Politics

Here is where President-elect Donald Trump stands on 75 policy issues

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President Trump standpoint on 75 policy issues
Find out where President-elect Donald Trump stands on 75 issues, according to his own statements.

It happened. Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States and it is important that the American people know where he stands on issues that will impact their lives. ProCon.org has spent the last year finding President-elect Donald Trump’s  statements on 75 policy issues from death penalty (pro) and same-sex marriage (con) to fracking (pro) and oil company subsidies (con) to medical marijuana (pro) and closing Guantanamo (con). ProCon’s  staff of professional researchers have scoured articles, speeches, interviews, transcripts to help Americans get a better understand of the mindset of Trump. Here is where Trump stands on 75 issues according to his own statements. If he changed his position on an issue, ProCon.org includes his most current statement along with his prior statement(s).

This research was compiled as part of our nonpartisan 2016 presidential election coverage at ProCon.org. They did the same extensive research on statements from Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein. You can compare all their views in a side-by-side candidate chart. This comparison chart was viewed more than 3 million times this election season.

 About ProCon.org

ProCon.org is a 501c3 nonprofit educational resource that serves 25 million people annually with professionally researched pros, cons, and related information on 50+ controversial issues from immigration and marijuana to health care and minimum wage. The organization’s research has been referenced by 24 international governments, 34 state governments, 500+ books, 2,000+ media entities (ABC to Wired, MSNBC to Fox, Forbes to Washington Post), and by educators in more than 8,300 schools in all 50 states and 87 countries.  With more than 12,000 pages of highly curated content, ProCon.org provides a platform for people to question information, evaluate opposing views, and debate them in a respectful way. Their innovative, digital education website has become a leading source for unbiased information and civic education for students, educators, legislators, journalists, and the general public.

In this recent election cycle, they provided some of the most comprehensive and popular research on ballot issues from marijuana and minimum wage to death penalty and gun control.

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Politics

Allied Progress makes Trump accountable for his promise to protect Americans

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During President-elect Donal J. Trump’s campaign,  he promised to protect hard-working Americans from big banks, Wall Street, and powerful special interests that politicians cater to. Will Trump as President live up to those promises? The group Allied Progress, a nationwide nonprofit grass root organization that uses hard-hitting research and creative campaigns to hold powerful special interests accountable and empower hardworking Americans, has the intention to make Trump keep his word with accountability checks. Allied Progress director Karl Frisch made a statement about Trump keeping his promise:

“Among other things, President-elect Trump’s campaign was built on the notion that big banks, financial institutions, powerful special interests, and the corrupt politicians that do their bidding have taken advantage of America’s working class. On this we can agree. Unfortunately, as is all too often the case, those who gain power can become captive to the very special interests that they once derided.”
In the weeks and months ahead, Allied Progress will hold the President-elect’s transition and eventual administration accountable for its cabinet and staffing decisions as well as the policies it pursues. The following questions will help show if Trump will follow through with this promises:
  1. Who will President-elect Trump appoint to his cabinet?
  2. Who will he hire to carry out his agenda?
  3. What will Trump do to government agencies responsible for holding big banks and financial institutions accountable?

At the end of the day, Americans hope the next President will help millions of Americans who are struggling to get by. Can President-elect Trump help the American people? Follow Allied Progress on Facebook and Instagram to see how he is held accountable and whether he will abandon his call for real change and instead favor powerful special interests he lambasted on the campaign trail.

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Politics

Ed Asner Raves that ‘Free and Equal’s ‘ Presidential Debate gave Election Dignity

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Many Americans believe this presidential campaign will go down as one of the most negative presidential campaigns in US history but actor Ed Asner gives rave reviews to the Free and Equal Foundation’s Presidential Debate for the People, that took place in Boulder, Colorado. “Rocky” Roque De La Fuente (the Reform Party’s and the American Delta Party’s nominee), Darrell Castle (Constitution Party), and Gloria LaRiva (Party for Socialism and Liberation) all participated. Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, who took part in 2012, and Evan McMullin were no-shows.

The debate, which was co-moderated by Asner reached an estimated 150 million people through online steaming and media channels.  “You gave this election dignity,” said the iconic actor and activist to the candidates at the conclusion of the event. Here is the full debate:

The People’s Presidential Debate is unique in that Free and Equal invites all candidates who gain ballot access in enough states to reach 15% of the electoral vote. Free and Equal Co-Founder, Christina Tobin, was ecstatic about how the event debate shaped up.  “We’re excited to announce our 2017 United We Stand Fest CONCERT in Colorado next year which will be the kick-off for our 2018 United We Stand Fest Concert University Tour! Our focus is to inspire people to replace political parties with Independent accountable candidates targeting 2018 Congressional elections.” The debate was the highlight of the United We Stand Festival that featured a host of speakers and performances by musicians including Ky-Mani Marley, Flobots, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Spragga Benz, and Earth Guardians.

About the Free & Equal Elections Foundation:

The Free & Equal Elections Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization, whose mission is to broaden electoral choices through education and direct positive action.

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Politics

Twitter Usage of Trump Vs. Hillary Clinton |SHSU Research

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During the second presidential debate on Oct. 9, candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were asked about Twitter and, specifically, their discipline in using the social media tool. “Tweeting happens to be a modern form of communication,” Trump said. “I’m not unproud of it, to be honest with you.” Twitter as a topic of discussion in a presidential debate shows how far it has come since President Barack Obama started using social media as a way to engage with voters in his 2008 presidential campaign. Eight years later, Twitter has blown up as a powerful tool for politicians to immediately get their messages across to the public and to control, and sometimes fix, their images. But as politicians turn to Twitter resource, the effect and the messaging is still unquantified, which is why in 2012, Sam Houston State University political science associate professor Heather Evans set out to examine the effect of social media in campaigning.

Evans and one of her classes started researching Twitter involvement with the U.S. House races by following all of the candidates to examine what politicians tweeted. With the current presidential election, Evans and two students are continuing this research to see if there is any gender differences in what Clinton and Trump are tweeting. The trio have been working since June to collect tweets from Clinton and Trump and plan to continue the research until election night. After four months, Evans, junior political science major Kayla Brown and senior political science major Tiffany Wimberly have discovered that Clinton’s campaign uses Twitter in a variety of ways, including tweeting about more political issues than Trump and focusing more on her opponent than he does.

“When I sat down with all this data and ran some basic statistics, the differences automatically popped out,” Evans said. “She is tweeting more than he is. She is attacking him more than he is her; he is attacking everyone, and she is not attacking anyone else except him. They are tweeting in this completely opposite way.” Evans said she was not surprised by the negativity of Clinton’s tweets.

“Clinton’s attacking nature is explained with the ‘Out Party’ hypothesis. In a book by David Karpf called ‘The Move On Effect,’ he explained how the outside party draws to any type of new media to get a leg up on their opponent,” Evans said. “The underdog attacks more to get people’s attention.”

Evans said many women running for political office use this tactic, whether they are the incumbent or are running for the first time.  “I believe it is because they see themselves as outsiders,” Evans said. According to Evans, the most unexpected thing that she has found in her research is that neither Clinton nor Trump is tweeting about the issues more.

“I would think that Trump would be copying whatever Clinton is doing,” Evans said. “If she is talking about issues and he wants to be opposing her, he could talk about the same issue in a different way or take a different position. I was surprised by the lack of issue position on his page, compared to her.”

Evans said Trump’s tweets have focused on terrorism and immigration—and about 10 percent of his tweets involve criticizing the media—while Clinton has focused on “male” and “female” issues.

“‘Female issues’ are traditionally defined as issues that disproportionately affect women as a group more than men, issues like education, healthcare, welfare, abortion, domestic violence, and equality,” Evans said. “‘Male issues’ are traditionally economic in nature—taxes, budget—or foreign policy—war, terrorism. Gun control is also a ‘male issue.’”And despite all of the data that shows that Clinton is tweeting more, Trump tends to get more media attention.

“When I tell people that she is tweeting double what he is tweeting, they are all shocked,” Evans said. “They are only hearing about him. He is getting more air time than she is. She is not really getting any.” This could be because Clinton’s Twitter account is handled largely by a team, while Trump has a more active hand in his account.

“Research is showing that if you look at all the tweets he is sending, half of the tweets are from an iPhone and half on them are from an Android,” Evans said. “The tweets coming from the Android are him, and the Android tweets are those that we would define as ‘off-the-cuff,’ 3 a.m. tweets.  The iPhone tweets (from his staff) are professional.”

This fall, the team has incorporated an interview treatment into their Twitter research, through which Evans hopes to find out some of the reasons Trump may be acting the way he does.

“We might be able to see if the interviewers are treating him differently, which is leading to why he is being so negative,” Evans said.

Evans said the research results might be different if Trump wasn’t running.

“He is not acting like everybody else,” Evans said. “Whereas other politicians will talk about their policy stances on multiple things that are before Congress, he is very, very different. If you go and look at Marco Rubio, or if you want to go back and grab tweets from John McCain in 2008, their tweets were very different than Trump’s.”

The work may be long and tiring, but Evans said she also finds it amusing and educational for students. It’s also of interest internationally, having been highlighted several times by the London School of Economics.

“I enjoy working with students on these projects because they get to see political science in action,” Evans said. “Students begin to make connections between what we are reading and what we are seeing on Twitter.  In my research project with Tiffany and Kayla, we are pushing the discipline forward regarding the gendered use of Twitter in campaigns.

“It also is really fun research,” Evans said. “I like reading and analyzing the tweets. The students really enjoy it too.”

Highlights:

•   Trump and Clinton use Twitter in “completely opposite way(s)”

•   Clinton tweets more than Trump; Trump’s tweets get more attention

•   Clinton attacks Trump more; Trump attacks “everyone”

•   Trump focuses on terrorism, immigration and the media; Clinton focuses on both “male” and “female” issues

•   Clinton’s Twitter account is handled largely by her team; Trump plays a larger role in his account

•   Trump tweets with an Android; his team uses an iPhone

•   Women candidates attack their opponent more via Twitter, as explained by the “Out Party” hypothesis

 

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Black Community Empowerment, Politics

Complexities of auditing, polling, & voter behavior in election cycle

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As we experience the election cycle many voters describe it as a contentious, confusing political environment where statistics hold key for trust, integrity and efficiency in the political cycle. To help you get a better grasp of this election cycle, the American Statistical Association (ASA) provides resources on hand to explain the complexities of auditing, polling, and voter behavior. Between accusations of irregularities during the primary  elections, concerns about disenfranchisement, voter intimidation tactics and fears of hacking into electronic voting machines, the presidential election campaign season has been a source of contention and confusion for the public, prognosticators and policymakers, alike. But statistics—the science of learning from data—can help support trust and transparency for voters, election officials and the process itself.

According to Jessica Uttts,president of the American Statistical Association (ASA), “Elections are an incredibly complex and powerful dynamic in American democracy, and voters deserve to know that the responsibility they take seriously proceeds with integrity. Whether it’s explaining differences between polling forecasts and Election Day results or how polls may be misinterpreted, statistics can help explain discrepancies and validate electoral processes and outcomes, thereby assuring greater levels of voter confidence in the entire system.” Right now the talk, rhetoric and attacks on the electoral process, critical distinctions about what might go wrong, why and who is responsible are often ignored.

Decades-long research shows that ‘voter fraud’ (when a person who is not eligible to vote impersonates a legitimate voter at the polling booth) is essentially nonexistent. Arlene Ash, professor and division chief of biostatistics and health services research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School says the “Electoral malpractice, however, is quite common, and can take place in many forms, such as misleading ballot designs, computer malfunctions and security breaches, long voting lines, misleading information about polling locations, poorly maintained voting lists and overly aggressive voter list purges.”

For example, claims of election fraud have long been part of the nation’s history, and so it’s possible that some may occur in present day. Philip Stark, professor of statistics and associate dean of mathematical and physical sciences at the University of California, Berkeley has said “Paperless voting technology, which cannot be audited or recounted meaningfully, is used in 25% of the country. Most jurisdictions that do have paper records, however, do not check the results against the paper trail adequately, if at all. We need better methods to make sure the integrity of elections.” That’s where election audits come into play.

One of the most effective methods for ensuring voter confidence in elections is to conduct post-election audits. Poorly marked ballots, computer glitches and voting system configuration errors can make machine vote counts diverge from voters’ intentions. By comparing hand counts of randomly selected ballots with machine tallies, statistics can find large sources of errors that can be targeted for future fixing and discern (from a smaller sample) whether a complete hand count would produce the same winners. In this way, election audits can both support integrity and save taxpayers money. Experts in the area of election audits include the following:

  • Arlene Ash, Professor and Division Chief of Biostatistics and Health Services Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
    In December of 2000, she testified in the absentee ballot fraud case in Martin County, Florida. Ash was instrumental in leading the ASA’s election auditing work and was head of the ASA’s Scientific and Public Affairs Subcommittee on Electoral Integrity.

 

  • Mark Lindeman, Political Scientist Who Studies Public Opinion and Elections
    He presently lectures at Columbia University in quantitative methods and led the recent revision of the multidisciplinary textbook Public Opinion. Lindeman has extensively studied popular controversies in election forensics, such as the argument that exit poll results show election fraud. An expert in the design of post-election vote tabulation audits, especially risk-limiting audits, he has published extensively about such audits (often in collaboration with Philip B. Stark) and has consulted pro bono with advocates and legislators in several states and the District of Columbia. He serves as chair of the Coordinating Committee of the Election Verification Network.

 

  • Walter R. Mebane Jr., Professor of Political Science and Statistics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    His current focus is election forensics, which aims to develop statistical and computational tools for detecting anomalies and diagnosing fraud in election results. He has written papers on the 2000 presidential election, produced a report on the 2004 presidential election in Ohio for the Democratic National Committee and conducted analyses of election fraud in Russia and likely fraud in Iran’s 2009 election.

 

  • Philip B. Stark, Professor of Statistics and Associate Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley
    The originator of “risk-limiting audits,” he has worked with California and Colorado secretaries of state and helped conduct risk-limiting audits in nearly 20 counties. Stark testified about election integrity before the California legislature and at trial in a contested election. He now sits on the development team for the Travis County, Texas, STAR-Vote system, which combines auditability with end-to-end cryptographic verifiability.

 

Polling

When conducted scientifically, polls capture what a portion of the population thinks at a given time. However, poorly constructed polls—ones with large margins of error that contain biased questions or are not conducted on randomly selected samples—can be misleading. As poll results are often highly touted or quickly dismissed by campaigns and often cited by media, the importance of understanding their purpose, results and limitations cannot be overstated.

“There are many potential sources of error in electoral polling,” notes Rob Santos, chief methodologist at the Urban Institute. “The technical explanations, however, mask fundamental ones—things like social and technological changes that affect how the public consumes polls and how pollsters conduct them—that are driving inaccuracies.” Santos gives the following advice about polls: “Much like we do with stock tips or sports picks, we should consider the source before trusting a poll.” Experts in the area of polling include the following:

  • Rob Santos, Chief Methodologist at the Urban Institute
    Santos has more than 35 years of experience designing research and evaluation studies. His expertise includes qualitative and quantitative research design, sampling, survey operations and statistical analysis. He served as 2014 president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and is now vice president of the American Statistical Association (ASA). He is a fellow of the ASA and recipient of its prestigious Founders Award.

 

  • David Morganstein, Vice President and Statistical Staff Director at Westat
    He specializes in the design and application of surveys and systems of evaluation, quality control, statistical analysis and estimation. He has worked with more than 50 organizations around the world in the teaching and use of statistical methods for quality assurance and improvement. He served as president of the ASA in 2015.

 

  • Mack Shelley, Professor and Chair of the Department of Statistics at Iowa State University
    His research interests include public policy, program evaluation, American politics, electronic governing, social statistics, multivariate methods, time series and forecasting, linear models and survey research methods. He served as co-editor of the Policy Studies Journal and associate editor of the Journal of Information Technology and Politics.

 

About the American Statistical Association: The ASA is the world’s largest community of statisticians and the oldest continuously operating professional science society in the United States. Its members serve in industry, government and academia in more than 90 countries, advancing research and promoting sound statistical practice to tell public policy and improve human welfare. For more information, please visit www.amstat.org.

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Dating, Politics, Women Empowerment

Co-founder of UltraViolet Action comments on Donald Trump’s new campaign CEO’s 1996 domestic violence charge

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One of many nightmares a woman may have in her lifetime is becoming a victim of domestic violence. Sometimes it happens in an interaction with a family member or a close friend, other times it’s a romantic partner. And it’s easy to feel trapped, helpless in a situation when the domestic violence happens by the hands of someone a woman he taught will protect and love her.

Recently, POLITICO reported that Donald Trump’s new campaign CEO, Stephen K. Bannon, was charged with domestic violence, battery and dissuading a witness in 1996.  The charges were eventually dropped due to witness unavailability. In reaction to the news, Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet Action, a national women’s advocacy organization, issued a statement on feeling troubled but sadly not surprised that Donald Trump’s campaign is ran by a man accused of domestic violence.

Chaudhary said, “First it was Corey Lewandowski who physically assaulted a female reporter. Then it was Roger Ailes, a serial sexual predator. Now it is Steve Bannon.” Chaudhary believe by Trump surrounding himself with men like Lewandowski, Ailes and Bannon, he is showing women, and all voters, exactly what kind of person he is and exactly what kind of President he’ll be. More over Chaudhary stated “As Senator Elizabeth Warren has said, personnel is policy. The hiring, and standing by, of men who have records of abusing women once again shows how he is unfit to be President.”

About UltraViolet Action: The online community of over 1,000,000 women and men supports those who want to take collective action to expose and fight sexism in the public sector, private sector and the media. You can find out more at WeAreUltraViolet.org.

 

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Black Community Empowerment, Community Empowerment, Politics

Opinion: Police Brutality towards Black Men

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Being a black life in the world, not just America, has never been valued highly. I’m not sure why it’s been like that but it’s the world. But just because that’s the way it is, it doesn’t mean we should ignore the call to action to reform law enforcement culture. For those saying the shootings and killings of blacks by police is a “black issue”, it’s not just blacks complaining or suffering from police brutality. And it’s not going to change until we have a society well-informed about their civil rights/ human rights and know what they don’t have to put up with.

Just because someone is in a place of power doesn’t mean his or her actions are right. This goes for both law enforcement , corporate America labor abuse and personal relationships. Knowledge is power. Don’t let the system abuse your rights. Not all cops are bad and not all blacks are bad or criminals. People need to judge by character and situation in how we deal with each other both professionally and personally. Misunderstandings can be lethal if we’re blinded by our own perspectives.

So what do I think is one of many solutions we can act upon? I think We need more community cops who actually live in the communities they serve. Maybe this should be similar in the fashion doctors complete  residency or how people serve in Teach for America– directly interacting with said community for an amount of years. I believe this style of training community cops can really help them get to know community members so they will care about those lives and not be trigger happy.

When we know community, we build great community.

 

  • Criminal records don’t prove murdering people. Remember, jail is a highly profitable system for various stakeholders and blacks are cycled through this system like cattle.
  • Getting your wallet is not resistance. I recommend anyone confused about resistance to head to the local library. There’s great information there on this very subject.

Just a note: Blacks don’t kill blacks because they are blacks. It’s just certain neighborhoods there are mainly black people in stressful economic situations killing each other over drug wars in impoverished environments. Please people, don’t use that to try to justify police brutality. No it’s not okay to for blacks to kill each other, but slavery and other factors have divided blacks for hundreds of years. It’s hard to understand that if you’ve never lived in a ghetto or had to really struggle to survive in life. You don’t have to be ashamed of having privilege but know there are many who don’t have that same quality of privileged life or opportunity for better.

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Politics, Religion

Ben Carson debate: Should we advocate for a muslim President?

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As anyone keeping up with the news would know, Ben Carson is under heat for saying he would not advocate for a Muslim President of the United States. Should a President’s faith matter? If you are not familiar with the headline, read ‘Ben Carson campaign responds after outrage over comments on Islam‘.

As someone who took up Middle East studies and policies, Ben Carson has valid points why it would not be the best idea to advocate for a Muslim President. Why? Islamic Law and public policy in the United States clash too much and following core ideas of a set religious practice, not just Islam, is hard to break away from. Even with Ben Carson, who mentions his Christian faith at times, does not really complement the progressive policies we hope for America in the long-run. He doesn’t support gay rights and Carson is pretty reserved when it comes to women’s rights and other major issues.

His argument is not about someone being Muslim. The argument is about the mentality behind the ideology. There are so many layers to Islamic Law and in the Middle East there is no such thing as separation of church and state.

With that said, a modern Muslim has every right to run for the presidency, but if the said person cannot separate church from state when it comes to decision-making, we are going to have problems strengthening progressive policies in the United States. This goes for any religious person. People are too sensitive, especially when it comes to religious beliefs.

For those unfamiliar with Islamic law or United States public policy, here is an article to read and shade a little light on the matter: Muslims, Islamic Law and Public Policy in the United States. This not about political correctness. It’s about being direct and sticking to the facts.

And no Ben Carson is not our top choice for President. We don’t agree with half of the things coming out of his mouth, but there is reasoning behind his statement on this specific topic. In a progressive society, Islamic traditions are old ways of thinking and don’t live up to modern efforts and initiatives of equality, including women rights and gay rights.

For example, traditional Muslim men would never allow women to make critical decisions in any leadership role, especially not in politics. It’s a very reserved, highly sensitive community and religion cannot be compared to race. It’s a whole different ball game. Race is just a distinguish of complexion; religion is a mentality, an ideology.

Take a look at Islamic states and you will see failed social systems as well as political systems. Even when people vote for Christian Presidents in the United States, they seek someone respectful of all walks of life and not someone who will impede communication when policy doesn’t harmonize with their religious perspectives. They seek a leader who is not passive aggressive. In all honesty, Islamic law promotes passive aggressive tactics, gender inequality and condemns capitalism. America is about capitalist principles, wants to advance gender equality and western culture is about directness. These truth statements are not to offend Muslims around the world. We have peers and friends who are Muslim and even been in intimate interactions with Muslims,but Islamic ideology does not pan out well with U.S. Public Policy if church and state do not go separate. The United States needs a president who can stand for modern reforms and initiatives which advance true Democracy. We don’t see this happening with a true Muslim President but someday perhaps the ideology will harmonize with the policies we hope to stand for in a progressive American society.

*** Note this blog has supported the Arab Spring and other initiatives in Middle East human rights and social progression. The opinion is not to offend those of Islamic faith. ***

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Business, Non-profits, Politics, Public Relations

Review of Mashable first Digital Beltway Conference

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Briana Booker Press Member at Mashable Digital Beltway Conference.
Fromgirltogirl, Press Member at Digital Beltway Conference hosted by Mashable and the UN Foundation. Here is CEO and Founder of Mashable, Pete Cashmore.

By Briana Booker
On May 15th Fromgirltogirl.com , as a member of the press, was happy to attend the 1st annual Digital Beltway conference hosted by Mashable.com.

What is the Digital Beltway conference?

The Digital Beltway conference is a half-day event which explores how technology and digital resources drive change in U.S. global policy and politics. This year Mashable and the United Nations Foundation collaborated to bring the best of the best leadership in new media, technology, activism and government.

The 1st Digital Beltway event happened at the Newseum. It was very fitting to hold the event at the Newseum because Mashable.com is a website which values hearing news from the people, not just elected officials. When we can hear all sides of a story, we learn there’s always more to every story. I was very impressed with the dialog on the important issues of our time covered at the Digital Beltway conference.

The Newseum has stunning architecture and truly a must-see for news fanatics as it is engaging and highly interactive for visitors. When visiting the museum, you will have the opportunity to experience historical news coverage and explore new media.

In America, it’s easy to take trustworthy and honest media for granted as our First Amendment protects our media freedoms but we should not. The museum really gives visitors an appreciation for the constitutional rights we have as Americans.

The modern design of the building is a perfect addition to Washington D.C.’s historic Pennsylvania Avenue and there are so many great places to explore close to the Newseum. In one day I saw not only the Newseum but also the Justice Department, Ronald Reagan Building and the International Trade Center. Just to let everyone know, you can get lost in the maze of a parking garage at that site and screenings happen for all vehicles before entering the garage. On the plus side, it’s only blocks away from the Newseum.

For those passionate about journalism, new media, technology, education and social good initiatives, I highly recommend attending the next Digital Beltway conference. For being the first of its kind in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area, the conversations impressed me, the speakers were phenomenal and Mashable’s smooth transitions during a live stream event were admirable.

I applaud the Mashable crew for being so well-organized and welcoming to both attendees and the press.

When I came into the Digital Media Lounge for the press, I thought it was really cool to see Mashable Founder and CEO , Pete Cashmore ,running around just like everyone else. He is not only very put together, but also really relatable.

If you’re wondering whether Pete Cashmore is just as attractive as seen on the web, the answer is yes. In fact, Pete is more attractive in person. Unfortunately ladies, he is not single, he has a gorgeous woman with a beautiful body and a kind soul ( no disrespect Pete, it’s just true).

Right off the bat, Pete welcomed the audience and told the story of how he got started as an entrepreneur. It is important for people to hear the stories of great entrepreneurs because they are living testimonies that greatness is possible with focus and grit. Here is Pete Cashmore – an inspiring, confident, and intelligent young man who never gave up on his vision. Instead, he brings people together to discuss how to make the world a better place.

What about the great speakers at the Digital Beltway event? I really enjoyed the ‘ Facebook: What’s New for the 2016 Presidential Run’ with Katie Harbath, Global Lead for Politics and Government Engagement at Facebook. Harbath’s interview was very interesting because it discussed the power of video for the 2016 elections. Facebook will feature videos that offer users a personal look into political campaigns. Harbath recommends political orient video content be 30 seconds or less – long enough to capture the attention of people, but short enough to increase share-ability. 2016 will be the year of video for those interested in sharing new media. Facebook will focus in particular to direct-to-camera-effect and believe this video format will work very well for politicians. And yes, Facebook video will have insight on what is working and not working with video shares, as Facebook data interactions are measurable by likes, comments, shares and some reposting.

What I took from that conversation: Engaging content matters no matter the industry and I admire Facebook taking the initiative to create Q & A  tools to help users ask questions and get replies right on Facebook from those in leadership roles. Right now Facebook is working on ways to offer insight for both leadership and users. When people feel listen to, a domino effect of positive change can happen. That in itself is a game changer.

I also appreciated Harbath’s emphasis on staying flexible and curious with new media formats. People want to see leaders comfortable with failure and willing to listen to people to find ways to solve major social and economic challenges. I believe Facebook has much to bring to the table because Facebook’s platform is all about discovery. Content on Facebook lasts longer than any other social platform, even Youtube.

A cool video sharing app you will want to keep your eye on is MeerKat.

MeerKat Rules: Live stream is new media

The dialogue with MeerKat App Founder, Ben Rubin, CEO and co-founder of Life on Air Inc., was awesome. If you don’t know about the MeerKat app, it’s a live video stream that can push to twitter followers in real-time. There is no such thing as a rerun with the MeerKat app and every stream can be restreamed by followers. In short, the MeerKat app is bringing web conversations to a whole new level and coming to Facebook soon.

Another speaker that really caught my attention was FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel because connecting more people through wifi will be essential to social and human rights progress.

I really respect the FCC’s efforts to help students stay connected to educational resources through the expansion of wifi, even on school buses. I think it’s great the FCC is working on ways to help entrepreneurs use mobile devices to get noticed and get their business initiatives off the ground. Increasing band width will be something global citizens and leadership can work together to carry out. I look forward to working with government to connect citizens by increasing their tech visibility. Vulnerable people matter. Journalists are important story tellers. Tech will change the world in great ways. Social development will improve quality of life for all, not just for some. It all starts with giving people of all walks a life the opportunity to broadcast their ideas, concerns and introduce innovation to communities most in need. Innovation is necessary for human rights and economic sustainability. It’s a big challenge to sort out information and implement technology in ways that benefit citizens but it’s possible. We have to work together to make it happen. It’s time to plant seeds of amazing ideas. It’s time to listen. It’s time to get things started and entrepreneurs can lead the movement by engaging with the community and government officials on deeper levels, more transparent institutional levels. This is what we call networking into action. Tolerant. Constructive. The pleasure of freedom of speech. It’s all possible when we put good people and great minds together. Thank you Mashable for bringing this to the attention of the larger community. The Digital Beltway can only get better and better from here. Here are other great moments from the Digital Beltway:

Briana Booker Washington DC Digital Media Strategist
Chief Editor of Fromgirltogirl.com

  If you would like Fromgirltogirl to cover your events as press, feel free to reach me at brianabooker@fromgirltogirl.com, Fromgirltogirl loves connecting with people in the community.   Check out upcoming posts for the photo gallery of the 2015 Digital Beltway.

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Fromgirltogirl.com, Politics

Hillary for America: Hillary Clinton announces Presidential Run

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Today is Hillary Clinton‘s big day. If you have one shot, one opportunity… capture it.

Hillary has lived an extraordinary life and this is a great opportunity for her not only to make history but also break some glass ceilings. She has grit. Successful people have grit and some faith.

As for those looking to pick at her family’s past. It’s the past. There is not one woman who wouldn’t protect her man or children she truly loves. Hillary did that and managed her career as well. As a woman, a female knows women are happy to destroy families, relationships and careers of other women.

Maybe someday that is not a case but as women we should urge women to support Hillary for what she offers now and not judge her for the past. The past can haunt you if you let it but we all have the ability to conquer the past by living better today’s.

So may blessings be upon you Hillary. The fact Hillary Clinton is trying again is awesome. That in itself earns respect.

Watch Hillary for America today to see how Hillary Clinton wants to lead America. Visit HillaryClinton.com for more information.

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