Note: The video of the debate (above), a replica of the live telecast, is the best bet to get a real picture of what really was the latest American presidential debate, first hand. Watch.

WASHINGTON, Sept 11: The pendulum swung to the extreme as celebrated pop star Taylor Swift with a global fan following far greater than the American registered voters endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President as soon as the debate between the Democratic candidate and Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump came to an end at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night.

As it was widely anticipated, Swift addressed her 283 million followers on Instagram, “Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them."

She is seen in the post holding her pet and signing as “Childless Cat Lady,” a reference to Trump’s running mate Senator JD Vance's recent remark about women without children.

Earlier an AI-generated post had been put in circulation by anonymous people in which she was reportedly shown supporting Trump. In reponse to that she said in the latest post, " “It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth."

Currently she is in on international tour swaying jam-packed stadiums around the world.

Some quotable QUOTES from debate

A graceful first: Heading into the debate, there was a question as to how Harris and Trump, who have never met, would greet each other. Harris settled the issue, definitively. She walked over to Trump at his podium, extended her hand and introduced herself as “Kamala Harris.” It was a disarming way for Harris to greet a man who has spent weeks insulting her race and gender.

• “Same tired playbook.” “A bunch of lies, grievances and name calling.” Harris on Trump
• “And I do believe that the American people know we all have so much more in common than what separates us, and we can chart a new way forward.” - Harris
• "Clearly I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump," she said when Biden came under attack.
• "First of all, it's important to remind the former president you're not running against Joe Biden, you're running against me," she said.
• When asked again if he regretted his actions (attack on Capitol), Trump answered, "I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech. I showed up for a speech."
• "I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people, and that is why I imagine and have actually a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy," said Harris.
• “What we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess.” - Harris
• "What you're going to hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025 that the former president intends on implementing if he were elected again." - Harris.
• “Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. What we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess.”
• "You are a disgrace for the country... World leaders are laughing at you." - Harris
• Trump criticized Harris for the persistent inflation during the Biden administration's term.
• Inflation, he said, "has been a disaster for people, for the middle class, for every class."
• "Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?" Harris campaign chair, after the debate.
• He'd be "less inclined to" debate her a second time "because we had a great night." He would "think about it." Trump supporter
• Appearing on 'Fox & Friends' on Wednesday morning, Trump claimed the debate, hosted by ABC News, was "rigged"

TIDBITS

(Ahead of the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday night)

Biden states Kamala Harris seems 'calm, cool, and collected' ahead of presidential debate, after speaking to her before debate. “She seems calm, cool and collected. I think she’s going to do great.”

The details of the group of campaign surrogates which will support Harris from spin room is as follows: Senators Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Laphonza Butler of California and Chris Murphy of Connecticut; and Representatives Jason Crow of Colorado, Veronica Escobar of Texas, and Robert Garcia and Ted Lieu of California.

Kamala Harris will be joined by her husband, Doug Emhoff, sister Maya Harris and her husband, Tony West, at the National Constitution Center, NBC News reported.

Two former Trump White House officials will support Kamala Harris’s campaign as surrogates at the debate. Anthony Scaramucci, who previously served as White House communications director under Donald Trump, and Olivia Troye, a former homeland security adviser to Mike Pence, will both advocate against Trump and in favour of Harris ahead of the debate, according to the campaign.

Former President Donald Trump will be joined by family members and key campaign advisers, according to a source cited by CNN. Eric Trump, his wife Lara Trump, and several top advisers, including co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, will accompany him at the venue. Senior advisers Corey Lewandowski, Jason Miller, Steven Cheung, and Taylor Budowich are also expected to be present, preparing Trump ahead of his debate with Kamala Harris.

Dan Scavino, Trump’s social media director, is also set to post live updates from the event on Trump's X account, CNN reported.

An anatomy of NEET 2024: From the start till finish NEET will stay put as a conundrum jinxed as it is. What if it was thought angels would come down from the heaven to conduct the entrance exam if done at the Centre and if in the States, they would be conducted by the corrupt mortals. So NEET was born... It's 'guaranteed' that no party will ever be able to do what is required to be done in the country. Because of their genetics. Frauds will only multiply. Is there anything worse? Yes. Shoot the messenger!

A video shows the terrifying scene of the chopper swirling and dropping nose down mid-air around the helipad. In fact, the rear rotor had gone for a toss and the pilot was performing autorotation for a crash-landing. He pulled it off! Congrats!

True or false, Savitri claimed her husband had told her to throw Vinod into the canal as all that he does is eat. "How much torture can my son endure?" She picked him up when he was asleep.

Marking a decisive stage in the ongoing tussle between Governors and the Governments in some States, the Governor of Bengal has thrown down the gauntlet to the State police, asking the Raj Bhavan staff to refuse any enquiry from the cops in the sexual harassment case filed by a woman employee against him.

COMMENT: In many a case complaints can be frivolous, made under certain circumstances. So it is more in the interest of the accused that there is an investigation to clear his name. Denial may only mean acceptance of the guilt. Besides, quoting Constitutional immunity in sexual harassment cases is nothing short of a vulgarity of the feudal landlord. Nobody is above the law.

While the universal apprentice scheme will enable the educated youth to stand up (literally) in a country where the people are trampled by wretched politicians, and look about for avenues to earn a living confidently, the provision of student credit cards of up to Rs 10 lakh will ensure each and every student of this country receives equal opportunities to fulfil their aspirations of higher education irrespective of their financial conditions. It will be a game changer. These are on the lines of what US Vice-President Kamala Harris visualised to be happening to the Third World when she hailed Ajay Banga as a transformative World Bank President.

Peter Higgs is the father of the mysterious Higgs boson, otherwise called 'God Particle', which gives mass to all elementary particles, and created our universe. His contribution helped other scientists understand how the Big Bang created something out of nothing 13.8 billion years ago. The equations of particle physicists which did not have a leg to stand on till then, the 'God Particle' came as a Godsend. The theories so far to describe the universe did not hold water.

It was only by 2012, after 50 years of the boson discovery, that scientists at CERN could make the big announcement that they had finally found a Higgs boson using the Large Hadron Collider.

Higgs instantly broke into tears, tears of profound satisfaction, in the lecture hall where the announcement was made.

LEGAL REMEDIES: Last year, on the directive of the Supreme Court, the Governor granted assent to one Bill, and referred seven Bills to the President. The petition against the President also challenges the Governor's action of referring the Bills to her.

The unprecedented step by the State may also establish that it always upholds the Constitution and the rule of law in order to pre-empt any eventuality of getting dismissed on flimsy grounds invoking provisions of the Constitution later on; and, also provide a thrust to an emerging platform of regional forces pitted against the ongoing centralisation of every subject and activity in the country under one umbrella where the States will ultimately 'wither' away (for some time).

OPINION: Made to happen as it does just weeks ahead of the general elections, the arrest may signal, if not the cause of, far-reaching consequences in the course of Indian politics. The Opposition charges that the ruling party at the Centre has unleashed the police to catch a leader every other day for corruption allegedly indulged in in the present or the remote past in order to incapacitate any concerted opposition to the ruling dispensation.

The “My way or the highway" man, Trump has predicted 'apocalypse' for Americans if he is not elected the President in the upcoming election. He sounds “extremism, affection for violence." As always, he is also seeing what others don't, and repetitively using words like "(2020) election was stolen"! And that's a symptom! Delivering a no-holds-barred speech at a rally in Ohio, he also predicted the US won't see another election if he did not win the November battle against the incumbent President. With his savage push against the God-fearing Catholic, and the heap of criminal cases pending in the courts, the unpredictable Trump's nomination exposes a season of drought of leadership of calibre in the United States.

The much-touted 'one-nation, one-election' argument was purportedly to prevent wasteful expenditure of the people's money, manpower and deceleration of development, but the committee report when implemented will end up paving the way for holding more elections than currently being held. Because of the logistics and democratic limitations involved, the committee was not expected by commonsense to be out of a loose end either! Those who are alive at that time, and further for ten more years thereafter, can count the rounds and compare with the present numbers. Therefore, either the agenda is different or the 8-volume presentation is faulty/made-up!!!

The manager has defended himself saying that dry ice got mixed with mouth freshener by the negligence of the staff...After taking the mouth freshener the customers felt a burning sensation and started vomiting blood. Five of them were hospitalised. Two are in critical condition.

Harmful effects of dry ice: Ingested, dry ice can burn your mouth, esophagus and stomach as it sublimates on contact with the moisture of the organs and turns into CO2, apart from other damaging physical and chemical changes it induces. The pressure building up in the stomach due to sublimation can also rupture the stomach muscles. It turns lethal. In normal direct handling it leads to frostbite due to the cold temperature.

One of them is seen in CCTV being shot at close range. The motive is suspected to be personal enmity.

TAILPIECE: Almost every other day we hear of shootings in one place or other in the country. India will very soon replace the US as the world's No 1 in the incidence of mass shooting. It will eclipse terrorism as a source of concern. Who can help? At least, has it occurred to anyone's mind?

'This Moment' of Shakti fusion won the Best Global Music Album at the Grammys. Zakir Hussain has won two other awards too. In a great victory for Indians, five of them have won the Grammys this time. In other sections, Taylor Swift got her fourth Album of the Year award and Miley Cyrus got an award for the first time.

The Government scheme provides ₹ 51,000 per wedding of which ₹ 35,000 goes to the girl, ₹ 10,000 for wedding materials and ₹ 6,000 towards expenses for the ceremony.

“Two activists from the environmental movement ‘Riposte Alimentaire’ sprayed pumpkin soup on the armoured glass protecting the Mona Lisa, this Sunday, January 28, 2024, around 10 am (4aET),” a statement from the museum said.

It is not understood how undesirable elements are allowed to get so close to her and play havoc with the artwork. Several times over this has happened in the past, deranged minds masquerading as tourists and cultists venting their frustration.

A Spicejet passenger had a harrowing experience inside a tiny claustrophobic lavatory aboard a Mumbai-Bengaluru flight when he found to his bewilderment that the door was not opening.

Two days earlier, in a similar incident in the area, a domestic help was bitten by a pet dog in the lift when she was going for work.

Tailpiece: Sometimes appearing to outnumnber men and women on the streets, the stray dogs are turning more and more daring with sections of anti-social elements out there to feed and protect them in order to find a window for their unfulfilled love! There is an all-pervading feeling of lack of authority.

Ankit Tiwari had told the employee that “instructions had been received from the Prime Minister’s Office to conduct an enquiry” and reopen the “already disposed of” case and asked him to appear before the ED office at Madurai on October 30, DVAC said. The doctor was allegedly threatened with arrest and told to pay a bribe of Rs 3 cr to avoid the ED probe, which was later negotiated down to Rs 50 lakh.

Tailpiece: We are made to believe RBI, CBI, ED, Judiciary as sacrosanct and all others like railways, transport, revenue, education, PWD departments are composed of us the mortals, absolutely corrupt! As if in the sacrosanct places the angels descend from the heavens to work in the night and fly away before day-break! Let's be true to ourselves, we are all cut from the same cloth.

Apart from cash, Gill had also taken three planes as bribe and two of them were leased out to Redbird Aviation Academy. With the result, flying schools compromised on safety requirements and trainers met with accidents several times.

Five people were arrested from a banquet hall in Sector 51 Noida on Thursday where they were called to hold a rave party in a trap laid by the animal rights group, PFA. They named Yadav but he was not present.