Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman called for a “recalibration” of free speech while speaking on a panel during the opening day of the World Economic Forum, Monday. Inman discussed the prospect of re-envisaging what freedom of speech means, while speaking on a May 23rd panel for the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos focused on “Ushering in a Safer Digital Future.” Inman, who also served as the Director of Public Policy for Twitter in Australia and South East Asia, explained how “we’re going to have to think about a recalibration of a whole range of human rights”: “We
On February 19, Ohio Governor John Kasich appeared in South Carolina and stood by his support for Common Core. The Bucyrus (Ohio) Telegraph Forum reported he went so far as to refer to the anti-Common Core movement as a “runaway Internet campaign.” You can read the full story here.
On February 19, the Washington Times reported on an appearance former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee gave on Fox News’ The Kelly File the previous day. During the interview, Huckabee stated: “I also think … that my comments regarding the bottom 90 percent of American workers whose wages have been stagnant for 40 years — Republicans aren’t [talking] about that very much, and if we don’t talk about it, Hillary Clinton’s [going to] be the next president.” You can watch the full interview here.
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry was in New Hampshire this week, a trip many assume is a part of his testing the waters for a 2016 presidential bid. During a speech, CNN reports that he denounced the Common Core standards as a “one-size-fits all curriculum that comes out of Washington” that makes for “bad public policy.” You can read the full story here.
In a Bloomberg article from February 12, Senator Rand Paul discussed his views on Bitcoin and other alternative currencies. He stated that his concern with Bitcoin “was whether or not something has real value. I could imagine a kind of coin that was exchangeable.” He felt that if Bitcoin, “Wal-coin,” or a similar company currency was exchangeable for stock in that company, it would give real value to the currency. That currency would, in Sen. Paul’s opinion, raise profit margins for those companies, which he believes would be an interesting prospect. You can read the full story here.
In Tallahassee, Fla., on February 10, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush gave a policy speech on education in which he reportedly omitted Common Core. When asked later by a reporter if he was trying to reframe the debate and take the emphasis off Common Core, he responded “No, I’ll talk about it. What do you want to know about it?” He later said: I’m for higher standards. And I’m for creating real restrictions of the federal government’s role in this…So you can alleviate people’s fears that you’re going to have some kind of control by the federal government of content
On February 10, Senator Ted Cruz reintroduced the State Marriage Defense Act. In a statement released on the occasion, he said: “Even though the Supreme Court made clear in United States v. Windsor that the federal government should defer to state ‘choices about who may be married,’ the Obama Administration has disregarded state marriage laws enacted by democratically-elected legislatures to uphold traditional marriage.” Politico reports on the full story here.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal spoke to CNN on February 10 and made it clear that he will not “evolve” on gay marriage. Jindal stated that he is “not one of those politicians,” and that “[his] faith teaches [him] that marriage is between a man and a woman.” He emphasized that he is “not for changing the definition of marriage.” You can see the video of Jindal’s full interview here.
In Iowa on February 10, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie expressed his “grave concerns” with Common Core, according to The Des Moines Register. He attributed his concerns to the “way the Obama administration has tried to implement it through tying federal funding to these things.” Christie felt that having federal money tied to the standards changed it from the “voluntary type system” he initially supported. He stated that, “in the end education needs to be a local issue.” You can read the full report here.