Tag Archives: voters

Voters Greenlight Incorporation of SpaceX Hub as Texas Starbase

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Citizens of the South Texas region, long associated with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, voted on Saturday to officially create a new city named Starbase, achieving one of Musk’s enduring aspirations.

When voting ended at 7 PM, 173 out of 177 votes were effectively in favor of incorporating the city of Starbase, according to Cameron County, which oversaw the election.

Election manager Remi Garza noted that there are 283 eligible voters, and while around 40 votes were counted, the early voting turnout exceeded expectations.

The locality, commonly referred to as Boca Chica by residents, spans approximately 1.5 square miles and extends to the Mexican border.

SpaceX broke ground in the area back in 2014, and it has since become the central hub and launch site for the company, with numerous employees residing there.

On his platform X, Musk has referred to the area as Starbase numerous times over the past four years.

“I literally live in a ~$20,000 home at Bocachica/Starbase that I rent from SpaceX,” Musk stated in a tweet from June 2021. “That’s pretty awesome.”

Residents surrounding the company’s offices and launch sites submitted a petition in December to formally establish Starbase, Texas, seeking official recognition.

The petition outlined a community comprising approximately 500 residents, including at least 219 adults and over 100 children. Most of the residents are tenants and work at SpaceX, according to the petition.

Local governments have the authority to create their own police and fire departments and establish ordinances, though they are not mandated to do so.

“Cities are not legally required to do much,” remarked Austin attorney Alain Bojörquez, who assists Texans in the municipal incorporation process.

One of the key issues is road maintenance, which will no longer fall under county jurisdiction. However, as a municipality, Starbase will be eligible for state and federal grants, enjoy certain legal protections, and potentially have the authority to condemn property, Bojorquez noted.

David Goodman Contributions reported.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Signal leaks are being squeezed by five voters

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The White House spent a week trying to downplay the revelation that national security authorities discussed plans for our strike in Yemen over Signal, a commercial messaging app.

In a spectacular violation of national security, Defense Secretary Pete Hegses revealed details of certain operations prior to the attack on group chat. National security adviser Michael Waltz, who added Goldberg to the chat, said he took “full responsibility” for the leak.

Several Democrats urged Hegses to step down. However, the Trump administration has tried to bypass or avoid the issue. (Trump said the scandal was a “witch hunt.”

As part of a regular check-in during Trump’s first 100-day inauguration, the New York Times asked five voters what they thought of the administration’s response.

Dave Abdallah wasn’t happy with the way Trump and those around him continued to play signal chat breaches downplay.

They are “completely wrong,” Adbola said.

He added, the violation could have cost us their lives. “This is a serious and serious mistake,” he said of the whole.

Abdallah, a real estate broker who moved to the US from Lebanon as a child, voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the 2024 election. It was a protest against the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza, and concerns that Trump would not help the situation. Still, Abdallah hoped that Trump’s foreign policy could bring peace and stability to the region.

So far, he’s disappointed.

The fighting recently resumed between Israel and Hamas. Now Abdallah believes Trump, his administration and supporters are proving hypocritical in the face of a backlash on signal issues.

He recalls watching a recent video of Tiktok showing old clips of Republicans criticizing Hillary Clinton for using private computer servers while he was Secretary of State during the Obama administration. The video then showed images of the same critic. He is now a Trump supporter and makes excuses for signal chat, not a big deal.

Such excuses struck Abdallah as dishonest. “I can’t understand that,” he said of the signal chat. “So you definitely should be on the table to get rid of someone.”

– Kurt Streeter

… and so on for the rest of the content.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Tim Walz and AOC team up for epic soccer showdown on Twitch to win over young male voters

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Vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced on Sunday that they will be playing American football as part of their efforts to secure votes from young people, just nine days before the White House election. The game was streamed live on Twitch.

Ocasio-Cortez and Walz will compete in the latest Madden game series as Democrats aim to regain control of the House of Representatives, maintain a Senate majority, and challenge Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election. They also emphasized the importance of Kamala Harris’s victory.

“While we may not all share the same beliefs, defeating Trump this year is our main priority,” said Ocasio-Cortez.

Ocasio-Cortez criticized President Trump as an authoritarian ruler and a facist supported by special interests who are exacerbating the ongoing climate crisis. She also condemned the billionaire owners of the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post for not allowing their editorial teams to endorse Harris over Trump.

During the broadcast, Ocasio-Cortez also called out comedian Tony Hinchcliffe for making derogatory comments about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally.

Ocasio-Cortez and Walz decided to play Madden together a few weeks ago, as Walz had previous experience with the game and had worked as a football coach.

Following a recent NBC news investigation, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is leading Donald Trump among young male registered voters.

Despite their lead, Democrats have historically struggled with public opinion during past election cycles. The Trump campaign recently criticized the former president during a three-hour appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, which primarily attracts young male viewers.

Sunday’s event with Ocasio-Cortez followed her initial appearance on Twitch, which was one of the platform’s most-watched events at the time.

Harris’s campaign strategy also focuses on targeting young people, with ads on sports gambling platforms such as DraftKings and Yahoo Sports.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Is the influence of digital technologies on voters compromising democracy?

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A monster looms, threatening our democracy. The monster comes in many forms, from online misinformation networks and deepfakes, to social media bots and psychological microtargeting that uses our personal data to customize political messages to our interests, attitudes and demographics.

Considering that roughly half of the world's population will go to the polls in 2024, democracy may seem to be in good health. But many worry that it is being undermined by powerful new digital technologies that can target individuals, manipulate voters, and influence elections. Fears about digital influence stem in part from the novelty of the technology. We're still so new to the online age that no one fully understands what's going on, much less what's coming. Every new technology is unfamiliar, and it can sometimes feel like the rules of the game are being rewritten. But are these concerns justified?

We are one of a growing number of researchers with expertise in political science and psychology who are trying to drag these monsters out of the shadows. Our research aims to shed light on how new technologies are being used, by whom, and how effective they are as tools of propaganda. By carefully defining the concept of digital manipulation, we can better understand than ever the threat it poses to democracy. While some lobbying groups loudly warn about its dangers, our research points to more surprising conclusions. Moreover, our findings can help society better prepare to confront digital demons, by telling us exactly what we should worry about and what are just ghosts of our imagination.

In the UK in 2010…

Source: www.newscientist.com