Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some very important stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
A respected newspaper reveals a huge surprise regarding their presidential endorsement policy, a vice presidential candidate weighs in on a number of crucial issues facing the nation, and a judge tosses out allegations made against the world’s richest man.
Also, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that a deadly infection linked to a popular fast food chain is spreading, and a California court issues a critical ruling that involves social media giants and your children.
Washington Post Stops Endorsement Practice
The publisher and CEO of the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post, William Lewis, just announced that the newspaper is returning to its roots and will not make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race. He went on to say that moving forward, this will be the official policy of the publication.In an opinion piece, Lewis said the organization recognizes that this decision might be interpreted in a number of ways, including as an implied endorsement of one candidate, the rejection of another, or as possibly, the newspaper abandoning its responsibility to make an official endorsement.
However, he said that the newspaper views the decision as being consistent with the values it has always stood for, and also with what the paper hopes for in a leader. The publisher went on to identify those values as “character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects.”
Lewis went on to say that the Post sees its decision as a statement in support of the ability of the newspaper’s readers to make up their own minds regarding “the most consequential of American decisions—whom to vote for as the next president.”
He also pointed out that stepping away from any endorsements would help The Washington Post in its efforts to be an independent paper in the nation’s capital that provides nonpartisan news for all Americans.
So you know, the Post did not offer endorsements for presidential candidates until 1976, and since then, the paper has endorsed only Democrats in every election except for 1988, when it didn’t back anyone at all.
The decision made by The Washington Post was announced after the Los Angeles Times and the Teamsters union both refrained from endorsing a presidential candidate this year.
5 Takeaways From JD Vance’s Michigan Town Hall
Earlier this week, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) answered questions from a cross-section of voters in Michigan during a town hall moderated by Chris Cuomo of NewsNation.Vance spoke about a number of topics, including abortion, the economy, and illegal immigration. The session also included a call-in from Trump, the Republican nominee for president.
Vance answered some questions about the challenges that American farmers are facing, and emphasized the need to protect them from foreign competition through tariffs. He also disputed claims by some experts that these costs would eventually be passed onto consumers, and said they’d been effective previously when Trump was in office.
The vice presidential nominee went on to discuss border security and illegal immigration, and he suggested that the U.S. military could be directed at the organized crime cartels that are operating at the southern border.
By the way, Vance suggested there is a split between people who feel that the American dream is attainable and those who believe it isn’t, and blamed the division on failed U.S. leadership. He also urged Americans not to lose friends or family because of political disagreements.
Throughout the conversation, the Ohio senator praised the impact of Trump’s policies, his stamina, and their position on abortion. He said that both he and Trump want to make it easier for people “to choose life,” and pointed out that this belief involves making it less expensive to raise children, including by lowering the costs of childcare.
Judge Throws Out Vote Payment Allegations Against Elon Musk
Earlier this week, a federal judge in Northern California turned away allegations that billionaire Elon Musk, who recently endorsed Trump, violated the law when he started giving away $1 million to one registered voter who signs his petition per day until the election.You should know that over the summer, a California resident filed the lawsuit, and in it, he accused Musk of violating both state laws and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
In a recent emergency motion, the plaintiff alleged that the billionaire’s announced million-dollar giveaways to voters in swing states violated federal law that prohibits paying people or offering to pay them to vote or even to simply register to vote.
The plaintiff accused the billionaire of trying to “swing the election” and argued that he should not be allowed to continue his giveaways.
The judge denied the motion, and pointed to an appeals court decision that concluded that there has to be a relationship between an injury claimed in a motion for relief and the conduct asserted in the lawsuit that presents it.
The judge said that there was not a relationship between the injury claimed by the plaintiff, the relief he was looking for, and the alleged conduct of Musk.
By the way, lawyers for Musk pointed out that the giveaways were only open to people who signed a petition in favor of free speech as well as the right to bear arms. They also said that the petition itself mentions that it’s only open to registered voters in certain swing states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
This just happened yesterday and in case you missed it, a political action committee formed by Musk gave away $1 million to a Wisconsin man and another million dollars to a man from Michigan.
McDonald’s E. Coli Outbreak Spreads to More States
The CDC says that an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers has now grown to 75 illnesses across 13 states, and that the real number of people sickened by the sandwich is likely higher than what’s already been reported.The CDC says that in the last few days, another 26 cases of E. coli have been reported, another dozen people have been hospitalized, and the outbreak has now spread to Michigan, New Mexico, and the state of Washington.
So you know, most of the E. coli cases linked to the McDonald’s outbreak have been reported in Colorado and Nebraska, but infections have also been reported in a number of other midwest and western states.
Symptoms of E. coli infections typically include severe stomach issues and most people recover within a week. However, severe cases can ultimately result in kidney failure, and so far, one person has already died from this latest outbreak.
By the way, the precise source of the outbreak has not yet been confirmed, but an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggests that slivered onions are most likely to blame.
So you know, Taylor Farms is the supplier of those onions for the affected McDonald’s locations, and that company has already launched a voluntary recall of their product.
A number of other food chains, including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, and Burger King, also say that for the time being, they’re going to remove fresh onions from some of their menu items, just to be on the safe side.
Meta, TikTok, and Google Face Lawsuits
A court in Northern California is allowing a number of school districts to sue Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and other social media companies over accusations that they all harm the mental health of children.The districts say that the actions of these companies force them to spend more resources to deal with the problems that students now face.
So you know, the judgment is part of an enormous multidistrict litigation that has consolidated hundreds of complaints filed by school districts, local governments, and state attorneys.
The defendants, which also include Snapchat and Instagram, had filed a motion to dismiss all of the complaints, but earlier this week, the judge ruled that certain claims related to the harming of minors will be allowed to move forward.
The plaintiffs allege that the defendants “deliberately” designed their social media platforms to encourage compulsive use and addiction in minors, and that their mental and physical health deteriorated as a result.
The school districts say that they have to spend more money now to deal with both mental health and behavioral issues that their students are dealing with because they’re addicted to social media. They also argue that its overuse has caused “significant disruption” in school operations and has interfered with their ability to educate children in a safe and secure manner.
The plaintiffs also say that the platforms don’t verify the age of their users, do not set up effective parental controls, and fail to adequately report potentially abusive material.
A spokesperson for Google, which owns YouTube, told The Epoch Times that the allegations in these complaints are “simply not true,” and that providing young people with a “safer, healthier experience” has been at the core of the company’s work.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re gonna call it a wrap for the Saturday edition (the weekend edition) of the Epoch Times News Brief.
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And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from the late great Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda, who said:
“There are three kinds of people in this world: people who make it happen, people who watch what happens, and people who wonder what happened.”
And what will happen tonight when the Dodgers host the Yankees in Game 2 of the World Series and first pitch is at 5:08 p.m. local time.
For all of us here at the Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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Enjoy the remainder of your Saturday, have a great weekend too and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of the Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
