THE CENTER SQUARE—Americans—Democrats, Republicans, and independents—support both early voting policies as well as photo ID and proof of citizenship requirements for elections, according to a new poll. Despite the ongoing divide between elected Republicans and Democrats over requiring photo ID to vote, a whopping 86% of Americans support it. The poll comes just days from the presidential election with voting underway across the country. Support varied by political party, with 98% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats, and 84% of independents supporting requiring photo ID to vote. Another 83% of Americans support “requiring people who are registering to vote for the first time to provide proof of citizenship.” By party, 96% of Republicans, 66% of Democrats, and 84% of independents agree. Voter ID hits at the intersection of Republican concerns about election integrity and illegal immigration, which has soared in recent years. Many Republicans argue that illegal immigrant voting is a major issue and that those voters trend toward Democratic candidates. Some Democrats have pushed back on voter ID efforts, saying they are an attempt to suppress or discourage certain groups from voting and that illegal immigrants are not allowed to vote. Republicans have pushed back saying Democrat officials have found workarounds to not enforce restrictions on illegal immigrants voting. “Partisans’ views of most of the election law policies are generally stable; however, Democrats’ and Republicans’ opinions have each shifted significantly on one of them,” Gallup said. “Democrats are now 14 points more likely than they were in 2022 to support requiring photo identification to vote, and Republicans’ current 57% support for early voting—while not significantly different from 2022—is down from 74% in a 2016 survey.” The poll asked about other election policies as well: “Smaller majorities of Americans—60% each—favor automatic voter registration, whereby citizens are registered when they do business with state agencies such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, and sending absentee ballot applications to all eligible voters,” Gallup said. “In contrast, majorities of Americans oppose removing people from voter registration lists if they haven’t voted in any elections in five years (64%) and limiting the number of drop boxes or locations for returning absentee ballots (58%).” Originally published by The Center Square The post Poll: Most Americans Support Requiring Photo ID, Proof of Citizenship to Vote appeared first on The Daily Signal.

China benefits over America in a recent agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius over the sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago, seven atolls comprising about 60 islands in the Indian Ocean. The agreement’s end result is a strategic loss for the U.S. that releases the U.K.’s sovereign control over the archipelago to Mauritius, including the island of Diego Garcia—home to a key military base. The agreement includes U.K. support to Mauritius for economic welfare and maritime security in the archipelago. By maintaining an economic relationship with Mauritius, some British soft power is preserved. However, the deal leaves the Chagos Archipelago vulnerable to Chinese influence after over half a century of the U.K.’s stabilizing control over the islands in the Indian Ocean. Of most concern is the increased vulnerability of the strategically important U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands in the Chagos Archipelago. Known formally as the Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, it is a joint base used by the U.K. Royal Navy as well as the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. The base’s location makes it valuable for U.S. operations in the Indo-Pacific theater. Diego Garcia is about 1,000 miles south of the nearest land mass (Sri Lanka) and about halfway between East Africa and Indonesia, making the base a military asset for both the Middle Eastern and Asian areas of operation. Diego Garcia allows access so that ships and aircraft may be serviced as well as for intelligence-gathering on nearby adversaries. The military base there served as a logistical hub for U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, housing bomber aircraft that directly supported American operations. The island’s relatively small population also has allowed a veil of secrecy in military strategy, which now is threatened. The new sovereignty agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius doesn’t mean the end of U.K. and U.S. access to the military base on Diego Garcia. The deal allows the U.K. to exercise control of the base for the next 99 years, with Mauritius having sovereignty over the island. The U.K. officially says the agreement means that “the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure” for the first time in 50 years and argues that “without today’s agreement, the long-term, secure operation of the military base would be under threat.” However, the claim that access to the base was under threat before the agreement is dubious at best, and false at worst. Relinquishing access requires the U.K.’s consent, and Mauritius is incapable of denying access by force. Although the agreement may secure U.S. and U.K. military interests, it doesn’t deny the fact that Mauritius receives hefty subsidies from China that inevitably will creep into the Chagos Archipelago. In the past decade, Chinese investments in Mauritius have exceeded $1 billion. In 2019, Mauritius and China struck a Free Trade Agreement giving China economic access to accounting, architectural services, education, medical services, research and development, energy, real estate, port development, and artificial intelligence. Now that the Chagos Archipelago is under the sovereign control of Mauritius, Chinese influence inevitably will infiltrate the island chain, making it an important concern for the U.S. Should China control the islands’ infrastructure, energy, and ports, among other things, the communist regime would have improved access to gather intelligence on U.S. military assets. The U.S. should take keen notice of this likely possibility. In fact, the U.S.-U.K. military presence on Diego Garcia is the reason for lessened Chinese involvement on the island. A withdrawal of forces and a turnover of the base to Mauritius could create a vacuum that China likely would fill. Besides being a concern for U.S. national security, Chinese influence on the islands certainly will harm the Mauritian economy. Past examples of heavy dependence on China leading to economic and social disaster are seen throughout Latin America, including in Costa Rica, Argentina, and Ecuador. China uses economic coercion in the form of trade agreements to advance its own national interests, including military espionage, and abandons such deals as soon as its interests no longer align. The U.S. and U.K. must be wary of this fact. For the sake of national security, the United States must take appropriate measures to ensure that Mauritius reduces its dependence on China. The goal is to mitigate the risks posed by the boost to Chinese soft power in the U.K.-Mauritius agreement and to prevent future agreements that threaten U.S. interests, including U.K. control of Gibraltar. The post Why America Must Care About UK’s Deal With Mauritius in the Indian Ocean   appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Gallup: 84% of Americans Want This Protection for Democracy

Joe Rogan might be the most popular podcaster on the planet. He might be filthy rich and have connections in all the best places. He might be a certified bada** due to his long history of practicing martial arts and his heavy involvement in the UFC. But that doesn’t mean he’s not afraid of anything. On a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Rogan admitted that he’s actually terrified of something. Dave Rubin plays the clip. “The world scares the s**t out of me right now,” Rogan told his guest, retired mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson. Any person with the slightest inkling of what’s going on in the world surely agrees with that, but then, Rogan got more specific. “All it takes is one person to f***ing launch a nuke, and the world changes forever,” he said, pointing to the chaos in the Middle East and the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. However, when Trump was in office, Rogan insinuated that he didn’t have the same fear. Not only was Trump this “wheeling, dealing billionaire character that everybody enjoyed,” his regulations “certainly helped the economy.” “I feel like we were in a lot better spot then than now, for sure,” added Henderson. “Without a doubt,” Rogan agreed. “That's just one of the many examples where [Rogan] basically is like, ‘Trump would be better about that stuff,'” says Dave, adding that Rogan is indirectly pointing out that “we had peace in the Middle East under Donald Trump” largely because “he scared Iran a little bit and dropped the mother of all bombs.” But under the Biden regime, “Iran has been at it, the Middle East is hot, [and] Russia went into Ukraine.” To see the footage of Rogan and hear more of Dave’s commentary, watch the clip above. Want more from Dave Rubin?To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Donald Trump's shift at a Pennsylvania McDonald's caused a McFlurry of excitement online — with fans playfully naming him the leader destined to solve the country's most vexing fast-food frustration. "He's gonna fix America's ice cream machine," went one typical post on X, alluding to the oft out-of-order frozen treat dispensers — which a recent $900 million lawsuit places at the center of a vast corporate conspiracy. The chain has long been infamous for the frequency with which its soft-serve makers are on the fritz — so much so that in 2020, enterprising ice cream-lover Rashiq Zahid created McBroken, a website that tracks the status of McFlurry mixers in all 13,509 McDonald's in the United States. Shakes down At this writing, 14.72% of McDonald's ice cream machines across the country are broken. That includes 14.29% of all Dallas locations, 18.75% of Seattle's, and a chilling 32% of New York's. Many disgruntled franchise owners place the blame squarely on McDonald's — and the company that makes most of the machines. Until 2017, all McDonald's franchises were required to buy an ice cream maker made by the Illinois-based Taylor company; today, they have a few other options, but Taylor still controls most of the market. While Taylor makes soft-serve machines for other chains, the $18,000 C602 model it sells to McDonald's is made specifically for the Golden Arches — and requires a nightly four-hour cleaning cycle. PC load vanilla If anything goes wrong with that cycle, operators of the machine receive a vague error message and are forced to try the cycle again. If they can't get the machine working, they must order an expensive repair from an official Taylor technician. In 2018, food services conglomerate Middleby acquired Taylor. Its financial statements from that year reveal that 25% of its revenue comes from service calls and repairs — leading many disgruntled franchise owners to speculate that the company makes its machines breakdown-prone on purpose. In 2020, two entrepreneurs formed the startup Kytch in an attempt to put maintenance back in the hands of franchises. Kytch sold a small computer that attached to Taylor ice cream machines and "translated" confusing error messages into detailed and user-friendly troubleshooting information — often allowing the operators to fix the machine themselves. Franchises loved it, but soon, executives at Taylor intervened. In late 2020, they sent an email to franchises telling them not to use the device, claiming it could maim an employee by starting the machine remotely during cleaning. Kytch denied this. Sales dropped, however, and Kytch soon closed up shop. Iced out Kytch founders then served Taylor with a $900 million lawsuit, claiming the company employed corporate espionage to obtain a Kytch unit, then reversed-engineered it to make its own competing product — with an eye on driving Kytch out of business rather than solving McDonald's ice cream woes. While Kytch and Taylor have apparently reached a settlement, the case remains tied up in a dispute between Kytch's former law firm and its current one. Meanwhile, website iFixit did a teardown of one of the soft-serve units — and has teamed up with nonprofit Public Knowledge to file for an exemption with the U.S. Copyright Office allowing people to repair the Taylor machines — as well as other consumer and commercial devices — on their own. The case also brought renewed attention to iFixit's advocacy for state "right to repair" laws, which secure the right of the consumer to repair products he or she has purchased without restriction. As the media continues to cope and seethe over Trump's viral stint as a fast-food worker, it seems to have reopened discussion about our essential property rights — and the efforts of corporations to take them away. Not bad for 15 minutes spent slinging fries.

A union of journalists at the Los Angeles Times released a statement begging readers to stop canceling their subscriptions over a debacle between the owner and the editorial staff about a presidential endorsement. The Times editorial staff had endorsed Democrats for president since 2008 but didn't release any endorsements this year despite calling the election one of the most consequential of our lifetimes. A Semafor journalist then reported that the outlet's owner had ordered the staff to not issue an endorsement, which would likely be for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. 'We remain deeply concerned about The Times' owner's decision to block a planned endorsement, and his statement that unfairly shifts blame onto editorial board members.' The owner then said on social media that he had told them to list good and bad policies by each of the candidates and let the reader decide for themselves. "Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the Editorial Board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision," Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the L.A. Times, wrote. On Thursday, the Los Angeles Times Guild begged readers to stop canceling subscriptions over the controversy. "We know many loyal readers are angry, upset or confused, and some are canceling their subscriptions. Before you hit the "cancel" button: That subscription underwrites the salaries of hundreds of journalists in our newsroom. Our member-journalists work every day to keep readers informed during these tumultuous times," read the statement."A healthy democracy is an informed democracy. We remain deeply concerned about The Times' owner's decision to block a planned endorsement, and his statement that unfairly shifts blame onto editorial board members. We are pressing for answers," they added. "Meanwhile, our members continue doing their jobs: covering city hall, interviewing sources, investigating local corruption and putting out a newspaper every day." the union concluded. "We are proud of our members as they do this essential work." Mariel Garza, the former editorials editor at the L.A. Times, said that she was writing an endorsement for Harris when she was blind-sided by the decision from the owner. She has quit her job over the claims. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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