Politics / Society

70+ Election Deniers in Key Roles in County Election Boards

There are many true believers working as county election officials who have denied that Biden won in 2020 and are poised to refrain from certifying the elections this fall.

“At least 70 pro–Donald Trump election denialists are working as election officials in key swing states, according to a report published Monday from Rolling Stone and the right-wing extremism research newsletter American Doom.

“Officials who had promoted election conspiracy theories were identified in at least 16 counties in six swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

“These individuals were identified through scouring coverage of refusals to certify 2020 election results and other denialist behavior, as well as sifting through the social media profiles of election officials in these states.

“Across these swing states, Trump loyalists stand ready to disrupt the results of democratically held elections—at least 22 of them have already refused or delayed certification in recent years, indicating likely chaos in November.”

Source: https://newrepublic.com/post/184340/trump-election-deniers-power-swing-states

Interview with the author: https://youtu.be/cojKYPWoUyE?si=ApUDdMHsGu9M6KvN

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2024-08-01
Economy / Society

Barcelona Ends Short-Term Rentals

When housing becomes less available in a tourism-driven city, decisions have to be made. Short-term rentals (like Airbnb) are harder to justify when local housing is scarce or increasingly expensive. And hotels are still available.

Barcelona, Spain, is dealing with this situation. “Barcelona City Hall announced last month that it would not renew any tourist apartment licenses after they expire in 2028. Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet said the city wants tourism, which accounts for 15% of the local economy, but must help residents cope with skyrocketing rents and real estate prices.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/barcelona-spain-tourist-apartments-154cf293078aa14c299e3539d90e9350

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2024-07-28
Language / Politics / Society

First Name or Last Name?

I’ve been noticing that people tend to refer to Kamala Harris as “Kamala” but use other politicians’ last names. It made me wonder if this was a kind of discrimination, not showing the same respect for her as for the men, or maybe it was an attempt to make her seem more relatable or approachable.

In video clips I’ve seen, people in the crowd behind her when she’s giving a speech have signs that say KAMALA and the crowd has chanted her first name. If they’re printing up signs, that’s pretty intentional.

Below is a link to an interview on NPR this week that discusses this very phenomenon. Here are a couple quotes from the interview:

“Strategically, politicians often try to seem relatable, which a first name can help achieve. And at the same time, they try to present themselves as leadership figures of authority, which a last name can help achieve.”

“I do actually think it is a sign of disrespect in an environment where you have multiple candidates, and you’re referring to one by her first name and then all of the men by their last name. You are making her the exception and not giving her that very small piece of respect that we give people in positions of power.”

“I do think that this election provides an environment where this might be more positive than negative for Harris. And that’s because we’re looking at an election where almost all the major issues are domestic policy issues. These are things that voters might actually think women are going to be better at handling.”

Source: https://www.npr.org/2024/07/24/nx-s1-5049773/powerful-women-tend-to-be-called-by-their-first-name-its-not-an-accident

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2024-07-27
Information Literacy / Politics / Society

Most Reliable News Sources

As we move closer and closer to the election, we will be hearing tons of conflicting, biased, and even false stories. It is important to get your news from an unbiased, reliable source.

Using the rating system of Media Bias / Fact Check, I have created a list of the 13 least-biased news sources that have been given a Very High rating for factual reporting.

“These sources have minimal bias and use very few loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes). The reporting is factual and usually sourced. These are the most credible media sources, and they use proper sourcing and have a clean fact check record.”

There are many that have a High rating for factual reporting, but I kept this list to the Very High.

Source: https://www.listobsession.com/news-sources/

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2024-07-25
Politics / Society

North Korea Continues Sending Trash Balloons to South Korea

“Trash carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound on Wednesday, raising worries about the security of key South Korean facilities during North Korean provocations.

“The rubbish that landed on the presidential compound in central Seoul contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt, South Korea’s presidential security service said. While North Korea likely lacks sophisticated technology to drop balloons on specific targets, some experts say South Korea should shoot down incoming North Korean balloons next time to protect major facilities because they might contain hazardous substances in the future.

“North Korea’s latest balloon launches came days after South Korea boosted its broadcasts of K-pop songs and propaganda messages across the two countries’ heavily armed border. Their tit-for-tat Cold War-style campaigns are inflaming tensions, with the rivals threatening stronger steps and warning of grave consequences.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-trash-balloons-south-22b2eb516f7fa5670a3c6c27f25d3182

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2024-07-24
General / Society

Hottest Day Ever

“Monday was recorded as the hottest day ever, beating a record set the day before, as countries across the globe from Japan to Bolivia to the United States continue to feel the heat, according to the European climate change service.

Why this matters:
“Without human-caused climate change, records would be broken nowhere near as frequently, and new cold records would be set as often as hot ones. Copernicus’ preliminary data show the global average temperature Monday was 17.15 degrees Celsius, or 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit. The first six months of 2024 have even broken the record highs from last year, which Copernicus records had noted as the hottest the planet had been in about 120,000 years.”

“Climate scientists say the world is now as warm as it was 125,000 years ago because of human-caused climate change. While scientists cannot be certain that Monday was the very hottest day throughout that period, average temperatures have not been this high since long before humans developed agriculture.

“The temperature rise in recent decades is in line with what climate scientists projected would happen if humans kept burning fossil fuels at an increasing rate.”
Source: https://apnews.com/article/hottest-day-ever-climate-change-weather-heat-extreme-global-warming-8e2b0b7fa0360ecb931ca333a832c694

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2024-07-24
Economy / Politics / Society

Biden-Harris Record

For the record, the Biden-Harris administration has added 16 million jobs, including 800,000 manufacturing jobs, overseen the lowest unemployment rate in half a century, presided over the strongest economy on Earth, and brought the murder rate down 25%!

Legislatively, the comparison between Harris and Trump cannot be greater. Trump’s only legislative accomplishment was a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. That’s it. Biden and Harris’s legislative accomplishments include the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, the PACT Act (expanding health care and benefits for veterans), the CHIPS Act, the Infrastructure Law, the Gun Safety Law, reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (which Trump allowed to lapse), codifying marriage equality into federal law. They have also prohibited junk fees at banks, capped insulin and inhalers at $35, and ensured that airlines automatically reimburse passengers for canceled flights. All of these help regular Americans, not just the wealthy.

Sources are linked below, using Wikipedia rather than government websites to help ensure objectivity.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Rescue_Plan_Act_of_2021

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_Reduction_Act

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honoring_our_PACT_Act_of_2022

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure_Investment_and_Jobs_Act

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipartisan_Safer_Communities_Act

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_Against_Women_Act#Reauthorizations

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect_for_Marriage_Act

Source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/916

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/trumps-economic-legacy/story?id=74760051

Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/secret-irs-files-reveal-how-much-the-ultrawealthy-gained-by-shaping-trumps-big-beautiful-tax-cut

Source: https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-2017-trump-tax-law-was-skewed-to-the-rich-expensive-and-failed-to-deliver

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2024-07-23
History / Society

Perfect Spheres Carved Over 1,000 Years Ago

These large stones (up to 2.57m diameter) were carved into amazing perfect spheres and are estimated to be from 600 CE. They are located in the Diquís Delta in southern Costa Rica.

“On the small island of Isla del Caño and the Diquís Delta in Costa Rica are over 300 stone Petrospheres often referred to as the Diquís Spheres, that have been attributed to the now extinct Diquís culture.”

Source: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/06/the-mysterious-stone-spheres-of-costa-rica/139375

Source: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1453/

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2024-07-22
Politics / Society

World Leaders React to Biden Leaving the Race

“Messages of gratitude and support for US President Joe Biden poured in following his stunning announcement Sunday that he is exiting the 2024 presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the next Democratic nominee.

“It was the second seismic moment in US politics in just over a week, following the assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, which saw global leaders rally around him as the Republican nominee.

“Pressure had mounted on Biden to pull out of the race since his disastrous performance at the CNN presidential debate last month, and on Sunday, he confirmed he would remain a one-term president, prompting a flood of tributes from US allies who thanked him for his leadership.”

See the link below to view the many statements by world leaders. The list was too long to include in the text of this post, so it is linked here:

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/22/world/world-reaction-biden-exit-2024-us-presidential-race/index.html

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2024-07-22