Author: Alex Trent

Critics of Vice President Kamala Harris are piling on attacks against the presidential hopeful after an old 2017 social media post and video clip remerged where Harris asserted that “everybody needs to be woke.” Conservatives have been keen to paint Harris as a radical candidate, and have been increasing pressure on her as she retreats from past progressive positions she held years ago and pushes a campaign to frame conservatives as “weird.” Harris’ Comments Source: Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons In the newly reemerged clip that has since gone viral, then-Senator Kamala Harris spoke about her dedication to the concept of “wokeness”…

Thousands of Florida condo owners and homeowners are being hit with exorbitant fees following the consequences of a 2022 law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Residents of SurfSide Club South in Ormond Beach, Florida are speaking out after special assessment fees totaling over $100,000 per condo owner were levied against them in compliance with the state law. Recent Law Source: Michael Rivera/Wikimedia Commons In 2022, Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill 4D whose aim was to reform the system following a tragic condo collapse in the Miami suburb of Surfside in 2021 that killed more than 90 people. The law…

Last year, Oregon governor Tina Kotek signed a ban against “ghost guns,” the term for untraceable guns created from kits online or through 3D printing technology, into law. Now gun rights groups are suing the state’s attorney general and police superintendent to attempt to overthrow the ban, saying that it violates Oregonians’ Second Amendment right to bear arms. House Bill 2005 Source: M.O. Stevens/Wikimedia Previously, the Oregon legislature passed a bill known as House Bill 2005, which took aim at “undetectable firearms.” According to the bill, those found “manufacturing, importing, offering for sale or trans- ferring undetectable firearm” would be…

Tech giant Google has just been handed a stunning court defeat after a federal judge ruled Monday that Google has violated the Sherman Act and has acted to maintain a monopoly on internet searches. The judge determined that exclusive deals the company cut with industry figures like Apple allowed it to unfairly shut out potential internet search rivals like DuckDuckGo and Microsoft’s Bing. Government Case Against Google Source: Ian Hutchinson/Unsplash The United States Government, joined by 11 states, took Google LLC to court in the US District of Columbia in 2020 accusing it of violating anti-trust laws and for its…

While costs to produce items are now apparently falling for grocery retailers across the country, many wonder why the prices of essential items at the grocery store have remained so high. Now, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair is pushing to open an investigation into industry players that will require them to provide information on their expenses and prices on everyday items to see if these continuing high prices are justified. Investigation Announcment Source: Public Domain/Wikimedia During a public meeting with Justice Department officials, FTC Chair Lina Khan announced a push for an investigation into customer supermarket prices. “We…

A recent vote in the US Senate passed a bill that represents the first major action by Congress in several years that attempts to hold tech companies at large accountable for the content that children are viewing online. The bill, if signed into law, would force tech companies who have online services frequently used by minors to have a “duty of care” and implement steps to prevent content on their platform from being seen by them. Senate Vote Source: Ian Hutchinson/Unsplash The bill, called the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSA) passed by a massive margin in the Senate,…

On July 25, California Governor Gavin Newsom introduced a sweeping executive order that provided funding to local governments to start cleaning up widespread homeless encampments in the state’s cities. Now, the LA Board of Supervisors has passed a unanimous vote to oppose it, saying they want to continue their “care first, jails last” approach. Newsom’s Order (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Newsom introduced an executive order in the wake of a recent Supreme Court case that granted increased authority for cities to penalize and crack down on homeless camping in public areas. In addition to providing funding, the Governor’s executive…

Researchers at Boston College published an article in the journal Science on Thursday that has spelled trouble for the state of the Earth’s glaciers amid a continually rising global temperature. The survey called the finding of the retreat of Andean glaciers “unprecedented,” revealing that they had shrunk to their smallest size in more than 11,700 years. Glacier Melt Source: Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons Scientists have long predicted the consequences of global warming will extend to melting glaciers, but the rate of retreat the study found in four glaciers in the Andes Mountains still surprised researchers. Boston Associate Professor of Earth and…

Starbucks has experienced a disappointing second straight quarter as its US and international same-store sales have declined again. This quarter, global sales at the company have dropped 3% for stores open at least a year, and the coffee giant asserts that this sales slump may not end anytime soon as customers continue to reject the high price of dining out. North America and China Source: Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons According to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan, the global sales decline was driven primarily by two regions, China and North America. “Our global comparable store sales declined 3% year-over-year driven by a negative…

California Governor Gavin Newsom sent a letter declining to accept an approved pay raise for his government position in the context of budget issues plaguing the Golden State. His letter was written just before the California Citizens Compensation Commission voted to increase the salaries of all elected officials in the state by 3.5% in June. Newsom’s Letter Source: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons Newsom addressed the letter to Michael Sweet, the Chair of the California Citizens Compensation Commission. “First, I want to express my utmost respect for the independence and the important work of this commission,” Newsom wrote. “Your dedication to ensuring…