The United States Presidential Election Results

 

Former President Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States. Kamala Harris won 244 electoral votes. Donald Trump obtained at total of 277. The 2024 US presidential election was unique. President Joseph Biden was forced out of the race and Kamala Harris became the nominee. There was not open primary or an open convention. The Democratic Party sets the rules on how they select their nominee, but some question the process during this election cycle. Kamala Harris in her first attempt to run for president was not successful. The failure to address Israel's wars on Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran alienated the Arab American community. Economic factors were a large indicator of the election outcome. Inflation, layoffs, and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic damaged her campaign. Combined with a housing crisis and an increase in migrants frustrations  grew among the public. Donald Trump was able to exploit public discord. The criminal cases against him did not end his presidential campaign. Instead it energized his base. Kamala Harris ran a basic anti-Trump platform, but more detailed policies were needed. The error was seeking to replace the progressive vote with suburban women. Simultaneously, Donald Trump was able get more Latino and African American voters. The gender divide was evident. More men voted for Donald Trump. As the United States becomes more diverse, elections are going to get more complicated. Polls have the tendency to view groups as a monolith. Those who were Democrats defected to voting for Donald Trump. The 2024 US presidential election was in a way a referendum on the Biden administration's performance. Kamala Harris could not distance herself from his policies. The failure to address economic, international affairs, and domestic issues  resulted in Kamala Harris' loss. Donald Trump now is the second president to win two non-consecutive terms. Grover Cleveland first did this in the US presidential  election of 1892. 

Internet Archive Resumes Operation

 

Internet Archive suffered three major hacking attacks. This exposed e-mails of  users of the website. Cyberattacks are a serious threat to various organizations. The reason this was such a concern was due to the amount of information Internet Archive contains. The website has collected webpages, printed material, and video from the decades. The Internet Archive has in a way been recording history. The October hacking attacks are a reminder that physical media should also be preserved. Otherwise information could be lost forever. Hackers were able to take advantage of a security flaw. Zendesk API tokens were not unrotated. What the Zendesk API token is used for password authentication. This also involves management of support tickets. The Internet Archive did not take proper security measures to prevent this type of breach. The Internet Archive has been operating since 1996 with the objective of providing "universal access to all knowledge." Audio files, software, and music are part of the massive digital  archive. The first indication of vulnerability was in 2022 with the Gitlab token. An estimated total of 31 million users were effected. The motivations of the hackers are unclear. The intent could either be for phishing or selling personal information to third parties. Various hacker groups have attacked Internet Archive. Internet Archive suffered a distributed denial of service attack. Hackers flood a website with traffic, which blocks regular users from getting access. This explains why it took so long to resume operation.  

North Korean Involvement in The Russia-Ukraine War

 

Reports have been circulating that North Korea has sent Russia troops to Ukraine. Russia and North Korea have become more close over the years. Despite the fact Russia abandoned communism in 1991, North Korea sees the Russia alliance as critical. North Korea has been forced into isolation through sanctions and the United Nations. Video was also posted showing North Korean soldiers putting on gear with Russian soldiers. The North Korean forces are allegedly active in Kursk. Ukraine launched attacks inside of Russia. As the proxy war expands, more countries will get involved. North Korea's motivation could be a way to prevent future attacks by NATO. North Korea could be subject to a NATO intervention. Another motive is to get access to Ukraine's wheat. North Korea struggles with food security. Getting access to Ukrainian wheat could solve this problem. South Korea might react by supporting Ukraine with troops. North Korea and South Korea have been in a state of war since the Cold War. That would mean the tension on the Korean peninsula would spill over into Eastern Europe. NATO and South Korea have given conflicting numbers about the total number of North Korean forces. South Korea has stated it could be a total of 12,000 North Korean forces. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte put the number at 10,000. The numbers might be exaggerated for other reasons. It might be used as a justification for EU countries to attack North Korea. North Korea entering the war does not change the status in Eastern Europe. The Russian Federation is getting closer to winning the conflict. North Korea most likely is acting as a substitute for Belarus. Belarus did not send its forces to Ukraine. North Korea possibly going there as minor auxiliary support.   

The Halloween Candy Poisoning Myth

 

The fear that people are passing out poisoned candy is a myth. Parents still are concerned about their children getting poisoned from Halloween candy. The only documented case of a child being killed by poisoned Halloween candy was in 1974. Ronald Clark O' Bryan murdered his son by contaminating his candy with cyanide. The motivation of Ronald Clark was to collect a life insurance policy worth $ 31,000. Law enforcement erroneously thought it was done by a stranger. Despite rare cases of children being poisoned during Halloween, the media created a panic. Parents became terrified, even if the criminal act was not by a random stranger. The majority of crimes that happen on Halloween are either theft or vandalism. Children are at low risk from harm. A random stranger would be caught if they attempted such an act. Assuming they are living at a permanent residence, all an investigator would need to to is retrace the steps of the homes visited. Depending on the number of homes visited it would a large number of suspects. The parents accompanying their children would have seen the faces of those distributing candy. Moral panics are a projection of   anxieties of the public. Regardless of facts, the public will be more responsive to sensationalist news reporting. The hysteria about poisoned candy relates to a myth about Halloween sadism. The myth claims that the holiday sees an increase in crime and depravity. Data does not show that more crime occurs on Halloween. The public continues to believe the Halloween candy poisoning myth, even though criminology discredits it.  

The Democratic Republic of the Congo Seeks Changes To The Constitution

The Democratic Republic of the Congo might be seeking to change the DRC  Constitution. President Felix Tshisekedi revealed a commission is being set up to draft a new constitution.  The argument made is that the current DRC Constitutions has certain flaws. President Tshisekedi asserts that it was originally drafted by foreigners. This was done as a measure to help stabilize the country after the Second Congolese Civil War from 1998 to 2003. The concern by some is that it could extend presidential terms or alter the term limits. The presidency is somewhat limited in comparison to regional governments and parliament. The desire for more centralization could be a means of preventing future civil wars. The M23 rebel attacks evoke memories of previous civil wars. Reforms could also be made in the electoral system. This should not generate condemnation as long as it ensures all citizens can vote. The current DRC Constitution has been used since 2006. A total of six constitutions the DRC has used. The seventh version would probably be used either late 2025 or 2026. This will certainly be a topic of debate in the next presidential election. A new constitution would not be a problem if the intent was known. A pattern with some African nations is that constitutional reforms are a way to extend presidential power. The political opposition rejects the DRC constitutional commission for this reason.   

 

The 2024 BRICS Summit

 

BRICS met for its sixteenth summit in 2024. It was hosted in Kazan, Russia. BRICS is expanding with more nations seeking to join. The challenge is that there are some tensions between some members. Venezuela and Brazil are experiencing a decline in diplomatic  relations. Brazil vetoed Venezuela's entry into BRICS. President Lula Da Silva questioned Venezuela's election results and appears to be drifting further away from President Nicolas Maduro. China and India do have border disputes. The atmosphere was different. Global South nations are asserting their economic independence. Since 2009 BRICS was an informal association of emerging economies in Asia, South America, and Africa. Since then it has become an important factor in the world economy. Attempts made by NATO to isolate Russia internationally were not successful. Seeing as the Russian Federation faces hostility from the European Union, diplomatic ties are sought elsewhere. A growing movement has emerged for creating a new currency and replacing the dollar. African and Asian nations are going to be a great force in the 21st century. Natural resources and a new currency are methods of challenging the dominance of EU countries. More members can be an advantage, but it brings complications. Argentina was set to join, yet reversed it decision. The reason was the country elected a right-wing libertarian President Javier Milei. Saudi Arabia has not taken the offer to become a member. Being a member of BRICS remaining western aligned would be difficult. Most EU countries and the United States see BRICS as an adversary. BRICS could also shield against sanctions unfairly placed on countries from Europe and North America. The 2024 BRICS summit marks an important geopolitical shift.   

Veoh Will Cease Operation

 

Veoh will end its operations in November. The video sharing website was another alternative to users who did not want to use Youtube. Options are becoming limited as it appears video sharing transforms into a monopoly. Those who have Veoh accounts will not lose their uploaded videos. The owner of Veoh known as FC2 inc.  will transfer accounts to its host portal website. Users can opt to not have accounts and data transferred. Veoh launched around 2005, the same year as Youtube. The question remains why did it fail to be a formidable competitor. Certain business decisions, disputes over copyright, and marketing are possible factors. Users are least not likely to try a video sharing service they are unfamiliar with. When Google purchased Youtube, the company got an advantage. Algorithms could be adjusted to feature Youtube at the top of the search engine list. Veoh was accused of copyright violations related to music and various videos. The copyright cases ruled in Veoh's favor that they were taking required steps to stop copyright violations. When it came to marketing, Veoh was not as recognizable. More people would have knowledge about other platforms than Veoh. Attempts to attract content creators were limited. Poor choices related to business resulted in layoffs and filing chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010. The venture capital arrangements were not utilized to a degree that made the company secure. Veoh could have rivaled Realplayer. The problem was the Veoh Player was prone to glitches and was not that innovative. Although Veoh will no longer exist, its contributions to early video sharing cannot be underestimated. Video sharing has become a major part of the tech industry.