All posts tagged: Harris

Darwin’s Journey: New Children’s Book from Humanist Author Bailey Harris

Darwin’s Journey: New Children’s Book from Humanist Author Bailey Harris

Bailey Harris, the eighteen-year-old secular activist and author of the children’s science book series Stardust, is preparing to release a new book, Darwin’s Journey. Bailey has never been afraid to take on creationists and science deniers, including her hilarious tour of the Ark Encounter. This new book builds on her work to help children and families understand the important concepts of evolution by natural selection, while fostering a sense of wonder at the amazing world we live in. She’s working to broaden her audience and gain exposure for the release of this new book through a Kickstarter, which you can support here. Bailey’s activism began one evening when she was eight years old, watching the television show Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey with her family. In that episode, host and narrator Neil deGrasse Tyson said, “The planets, the stars, the galaxies, we ourselves, and all of life—the same star stuff.” Bailey was so inspired by this idea that she immediately went to the family computer, opened a new document, and began writing what eventually became her first book, My …

Elon Musk mocks Ben Stiller with offensive Tropic Thunder reference over Kamala Harris support

Elon Musk mocks Ben Stiller with offensive Tropic Thunder reference over Kamala Harris support

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Elon Musk used an insensitive slur to ridicule Ben Stiller for his support of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. On Wednesday (November 27), a tweet from former investment banker and author John LeFevre went viral. In the post, he included a screenshot of a headline, which read: “Ben Stiller says woke America killed ‘edgier’ comedy,” alongside a photo of Stiller’s Tropic Thunder character. In the controversial 2008 satirical comedy, Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, a method actor known for his portrayal of an autistic farmer called Simple Jack. “Says this…. Endorsed Harris…,” LeFevre tweeted, referring to the headline. Fervent Trump supporter Musk, who the President-elect has hinted will play a role in his cabinet, reshared the post hours later, adding: “Damn he went full r*****.” Musk’s remark is likely a reference to a line from the movie said by Robert Downey Jr.’s character …

“You can’t explain your way out of this”: CNN panelists slam Harris campaign’s excuses for loss

“You can’t explain your way out of this”: CNN panelists slam Harris campaign’s excuses for loss

CNN panelists weren’t happy with the excuses made for  ‘ loss by top campaign staffers this week. A who’s who of the Harris campaign stopped by the podcast “Pod Save America” for an episode released on Tuesday that attempted to serve as a post-mortem of the election and an explanation of Harris’ stunning loss. Commentator Bakari Sellers and national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny both came away from the talk feeling that Democratic Party strategists had no interest in taking the blame for their own decisions.  “It was disappointing at best, hearing their lack of self-awareness, their lack of self-reflection,” Sellers said, laying into the staffers for a lack of clear messaging and for covering up flagging numbers. “[They showed an] inability to figure out a way in which you could win this race. Simply providing messaging and saying that we’re up whereby you don’t believe that in your heart of hearts to be true.” Zeleny was equally harsh in his critique of the campaign staffers’ analysis. “You can’t explain your way out of this loss,” he …

Harris, Democracy, and the Matter of Mimesis

Harris, Democracy, and the Matter of Mimesis

I admit: I am sick of politics. But since Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee for president, I have become quite attached to my “sickness.” As a white, ciswoman, mid-career academic, I admittedly have the privilege of becoming disenchanted—shaking my head in disgust at vitriol from media outlets on the right and rolling my eyes at the oh-so-earnest self-righteous talking heads on the left. But more recently, I’ve gone from being disenchanted to being downright incredulous. Bracketing my critical view of electoral politics and the impossibility of choice in a (effectively) two-party system in general, as of October 14, 2024, an NBC News Poll shows Harris tied with Trump for the popular vote. . In a recent New York Times op-ed, Todd Purdum suggests that what the electorate really wants is to hear Harris’s answers to important policy questions that she keeps dodging. I would generally love some thoughtful answers to these questions, too. But, seriously? Why is Harris the one who has to prove her bona fides? Since when has political campaigning been about …

Gathering Gloom at the Harris Party

Gathering Gloom at the Harris Party

The vibe shifted sometime around 10:30 p.m. Eastern. For several hours beforehand, the scene at the Howard University Yard had been jubilant: all glitter and sequins and billowing American flags. The earrings were big, and the risers were full. Men in fraternity jackets and women in pink tweed suits grooved to a bass-forward playlist of hip-hop and classic rock. The Howard gospel choir in brilliant-blue robes performed a gorgeous rendition of “Oh Happy Day,” and people sang along in a way that made you feel as if the university’s alumna of the hour, Kamala Harris, had already won. But Harris had not won—a fact that, by 10:30, had become very noticeable. As the evening drew on, the clusters of giddy sorority sisters and VIP alumni stopped dancing, their focus trained on the projector screens, which were delivering a steady flow of at best mediocre and sometimes dire news for Democrats. No encouragement had yet come from those all-important blue-wall states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Somewhere between Georgia turning red and Senator Ted Cruz demolishing Colin …

Azealia Banks Says She’s Voting for Kamala Harris Because Elon Musk Is an “Overrated Ketamine Addict”

Azealia Banks Says She’s Voting for Kamala Harris Because Elon Musk Is an “Overrated Ketamine Addict”

“Very f*cking dangerous.” Hater’s Ball Despite her prior endorsement of Donald Trump, rapper and reactionary shock jock Azealia Banks now says she’s voting for Kamala Harris — if only to avoid giving her mortal enemy Elon Musk any more power. During a lengthy screed that references Musk’s toxic on-off relationship with her one-time collaborator Claire “Grimes” Boucher, Banks tweeted that she “will be Voting For Kamala Harris tomorrow because Elon Musk (a fucking overrated Ketamine addict) belongs [nowhere] near American Politics.” The “212” rapper has a long history of beef with the wealthy Trump campaign surrogate, and has taken potshots about his oft-admitted drug use before. Back in 2018, Banks live-tweeted what she said was a bizarre stay at Musk’s Los Angeles house after Boucher purportedly invited her over to work on music together. According to long-expired Instagram stories, the New York-born rapper was left there alone “for days” while Grimes “coddled her boyfriend for being too stupid to know not to go on twitter on acid” — a seeming reference to Musk’s fateful tweet …

Trump Or Harris? Turkey’s Government Can’t Decide Which Would Be Best

Trump Or Harris? Turkey’s Government Can’t Decide Which Would Be Best

Via Middle East Eye There are four days left until the US presidential election and the Turkish leadership in Ankara is split over which candidate they favor. Turkish officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to Middle East Eye, believe either of the two outcomes would have a consequential impact on Turkey’s foreign policy, as well as regional and global dynamics.  Many observers in Turkey believe President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is awaiting the election results in the United States before making his own policy decisions, even over his cabinet staffing. Yet, officials have been particularly and unusually tight-lipped about their preferred candidate in this campaign period. Via AFP Erdogan’s only public outreach to either of the candidates was to Donald Trump via a phone call after the former president was shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania in July.  Media reports claimed in September that Erdogan tried to set up a meeting with Kamala Harris on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, but several Turkish officials denied it.  “Some officials have floated the idea but …

Kamala Harris Advertisement Draws Inspiration from Carrie Mae Weems

Kamala Harris Advertisement Draws Inspiration from Carrie Mae Weems

As part of her national campaign advertisements, Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris was lent imagery from artist Carrie Mae Weems‘s landmark “Kitchen Table” series from 1990. The video, titled Kamala’s Table, began airing on October 30 on streaming and digital platforms in key battleground states. Weems most recently made headlines last month for receiving a National Medal of Arts. Her famed “Kitchen Table” series shows Black women posing around a kitchen table, with the artist herself appearing in these photographs. The Harris ad, which is aimed at working-class Black, Latino, Asian and women voters, shows photographs of the Democratic Presidential candidate during her childhood and on the campaign trail in an effort to support the Democratic candidate at the polls on November 5. Related Articles “The kitchen table. It’s where we gather with family. It’s where we eat together, pay our bills. It’s where Kamala Harris learned the importance of serving the people,” the voiceover explains. The ad then continues to outline some of Harris’s key election promises, among them family tax credits and a proposal …

Emhoff on Trump’s personal attacks of Harris: ‘As a husband, it pisses me off’ but ‘we cannot be distracted by it’

Emhoff on Trump’s personal attacks of Harris: ‘As a husband, it pisses me off’ but ‘we cannot be distracted by it’

Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, said former President Trump’s personal attacks against his wife, Vice President Harris, make him angry, but they can’t let it distract them from the goal of winning the White House. “As a husband, it pisses me off. But as a first gentleman, someone who hopes to be the first gentleman,… Source link

How Trump Is Baiting Harris

How Trump Is Baiting Harris

He and his campaign keep pushing the bounds of decency in an effort to provoke a reaction. Angela Weiss / AFP / Getty October 30, 2024, 7:10 PM ET This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. This is the time for closing arguments from Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. But Trump’s closing argument is not a closing argument at all: It’s an invitation. He and his campaign are acting in hopes of provoking Harris, pushing her to muddle her final message. The statements and sentiments on display from the Trump campaign this past week, and particularly at Sunday night’s rally at Madison Square Garden, have been racist, xenophobic, and violent. To note a few: The comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, invited by the Trump campaign, called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” The radio personality Sid Rosenberg described the Democratic Party as “a bunch of degenerates, lowlifes,” …