Politics

Tim Weninger is associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Notre Dame. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. Last month, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the social network will no longer permit political ads to run on the site. Dorsey noted that a political message should be earned — not bought — and acknowledged the challenges that political ads online pose when it comes to misleading information, deepfakes and targeted messaging. Twitter will announce additional details on the policy this afternoon. But removing political ads is just a small step toward fighting the broader problem of disinformation. Do political campaigns spend money to spin news stories about their opponents? Of course they do. And the ability for a campaign to hyper-optimize and micro-target false narratives to specific groups of social media users erodes our ability to make informed decisions and weakens our democracy. Other social media … [Read more...] about Twitter’s political ad policy is a small step in the fight against disinformation

November 8, 2019 Dear Cherished Supporter, Thank you so much for your support, it was an honor to have represented you in this fall's election. Although, I did not get elected to the post, we were all successful in prompting the Easton was awoken and at times I felt like Paul Revere warning "one if by land" and "two if by sea." Turnout was near record level for the times (2,801). Wow! We captured 9.39% of I am not done with Easton politics, I plan to be an advocate for all of you and a voice of reason in issues that still are pressing to the town. I am considering a run in 2021. Thank You So Much Once Again, David Dwight Senior, Easton CitizenSubscribe … [Read more...] about Op-Ed: A Letter to Supporters from David Dwight Senior

Kamala Harris plans to greet supporters at a historic Long Beach gay bar Friday, and Bernie Sanders will get backing from the East L.A. punk-funk band Ozomatli at a local rally Saturday. Amy Klobuchar met voters at a Bay Area brewery Thursday, and Joe Biden pitched his candidacy to young voters at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. A dozen presidential candidates are visiting California this week — an unusual amount of activity in a state that has been viewed primarily as a source of campaign dollars. Most of the top Democrats in the race are congregating this weekend to woo party leaders and activists at a state convention in Long Beach. Two front-runners, however — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Biden — are skipping the event. Californians probably won’t see brightly painted campaign buses crisscrossing the state anytime soon. That’s a factor of the timing of other contests and how difficult it is to meet many of the … [Read more...] about Gay bar and beer joint appearances: 2020 candidates woo Californians before Democrats convene in Long Beach

President TrumpDonald John TrumpButtigieg surges ahead of Iowa caucuses Biden leads among Latino Democrats in Texas, California Kavanaugh hailed by conservative gathering in first public speech since confirmation MORE has reportedly flown on Air Force One for at least 10 trips involving some political activity after slamming President Obama for using the plane to campaign, according to a USA Today analysis released on Wednesday.Several former presidents, including Obama and George W. Bush, used the plane for trips that mixed both official business and campaigning, the newspaper noted.Trump, however, lashed out at his predecessor for the practice in a 2016 tweet.ADVERTISEMENT"Taxpayers are paying a fortune for the use of Air Force One on the campaign trail by President Obama and Crooked Hillary," Trump tweeted. "A total disgrace!"Taxpayers are paying a fortune for the use of Air Force One on the campaign trail by President Obama and Crooked Hillary. A total disgrace!— Donald … [Read more...] about Trump used Air Force One for political trips after criticizing Obama for it: report

(CNN)House impeachment investigators on Friday morning will hear publicly from the ousted US ambassador to Ukraine, whose removal Democrats say marks the start of the shadow diplomacy campaign that sparked their impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and Ukraine. Then in the afternoon, the US diplomat who overheard a July phone call where President Donald Trump asked the US Ambassador to the European Union about the Ukraine investigations will testify behind closed doors, after the top US diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor revealed the call in his testimony Wednesday. Friday's hearing with former US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch marks a second day of public impeachment hearings with a twist: the closed-door testimony of the Taylor aide, David Holmes, could offer Democrats tantalizing new evidence that connects Trump more directly to the push for Ukraine to open investigations that would benefit him politically. Taylor testified Wednesday that his aide told him about the phone … [Read more...] about Former US ambassador to Ukraine to testify in second public impeachment hearing