as a means of determining if there were proper safeguards in place to prevent the spreading of misinformation. The tests involved a series of made-up scenarios that are based on past attempts at election manipulation, such as using deep fakes and speech suppression.

“The aim was to test platforms’ readiness to address manipulative behavior that could occur in the run-up to the elections, in particular the different manipulative tactics, techniques and procedures,” the commission stated.

This past Monday, parliament released official tips for voters in the upcoming elections, which will be taking place between June 6th and 9th. They cited previous voting issues such as the specific pen colors needed for a ballot to be valid, and warned citizens to be diligent about spotting disinformation. 

senate

‘The Good Doctor’ Actor Hill Harper Announces Candidacy For Open US Senate Seat In Michigan 

/in , /by

Hill Harper, a Detroit native and actor best known for his TV roles on “CSI: NY” and “The Good Doctor,” announced on Monday that he intends to run as a Democrat for Michigan’s open US Senate seat in 2024. 

“We need leadership in the U.S. Senate. If we just keep electing the same folks, we’ll continue to see the results we’ve been seeing,” Harper, said to the Detroit Free Press.

Embed from Getty Images

Harper has been known publicly for his roles in the recent seasons of “The Good Doctor” on ABC, as well as “CSI: NY.” He’s also an author, activist, and owner of Detroit’s Roasting Plant coffee shop. He moved to Detroit in 2016. 

On Monday, Harper’s campaign released a powerful video announcing his candidacy for the race, showcasing Harper speaking to his adopted son about why he decided to run. 

The seat that Harper is campaigning for will be left open by the retirement of current Democratic US Senator Debbie Stabenow, who announced earlier this year that she would not be running for a fifth 6-year term. Harper is set to go up against US Representative Elissa Slotkin in the race to the Senate. 

While this is Harper’s first official run in public office, his resume is extensive in experience with public speaking as well as a Harvard law degree; where it’s known that he used to play pickup basketball with former President Barack Obama. 

Slotkin has been a strong campaigner as well. Last year she won her third US House term, earning large amounts of funding for her campaign.

Embed from Getty Images

Harper was initially born in Iowa with the name Francis Eugene Harper, and took the name Hill to honor his mother, who was one of the first Black anesthesiologists in the US. 

As an author, he wrote bestsellers like “Letters to a Younger Brother,” which was drawn from his own motivational speeches given to inner-city school students. He also wrote “The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in its Place,” which discussed his battle with thyroid cancer as well as the need for people to build financial security for themselves. 

Harper stated that he initially moved to Michigan after working there as an actor during a time when the state provided tax incentives for movie makers filming in the state. 

“I met some of the greatest people in the world, [I want my kids] to be more like Michigan folks than Hollywood folks.” 

Harper mentioned to the Detroit Free Press that he intends to describe himself to voters during his campaign as a more progressive candidate than Slotkin. He’s made it clear that he supports a single universal health plan provided by the government, as well as supporting efforts from the Biden Administration to forgive up to $20,000 in federal debt owed on student loans. 

“I’m getting into a Democratic primary that has a number of candidates. But I can speak to exactly where I think there are differences,” Harper stated.

italy

Giorgia Meloni To Become Italy’s Most Far-Right Prime Minister Since World War II

/in , , /by

Giorgia Meloni is set to become the first female prime minister in Italy after a general election. The Brothers of Italy leader is now a part of the most far-right government Italy’s seen since the fascist era of Benito Mussolini.

Read more
Japan

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Party Gains Election Victory Days After His Tragic Assassination

/in , /by

Days after the tragic assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, citizens went out and voted to keep Japan’s ruling coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), in power.

Read more
Supreme Court Washington DC

Supreme Court To Hear Case Regarding Voting Rights And Election Laws

/in , /by

This Tuesday the Supreme Court is set to take on an Arizona case over voting rights for the battleground state; the outcome of which could result in how the nation’s courts resolve future discrepancies over election laws in dozens of other states. The case is also going to be a real test for the Voting Rights Act, which the Supreme Court began scaling back from in 2013. 

The two Arizona laws being discussed regard an election officials ability to reject ballots that are cast in the wrong precincts, and voting by mail. The voting by mail law claims that only the voter, a family member, or caregiver can collect and deliver a completed ballot via mail. 

Arizona told the Supreme Court justices in the cases filing that “prohibiting unlimited third-party ballot harvesting is a commonsense means of protecting the secret ballot. This out-of-precinct rule is intended to prevent multiple voting.”

Embed from Getty Images

Arizona Democrats are arguing, however, that their state has a history of moving polling locations in minority neighborhoods as a means of purposefully causing mistakes with the count. Minorities are more likely to move around and not own a home in Arizona, meaning their polling locations are subject to change however often they move. The current policies make it extremely difficult to properly find and change your polling location to make your vote count; an issue that appeared a ton during the recent presidential election. 

Arizona rejects 11 times more ballots than the next-highest state for ballot rejections. Minority voters are statistically more likely to need help making their ballot count in any election. A federal judge in Arizona initially refuted these claims of minority voter suppression, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, so the state is now appealing to the Supreme Court. 

The Voting Rights Act in the past has required states with a history of voter discrimination to get specific permission from the Justice Department before they challenge any election procedures. However, in 2013 the Supreme Court suspended that requirement after ruling that Congress failed to properly update the specifics of the Act, making it difficult to determine what states need assistance. 

Embed from Getty Images

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals claims that “state election provisions can be blocked if they disproportionately affect a racial minority’s ability to participate in the electoral process and elect candidates of their choice and if the state has a history of discriminating against voters in that minority group. We concluded that the two Arizona laws failed those legal tests.”

Arizona republicans are arguing that the test of this act should require proof that any voter law that’s challenged causes a “substantial disparity in opportunities for minority voters to participate in an election, not just an incremental burden.” Arizona Democrats, on the other hand, argue that “the law does not require proof of a substantial disparity and that there is no requirement to meet a minimum percentage of minority voters affected to successfully challenge a change in the voting rules.”

The American Civil Liberties Union argued that the test on the act “would impose a categorical approach under which laws that are relatively commonplace, or that do not make voting altogether impossible, are largely immune from liability.”

The Supreme Court is projected to issue a solid ruling over this discrepancy by the summer.

US Supreme Court Building

Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Efforts To Block Biden Win In Pennsylvania 

/in , /by

This week the Supreme Court denied a request made by Pennsylvania Republicans to block the certification of the commonwealth election results. If they were successful, this would have invalidated and blocked Biden’s win in the state, however, the court’s rejection makes this a fatal blow for the Republican Party’s continuous attempt to deliver a reelection to Donald Trump. 

Trump has been frequently bragging online that he won his reelection, and was banking on Pennsylvania reversing their results to deliver him the potential that he actually could have won, however, the Supreme Court’s action, along with the moves from individuals in Trump’s administration to begin a transition of power, has confirmed that he will not be returning to office in 2021. 

Embed from Getty Images

“Let’s see whether or not somebody has the courage, whether it’s legislators or legislatures or a justice of the Supreme Court or a number of justices of the Supreme Court. Let’s see if they have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right,” Trump said just hours before the court released their order that blocked the motion for the election results to be blocked. 

Tuesday’s one-line order was filed with no noted dissent or comment from any of the nine justices who have been combating Trump’s administration’s constant efforts to overturn the election since November. This order also marks Amy Coney Barrett’s first vote on an election-related dispute. This quick and one-line order suggests that the Supreme Court is no longer interested in being involved with Trump and his administration’s ongoing efforts to invalidate this election and Biden’s win. 

“The fact that the justices issued a one-sentence order with no separate opinions is a powerful sign that the court intends to stay out of election-related disputes, and that it’s going to leave things to the electoral process going forward,” said Steve Vladek, a Supreme Court analyst and law professor who spoke with the press recently about these results. “It’s hard to imagine a more quietly resounding rejection of these challenges from this court,” he concluded. 

Embed from Getty Images

Representative Mike Kelly attempted to initially bring this issue to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, however, at the time he was rejected immediately for failing to file the election result challenge in a timely manner. Kelly’s lawyers then stated that the courts violated his right to petition and “right to due process, guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, respectively, by closing all avenues of relief for past and future harms.”

The Pennsylvania courts responded to these claims by calling them “fundamentally frivolous. No court has ever issued an order nullifying a governor’s certification of presidential election results. The loss of public trust in our constitutional order resulting in this kind of judicial power would be incalculable,” said Justice Bart Delone, the state’s chief deputy attorney general. 

Tuesday’s action from the Supreme Court comes after weeks of Trump and his team spreading inaccuracies regarding the election and creating a highly contentious political divide in a country that is also still enduring a global health crisis. Trump and his team have focused their energy on reversing the already finalized election results while hundreds of thousands of Americans continue to be infected with Covid-19. While a vaccine is likely to begin distribution soon, the way America is currently running is causing its citizens to die at astronomical rates, continue to stay inside and wear a mask whenever necessary.

Social Media Apps on iPhone

How Social Media Platforms Are Combating The Spread Of Misinformation

/in , /by

Without any real solid regulation from the federal government in terms of combating these falsehoods from spreading, it’s up to the platforms themselves to make its users aware when a story, tweet, post, etc. contains important information that may not be 100% correct.

Read more
Increase in Stock Market

Global Tech And Health Stock Markets Climbing As Biden Gets Closer To Presidency

/in , /by

As Joe Biden gets closer to becoming the next President of the United States, shares in major technology and health stocks are climbing. Shares in Asia Pacific, for example, have already climbed to their highest point in three years within the past 24 hours. 

Biden currently only needs six electoral college votes to secure the presidency. Investors on the other side of the world have been closely monitoring and betting on Biden getting to 270 votes. Asia Pacific shares climbed by 1.3% which is the highest it has increased since February 2018. Japan technology firm Nikkei rose by 1.1%, the highest it’s been in nearly a year. 

Embed from Getty Images

China’s blue chips stocks gained .8% due to the possibility of Biden taking Trump’s place in the White House and therefore reversing his trade war tariffs as well. Edward Moya is a spokesperson for OANDA who recently spoke with the press about how even the possibility of a Biden presidency is helping boost the global stock market. 

“The contest is not over, and President Trump will not go down without a fight, but financial markets are confident to price in a Biden presidency along with a Republican controlled Senate.”

A Biden win with a Republican controlled Senate would mean there’s less risk for regulation and corporate/personal taxes being raised. The stock market’s reaction to the past 48 hours also is showing “US growth stocks outperforming on prospects of less economic aid,” according to market analysts. 

“Technology and healthcare stocks duly led the charge higher overnight while those leveraged to consumer demand lagged. With tech stocks accounting for such a large share of the indices, the S&P 500 gained 2.20% and the Nasdaq 3.85%.”

Embed from Getty Images

Bond markets in the US are running under the assumption that a divided government would reduce the possibility of debt-funded spending on things like stimulus and infrastructure support for the country. If this were to happen there would also be a reduced bond supply as well. 

10-year US Treasury has dropped down .74% so far after remaining at a .93% peak for five months. Additionally, “the Dow jumped 1.3%, or some 360 points, while the S&P opened up 1.6%. The Nasdaq rallied 1.9%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are on track for their best week since April. For the Dow, it’s shaping up to be the best week since June,” according to media reports. 

Shares in major tech companies have also continuously risen within the past two days. For example Facebook and Google parent company Alphabet traded more than 2% higher while Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft gained more than 3% each. Because these tech companies work with international governments, mainly China, the prospect of a divided US government has investors on all sides assuming taxes won’t increase. This would also mean the current trade war with China would stabilize. 

As the results continue to be counted throughout the country, and Biden gets closer and closer to a presidency, stocks will likely continue to increase in the tech and healthcare sectors, as those are two areas that will likely see a massive spike in investments should Biden win and enact his policies for Covid-19 and the current economy in the US.

U.S. Stocks Climbing Despite Uncertainty Surrounding Presidential Election

/in , /by

Tech-led stocks in the US began climbing when the market opened up on Wednesday morning, despite there being a lack of clarity in terms of who will win the 2020 presidential election. 

According to reports, The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 500 points, or 1.7%. The S&P 500 traded 2.3% higher while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite increased by 3.2%. Mike Lewis is the managing director of US equity cash trading at Barclays, and spoke with the press this morning about these surges. 

“I think that the outlook going forward for markets is this is going to be more about policy and the Fed than it’s going to be about politics, which is a good thing for markets.”

Embed from Getty Images

Key swing states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania could take a while to fully determine how the votes will lean. Both candidates and their camps are confident in their paths to victory this week.

Amazon, Microsoft and Apple all saw spikes of at least 3% in their stocks while Facebook increased by 7%, and Google-parent company Alphabet jumped more than 5%. Traders on Wall Street attribute these spikes to a multitude of factors. The possibility that Republicans will maintain control of the Senate is a positive for the groups, as a Democrat congress could have weighed down on the high-growth sector, according to Barry Bannister, Stifel Head of Institutional Equity Strategy.

“It appears investors may be satisfied with at least half a Republican Senate and no tax increase, knowing they have a ‘Fed put’ if fiscal assistance is slower in coming. This favors Growth stocks over Value near-term.”

Embed from Getty Images

Traders are also still grappling with the idea of a contested election, as Wall Street strategists claim that could have major consequences for the stock market. “News of a contested election could cause a sharp drop in stocks in the very short term, but we do not see it as a bearish gamechanger,” Tom Essaye, founder of the Sevens Report, said.

Traders are also watching the Senate race closely as the result of that race will have major implications on the future of the market as a whole. A Democrat win in the Senate and a Biden presidency has a lot of traders worried about the higher tax rates that would impact technology shares especially. 

On the other hand, some traders think a blue wave in the Senate and White House could lead to a larger stimulus package for Americans as we continue to battle the coronavirus pandemic; which would also boost stocks linked to the larger economy. 

“When this is all said and done, I still believe equities will move higher regardless of who wins the Oval Office. The coronavirus pandemic and U.S. monetary policy will be bigger market drivers over the long haul,” said Ryan Nauman, market strategist at Informa Financial intelligence.