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A rematch of the Republican primary for the 50th state House District is now set for the fall.

Stephanie Waggett, who lost to state Rep. Bud Cook in the Republican primary last week, secured enough Democratic write-in votes to run against him again in November.

According to unofficial results from the April 23 primary, Waggett received 413 write-in votes from Democrats 338 of which came from Greene County voters giving her more than the 300 needed to get on the ballot in the general election. Cook received 228 write-ins, while registered Democrat Drew Ross Manko of North Bethlehem Township, who made the effort to run a write-in campaign, received 133 votes.

Cook, a four-term Republican incumbent from West Pike Run Township, easily defeated Waggett in the GOP primary, receiving 3,920 votes compared to her share of 2,367, according to unofficial results. Most surprising is that Cook had a sizable vote advantage in Greene County, despite Waggett living in Cumberland Township.

The district includes all of Greene County and parts of Washington County. While the district offers a voter registration advantage for Republicans, the general election will allow Democrats and independents to also have a say in who they want to represent them in the state legislature.

Meanwhile, in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, state Rep. Natalie Mihalek will have a Democratic challenger in the November election.

Peter Kohnke of Bethel Park easily surpassed the 300 write-in votes he needed from Democrats during the April 23 primary to get on the ballot to run for the 40th state House District seat.

The district, which Mihalek has represented since winning her first election in 2018, includes Peters Township in Washington County and Bethel Park and the southern area of Upper St. Clair in Allegheny County.

Democrats urged their voters to write-in Kohnkes name since the party did not have anyone receive enough nominating signatures to get on the primary ballot. According to unofficial vote totals, Kohnke received 534 votes in Allegheny County and 326 write-ins from Washington County voters, giving him nearly three times the number needed to qualify for the Nov. 5 general election.

Mihalek, R-Peters, received 5,757 votes from Republicans 3,755 in Allegheny County and 2,002 in Washington County in the uncontested primary.

The results must be certified by the county elections boards no later than May 13 and sent to the state Department of State.

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Waggett wins Democratic nomination in 50th, setting up rematch with Rep. Cook - Observer-Reporter

Organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) continue to gain prominence, growing from 24,000 members in 2017 to 92,000 members today. So, what is Democratic Socialism? Democratic socialism is fairly easy to define based on the two components of its name: democratic, meaning rule by the people, and socialism, meaning that the workers own the means of production.

The first principle seeks to mend the source of many criticisms of forms of socialism, putting the direct will of the people above all else andfullysubjecting any structures of power to the desires of the people not those holding office. This focus on democracyis enshrinedin the national DSA Constitution and the constitutions of every local DSA chapter.

The second workers owning the means of production is the central end goal of the labor movement, which democratic socialists wholeheartedly support.Whether fromin-depth economic analyses like Capital or through observing historical and modern material conditions, socialists agree on one central principle: theliberation of the masses at large the working masses can only come from those masses owning the means of production. These two principles are agreed upon by all members of DSA, even those who do not consider themselves democratic socialists.

As an organization, DSA does not form an ideological hegemony; a wide variety of political views are represented throughout chapters around the country. Instead, members are committed to one shared goal: to progress society however they can. Thanks to their popularity as members of Congress, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezare commonly cited as examples of democratic socialists. Most socialists would not consider them such. Instead, they are considered social democrats a capitalist designation developing out of a regression from the principles of prior socialist organizations like the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Likewise, countries often regarded as socialist, like Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, are also social democracies; they arestill capitalist states but have a greater focus on providing services to the people than more laissez-faire capitalist nations like the United States.

Due to its organizations diversity and the desire to recruit all who want to change the world, regardless of age, DSA involves high school and college students through the Young Democratic Socialists of America or YDSA. Here in Fullerton, a YDSA chapter is currently being organized at CSUF toorganize the citys youth and work to improve Fullerton and CSUF. So far, this has included advocacy against crippling tuition hikes, calls for the demilitarization of Fullerton PD, and efforts to protect free speech on campus.

If you have any questions about democratic socialism or want to makechange happen, contact Titan YDSA at csufydsa@gmail.com. If you want to join DSA but are not a current student, contact Orange County DSA at https://ocdsa.org to learn more.

(Note for transparency/clarification: while this post generally conveys the original ideas as submitted, it has been edited to some degree)

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Understanding what Democratic Socialists of America are and how they differ from social Democrats - Fullerton Observer

More than 100 people rallied and marched through Surfers Paradise at Australias Gold Coast on Saturday to denounce the intensifying Israeli genocide in Gaza and the Albanese Labor governments ongoing diplomatic and military support for the mass murder of Palestinians.

Led by young workers and Middle Eastern families, it was the latest in weekly protest activities in the city. Gold Coast, although mostly known as a tourism destination, is Australias sixth largest city, with a population exceeding 650,000, including many working-class people.

There were spirited chants, such as free, free Palestine and Albanese you cant hide, youre supporting genocide during the rally and march. Many onlookers were supportive, another sign of the widespread disgust and opposition to the crimes being committed by the Israeli regime with the backing of the US and its allies, including Australia.

Mike Head, a Socialist Equality Party national committee member and WSWS correspondent, addressed the rally at the invitation of the organisers. He began by posing the burning questions we all confront: How can the genocide in Gaza be ended? And how can we stop the wider plunge to war by the US and its allies?

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Head said the harsh reality was that the Israeli regime and its backers in Washington and Canberra had doubled down on the mass killings, despite millions of people around the globe, including in Australia, joining the largest worldwide anti-war movement in decades.

Over the past week, the protest movement has grown in the US, especially on the university campuses, he said. Following the arrests of more than 100 students at Columbia University in New York, encampments have been set up at least 40 universities across the US, and spread to other countries, including here.

In response, the Biden administration, in alliance with the fascist-led Republican Party, has backed a massive police mobilisation against the students. The ruling class is effectively moving to criminalise political opposition to the Gaza genocide, slandering it as antisemitic, even though many Jewish students are involved.

Head warned that the Albanese government and the police-intelligence agencies were trying to create the political conditions for similar repression in Australia by orchestrating sweeping police raids to arrest Islamic teenagers on flimsy terrorism charges without any evidence of terrorist plots or plans.

This is as the final stage of the genocide is now looming, with intensifying bombings in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where over 1.5 million Palestinians are crammed in shocking conditions, and plans to forcibly remove them all into tents.

The US Congress had just given bipartisan support to another $US95 billion for war fundingfor the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, for arming Israel for its genocide in Gaza and military confrontation with Iran, and for building up Taiwan as a war base against China.

Also attached to the bill was another $3 billion for the AUKUS submarine program, which was aimed directly at China.

These developments make clear the connection between the Gaza genocide and the wider plunge to potential nuclear wars by US imperialism against Iran, Russia and China, Head stated.

Many protest leaders had presented Gaza as a single issue, unconnected to any other developments and the history of US wars, including from Vietnam to Iraq. And they had kept urging people to write to MPs and send petitions to the very same capitalist politicians responsible for the slaughter in Gaza.

The task is not to issue requests to these governments, but to build a mass political movement aimed at overthrowing them and the capitalist system they defend, Head said to applause.

Via the AUKUS military pact with the US and the UK, the Albanese Labor government was completing Australias transformation into a frontline state for war against China, including via US basing arrangements.

It is a political dead end to try to convince politicians and governments to adopt a more humane policy in Gaza, while they carry out policies that could blow up the world.

The same goes for appeals to the trade union apparatuses. They are completely aligned with the Labor government. They have not called a single strike against the genocide.

We urge workers to mobilise independently of the union bureaucracies and all the parties of the ruling class, including the Greens, to immediately stop weapons deliveries and arms production for the genocide in Gaza and other US-instigated wars.

We explain that to really fight the genocide and war, we have to turn to the revolutionary force in society, the global working class. But that poses the need for a genuine socialist party in Australia and on a world scale.

Head urged everyone at the rally to register for this years International May Day Online Rally, organised by the International Committee of the Fourth International. This global rally will be centred on the development of a working class and socialist movement against imperialist war.

He also urged people to sign up as electoral members of the Socialist Equality Party so that we can have the basic democratic right to have our partys name on the ballot for the next federal election to broadcast the existence of a genuine socialist, anti-war party.

After the rally, Jasmine, a young worker from New Zealand, signed up for the partys mailing list, and wrote thank you on the form. She said she wanted to express her appreciation that Head had explained the link between the horror in Gaza and the US war moves against Russia and China.

A doctor who participated in the rally said she had first been motivated to join the anti-genocide protests by the fact that the Israeli forces were killing 100 children a day. At that rate, my sons school would be eliminated in a fortnight.

But this was the first time she had heard a real analysis presented at any Gaza protest rally. That speech explained the connection to the wider war drive by the US and its allies. It was very informative and resonated with the audience. It contextualised many of the facts about the genocide and clarified the broader significance of the genocide to international geo-politics and why Israel is being backed by the US and Australia.

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Australia: Gold Coast Gaza rally hears socialist anti-war perspective - WSWS

We must have a revolution so we can have a socialist reconstruction of the United States of America, said rally speaker Sean Blackmon, member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation

What would George Washington think if you told him that a university bearing his name would one day be inculcating protesters who sought the demise of the United States?

That reality was on full display Thursday night on the campus of George Washington University, located in Washington, D.C.

In a continuation of the encampments popping up on universities across the United States, leftists supporting Palestine gathered on George Washington Universitys University Yard to share their views.

Although the rally was flooded with the anti-Israel rhetoric and chants Americans have become accustomed to hearing, speakers at this rallyalso used language connected with Marxism, focusing on oppression and oppressors.

Based on what Id heard, Id say these protesters ultimate intentions go beyond the nation of Israel and extend to the goal of destroying the United States in particular and Western civilization generally.

A recurring theme was that the United States, like Israel, is the oppressor. As a settler colony, it must be brought to its knees.

Harkening back to the riots of 2020, protesters vilified law enforcement as oppressors for being protectors of the rich and the capitalist ruling class.

At one point, a speaker blasphemously compared the deaths of Palestinians to the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, the protesters made clear what their goals are here in the United States: to smash the whole thing.

What does Americas future look like if her universities, the grounds of education for so many young Americans, host protesters who champion her demise?

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The Marxists Come Out at George Washington University - Daily Signal

Android 15 looks set to bring in the ability to control your phone's media output with Wear OS smartwatches.

In a code deep-dive of the Wear OS companion app function (which grants Wear OS app a host of phone data access, such as access to contacts and calendars) in the Android 15 beta by Android Authoritys Mishaal Rahman, a mention of "MEDIA_ROUTING_CONTROL". This new permission reportedly grants the companion app access a list of available devices and control which one streams or casts audio or video from other apps.

A somewhat vague description, Android Authority noted one such privileged control permissions are granted to the companion app, they also apply to the connected smartwatch. This basically means the smartwatch would have access to a list of available connected devices (presumably ones paired with a companion smartphone) in order to route audio to video through them.

So that reportedly means you could, for example, start playing music on your phone through a pair of connected headphones, and then use a Wear OS smartwatch to switch playback to a paired smart speaker without needing to use the phone.

This would be handy if you wanted to change the device your audio was playing from (for example, switching from your earbuds to a Bluetooth speaker) but had left your phone in another room, in a bag, or just wanted to perform a few quick on-wrist gestures instead of opening your phone.

As it stands, Wear OS provides some control over media playback directly from a smartwatch and within watch-based apps, but for greater control over audio from services such as Spotify, one needs to use the connected phone.

But adding more direct control over media feedback via a Wear OS smartwatch could allow for a lot more to be done from a wrist-worn wearable device, bypassing the need for one to dip into a pocket or purse to pluck out a connected Android phone. By building out Wear OS functionality and interconnectivity, Google could help bolster its device ecosystem and the interplay between such devices to provide an experience that's closer to Apple's product and software ecosystem.

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It's not clear if such functionality will come to all Wear OS devices, or be reserved for select Google devices like the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2, or even if it'll make it to the full release on Android. We're likely to find out at Google I/O 2024 on on May 14, where we expect a good look at what's next for Android, Wear OS, and other Google software.

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This secret Android 15 feature could finally give you more media control with a Wear OS smartwatch - TechRadar