Your BRIGHT Week in Review
Plus: Dinner and a Movie
Hurricane Helene
Live updates here.
Photo of the Week
Alex Soros hosts Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz at his home in New York.
RELATED: Alex Soros’ dinner date with Tim Walz reveals who’ll pull the strings in a Harris White House (New York Post)
The Soros-Backed Wave of New Voters
A network of left-wing organizations backed by billionaire George Soros is working to naturalize and mobilize immigrants to influence elections in key swing states, according to a report from The Daily Wire. Central to these efforts is the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), which has received funding from Soros’s Open Society Foundations and claims to have helped naturalize over 250,000 citizens. NPNA believes these newly naturalized voters can sway local, state, and national elections, particularly in swing states like Arizona and Georgia, where small margins decided the 2020 presidential race.
From The Daily Wire:
A 2022 report from the group celebrated newly-naturalized voters as part of the “new American majority,” a term used to describe “all people of color, unmarried women, and young voting eligible Americans.” The National Partnership for New Americans directly compared the margin of victory in the 2020 presidential election to the number of newly-naturalized voters who had since gained citizenship within each state.
The National Partnership for New Americans isn’t the only leftist organization working to leverage mass immigration to impact American elections, however. There’s also the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an organization that’s received nearly $7 million from Soros between 2016 to 2022, and had $25 million in total revenue in 2022.
These efforts are designed to bolster Democratic electoral chances by creating a reliable voting bloc among immigrants. Those who suggest otherwise ignore why Soros would even be involved.
A New Day, A New Poll
The Daily Wire highlights a New York Times/Siena College poll that shows Donald Trump leading Kamala Harris in key battleground states: Arizona (50-45), Georgia (49-45), and North Carolina (49-47). Trump is favored on issues like the economy and immigration, while Harris leads on abortion.
In the battleground state of Pennsylvania, a Spotlight PA/MassINC poll isn’t as favorable to Trump. The Hill reports, “Harris is winning 49 percent support in the poll, compared to 44 percent for Trump, in the race for the Keystone State’s 19 electoral votes.”
At Hot Air, David Strom discusses the divergence in election projections, particularly between online analysts and personal observations. Strom’s friend, a political science professor, predicts a landslide victory for Trump, whereas pollsters and analysts, like Nate Silver, suggest a close race with a slight advantage for Kamala Harris. This discrepancy arises from how pollsters model their data, which involves correcting for non-randomness and making assumptions about voter turnout, partisan leanings, and nonresponse biases.
Strom says that polls have historically underestimated Trump’s support and suggests Harris is struggling to gain traction with key voter groups such as labor unions and minorities. Additionally, the uniqueness of this election—marked by Trump’s legal challenges, media treatment, and abortion debates—makes it difficult to model accurately.
Strom concludes:
In other words, their model of the electorate is almost certainly wrong.
Of course, much of the evidence for my own judgment and Professor X's is based on anecdotal evidence or anecdata, and hence also based on questionable assumptions, I wouldn't rely on it.
If you are interested in the horserace, follow lots of different modelers and pick your poison.
RELATED: Democrats fear pollsters are undercounting Trump (The Hill)
What I’m Reading This Week
Late last week I started reading An Edited Life: Simple Steps to Streamlining Life, at Work and at Home by Anna Newton. It’s an easy read and timely if you’re looking to simplify before the holiday season begins. From the description:
Anna Newton is just trying to balance work, her friends, her family, her husband Mark, a growing handbag habit and a love for takeout pizza. Over the past 8 years of running the blog and corresponding YouTube [channel] 'The Anna Edit', she's grown a loyal viewership who tune in for her weekly videos on everything from house renovations to the best summer foundation.
Anna is a typical Virgo – she loves being organized. She's Marie Kondo'd her house, nearly throwing away her TV remote in the process. She's waved goodbye to her things with Fumio Sasaki. She's minimized and bullet-journalled her schedules down to the finest detail. Along the way, she's realized something key: there's no one prescription for an organized life, a tidy home, and calm mind. Instead, it's all about editing.
You can also check out her YouTube channel here.
Obesity Rates Fall for the First Time in U.S.
The Daily Mail reported that there is a possible decline in obesity rates in the U.S. for the first time. According to the CDC, from 2021 to 2023, 40% of American adults were considered obese, down from 42% in the 2017-2020 period. While this drop isn’t statistically significant, it marks the first downward trend since the CDC began tracking obesity rates in 2013. Some experts suggest it could be linked to the rise of weight-loss drugs like semaglutide, but it is too early to confirm. Despite the slight reduction, obesity rates remain higher than a decade ago, with a growing number of Americans classified as morbidly obese. Southern states, historically with higher obesity rates, saw the most improvement. Experts emphasize that obesity is still prevalent due to factors like processed foods and sedentary lifestyles. The CDC hopes to achieve its 2030 goal of reducing obesity to 36%.
More from The Daily Mail:
However, Dr Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine physician in New York, told DailyMail.com that while the drop is encouraging, 'there is a lot more work to be done' and the US is not likely to see continued decline in obesity due to a high prevalence of ultra-processed food and a lack of physical activity overall.
'It's a periodic fluctuation. It's not a super significant change,' he said. 'And 40 percent is still horrifying.'
…Obesity rates were consistently highest among adults ages 40 to 59. Overall, 46 percent of Americans in that age group were considered obese.
Dr Fischer noted that this increased prevalence could be lifestyle changes around this age range.
'When people become 40, they're not in school, they're not as active, they're not playing sports,' he said. 'And as you age, metabolism slows - most significantly in that period.'
'At 40, you stand at a crossroads in health.'
This week on Michael Malice’s podcast (audio), I gave an update on my weight loss journey after 40, getting the blame/credit for getting Trump into politics, and more.
Dinner and a Movie
This weekend’s movie comes from Brett — Slap Shot, starring Paul Newman. For dinner, I’m trying this Lemon Chicken recipe from Magnolia. We’re at the end of summer veggie season in Texas, so it’s a Summer Medley Salad to go along with it. He’ll probably want tater tots 😆
Being from the State of Hockey, I fully endorse this week's film! And great spot on Michael Malice's show!