#Nebraska Primaries

[virovac]

Do not write "Gaza" as a protest vote in these states Primary for president for these states

Seeing articles suggesting that in Illinois, but protest votes like that aren't counted in many states

To register a non-Biden vote in the tallies [ of aCategory 4: No Uncommitted Option, Most Write-Ins Not Counted, Blank Ballots Not Counter], you have to vote for someone pre-approved by the state, whether that be a named candidates on the ballot or a qualified write-in candidate. For most states, this leaves you with Dean Phillips and/or Marianne Williamson if you want your vote to count. Feel free to choose between the two at your own discretion, although you can always vote for another listed candidate or even pick someone from your state’s list of qualified write-in candidates if you really want to avoid voting for either of them.

note I found one contradicting opinion to my source

ReadingRambo Mar 3 Hold on. Blank ballots do count for something in Category 4 and 5. Because President isn’t the only race on the ballot. If I vote on all the other lines but not that one, my other votes count. If Biden gets fewer votes than his fellow Dems downballot, that shows up. And it might actually be really important: it’s looking increasingly likely that people will do this in the general. I know I will. SHARE ettingermentum Mar 3Author That’s a little more abstract I think. The idea here is replicating the Michigan thing—i.e., reducing his percentage. ReadingRambo Mar 3 It still matters! Don’t rob us of our agency! I promise you they’ll notice. Ballot underhang gets attention.

Something I am unsure of:

[although you can always vote for another listed candidate (unsure what this means, would I put in a senator candidate or something as a protest vote? Or do some states have extra candidates exclusive to that state?)]

I have been unable to find a list of qualified write-in candidates for my state but maybe you can? I can understand wanting to do so if Dean Phillips is too conservative and in past voted along Biden's lines. Leaving blank might also be an option so long as vote for locals as stated above... [Or if any others are an option as a state exclusive presidential candidate as discussed above]

March 19th: Arizona (D and M), Illinois (D and M), Ohio (Dean only) April 23rd: Pennsylvania (Dean only) May 14th: Nebraska (Dean only), West Virginia (Dean only)

Here's sorted by alphabetical state

Here is sorted by date

Always look at a sample primary ballot ahead of time for this year.

and states without writeins

States/Territories Without Write-ins

March 23rd: Louisiana (Both Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson on ballot)

May 7th: Indiana (No D or M or anyone else.)

June 4th: South Dakota (Both Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson on ballot)

June 8th: Guam (Candidate list currently unavailable)

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Lady at the polling place after I handed in my ballot: Do you want a sticker?

Me: Ma'am I am 36 years old. Of *course* I want a sticker!

[calicojack1718]

Comment on This: Will the Haley Zombie Voters Show Up in November?

Does the Haley zombie campaign protest vote matter? Hell yes it does. It shows that there is a dedicated committed anti-Trump vote out there. Will they show up in November? Find out what the science says.

We just had three more primaries: Maryland, Nebraska, and West Virginia. Did you know? I’m not sure that voters in the states that had the primaries even knew. Since the presidential primaries for both parties were over before they started, there hasn’t been much interest in any of the primaries except amongst the political class and the bothsides political press trying to flog the dead horse…

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Colorful 1966 mid-century modern home in Omaha, Nebraska is already decorated and move-in ready. 3bds, 2ba, and only $280K.

Enter a spacious bright yellow living room with a nice open 2nd level entry to the bedrooms. Note how the feature wall stands out.

Wall and opening to the kitchen. I like that leg mural.

To the right of the green front door is the kitchen.

It's surprisingly spacious. They went for the hi-end appliances- a retro Smeg fridge.

Also in the kitchen are stairs to the lower level.

It looks like one of the bedrooms is being used as a closet.

And, this one is used as a dressing/makeup room. It may be the primary bedroom b/c it has doors to the deck.

This one is used as a bedroom.

Bath #1 still has the original MCM blue tub.

They've got a multi-purpose room downstairs.

Plus a big 2nd bath.

And, a retro rec room with a large stone fireplace. That big purple sofa is a built-in.

The home has 3 bds. but they're using this lower level room as a 4th.

There's a very large upper level deck. This is cool- the fireplace chimney extends up to the deck and looks like it's an oven.

Plus a small patio.

The property is on a slope and measures 10,018 sq. ft.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/11362-Jackson-St-Omaha-NE-68154/75778107_zpid/?

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Eric Levitz at Vox:

When Vice President Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz as her running mate, many pundits lamented her decision. In their view, the Democratic nominee should have chosen a vice presidential candidate who could mitigate her liabilities, and balance out her party’s ticket — such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

After all, Harris had been a liberal senator from one of America’s most left-wing states and then had run an exceedingly progressive primary campaign in 2020. To win over swing-state undecideds, she needed to demonstrate her independence from her party’s most radical elements. And selecting the popular governor of a purple state — who had defied the Democratic activist base on education policy and Israel’s war in Gaza— would do just that. Walz, in this account, was just another liberal darling: As Minnesota governor, he had enacted a litany of progressive policies, including restoring the voting rights of ex-felons and creating a refuge program for trans people denied gender-affirming care in other states. Picking Walz might thrill the subset of Americans who would vote for Harris even if she burned an American flag on live TV and lit a blunt with its flames. But it would do nothing to reassure those who heard two words they did not like in the phrase, “California liberal.”

But there is more than one way to balance a ticket. Or so Harris’s team believes, if the third night of the Democratic National Convention is any guide. On Wednesday night, Democrats used Walz’s nomination to associate their party with rural American culture and small-c conservative moral sentiments, while remaining true to a broadly progressive agenda. Walz may not be especially distinct from Harris ideologically. But he is quite different demographically and symbolically. Harris is the half-Jamaican, half-Indian daughter of immigrant college professors who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Walz was born into a family whose roots in the United States went back to the 1800s, and raised in a Nebraska town of 400, where ethnic diversity largely consisted of several different flavors of Midwestern white (Walz himself is of German, Irish, Swedish, and Luxembourgish descent). Harris is an effortlessly cool veteran of red carpets. Walz is a dad joke that has attained corporal form.

In her person and biography, Harris represents the America that has benefited unequivocally from the transformations of the past half-century — the cosmopolitan, multicultural nation that has greeted the advance of racial and gender equality with relief, and the knowledge economy that’s taken to globalization with relish. Walz, by contrast, was shaped by the America that feels more at home in the world of yesterday, at least as it is nostalgically misremembered — a world where moral intuitions felt more stable, rural economies seemed more healthy, and the American elite looked more familiar; the America that put Donald Trump in the Oval Office, in other words. Or at least, the Harris campaign has chosen to associate Walz with all of that America’s iconography, attempting to make it feel as included in the Democratic coalition as possible — without actually ceding much ground to conservative policy preferences. The introduction to Walz’s speech Wednesday night looked like it could have been scripted by a chatbot asked to generate the antithesis of a “San Francisco liberal.” A video montage celebrated Walz’s diligent work on his family farm growing up, his service in the US military, skills as a marksman, and — above all — success as a football coach. Democrats leaned especially hard on that last, most American item on Walz’s resume. Just before the party’s vice presidential nominee took the mic, a group of his former players decked out in their gridiron garments marched on stage to a fight song (not to be confused with “Fight Song”).

[...] There is some basis for believing that Democrats might be able to win over a small but significant fraction of Republican-leaning independents by wrapping center-left policies in conservative packaging. Some political scientists have found that when moderate and conservative voters are presented with a progressive, Democratic economic policy idea — that is justified on the grounds that it will help uphold “the values and traditions that were handed down to us: hard work, loyalty to our country and the freedom to forge your own path” — some do respond favorably (as do liberal voters, who take no offense at such abstract, traditionalist pieties). Whether Walz tying himself to rural American symbology — or Harris tying herself to “Coach Walz” — will be enough to blunt Trump’s attacks on the Democratic nominee’s supposed “communism” remains to be seen. But the Democratic ticket is at least trying to make right-leaning Midwesterners feel like they belong (even if they do not think like Democrats do).

Tim Walz’s DNC speech last night reflects a broader trend of Democrats reclaiming freedom and patriotism while also selling its liberal agenda. #DNC2024 #HarrisWalz2024

See Also:

HuffPost: With Kamala Harris, It’s Cool For Liberals To Be Patriotic Again

[madamepestilence]

USA: VOTE IN YOUR 2024 PRIMARY ELECTION NOW

Heya folks, if you live in the US, your time to vote is coming up NOW

You may be recommended to vote Uncommitted to show you don't support Biden, but there's a MUCH better alternative! Primary elections determine what presidents will be eligible for ballot during the presidential election!

Get Dr. Cornel West, Ph.D. on your presidential ballots for November by voting for Cornel West (write it specifically as Cornel West, don't include his title) in your primary elections!

Unfamiliar with Dr. Cornel West, Ph.D.? As a TLDR, Dr. Cornel West, Ph.D. is the most vocal presidential candidate speaking explicitly for a free Palestine, not a false, "two-state," solution, and is seeking to significantly improve the quality of life for Americans, and is a real socialist philosopher, unlike poseur Bernie Sanders.

Learn more here: A video essay I made about the 2024 US election, a detailed Tumblr thread I made about it, Dr. Cornel West, Ph.D.'s official presidential platform

Note: Dr. Jill Stein is just a backup - please vote for Dr. Cornel West, Ph.D.. Claudia de la Cruz is not a viable option, as information has come out that her party, the PSL, has a Conservative 5th Column, and has frequent discrimination issues.

Upcoming voting dates:

(Includes US territories and abroad. Listed alphabetically.)

Primary Elections

Caucus Election? Check follow up post.

Alabama (D/R): Mar 5 Alaska (D): Apr 6 Arizona (D/R): Mar 19 Arkansas (D/R): Mar 5 California (D/R): Mar 5 Colorado (D/R): Mar 5 Connecticut (D/R): Apr 2 Delaware (D/R): Apr 2 Democrats Abroad: Mar 12 District of Columbia (D): Jun 4 District of Columbia (R): Mar 3 Florida (D/R): Mar 19 Georgia (D/R): Mar 12 Illinois (D/R): Mar 19 Indiana (D/R): May 7 Kansas (D/R): Mar 19 Kentucky (D/R): May 21 Louisiana (D/R): Mar 23 Maine (D/R): Mar 5 Maryland (D/R): May 14 Massachusetts (D/R): Mar 5 Michigan (D/R): Feb 27 Minnesota (D/R): Mar 5 Mississippi (D/R): Mar 12 Missouri (D): Mar 23 Montana (D/R): Jun 4 Nebraska (D/R): May 14 New Hampshire (D/R): Jan 23 New Jersey (D/R): Jun 4 New Mexico (D/R): Jun 4 New York (D/R): Apr Nevada (D): Feb 6 North Carolina (D/R): Mar 5 North Dakota (D): Mar 30 Northern Mariana (D): Mar 12 Ohio (D/R): Mar 19 Oklahoma (D/R): Mar 5 Oregon (D/R): May 21 Pennsylvania (D/R): Apr 23 Puerto Rico (D): Apr 28 Puerto Rico (R): Apr 21 Rhode Island (D/R): Apr 2 South Carolina (D): Feb 3 South Carolina (R): Feb 24 South Dakota (D/R): Jun 4 Tennessee (D/R): Mar 5 Texas (D/R): Mar 5 Utah (D): Mar 5 Vermont (D/R): Mar 5 Virginia (D/R): Mar 5 Washington (D/R): Mar 12 West Virginia (D/R): May 14 Wisconsin (D/R): Apr 2

[eelhound]

"Nearly half of the US population uses TikTok. It’s the most downloaded app in the country and the world. And last Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed its ban into law.

Members of Congress backing the anti-TikTok bill from both sides of the aisle have tried to emphasize that it’s 'not a ban' — it’s a forced sale. The 'ban' requires Chinese tech company ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, to sell the app to a US-based company within twelve months or the app will be banned in the United States.

ByteDance has responded saying that it will refuse to sell, and that it will instead fight the ban in court. ByteDance believes it can win the court case, based on precedent from federal courts blocking an attempted ban in Montana in November 2023. Former president Donald Trump also tried to ban TikTok twice by executive order when he was in office; those efforts were struck down by the courts too.

Lawmakers are citing data privacy and national security as the primary concerns behind the ban. But others have been more explicit — they are worried about how the app is influencing Americans’ political views, particularly among young voters.

Discussion of the TikTok ban in Congress has been rife with red-baiting and anti-Chinese fearmongering. Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, referred to TikTok as a 'Communist Party propaganda tool.' And Senator Pete Ricketts, a Nebraska Republican, said:

Pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas hashtags are generating fifty times the views on TikTok right now. . . . These videos have more reach than the top ten US news websites combined. This is not a coincidence. The Chinese Communist Party is doing this on purpose.

The senator went on to blame TikTok and the Chinese government for the student protests that started at Columbia University and have since spread to dozens of college campuses across the country on TikTok and the Chinese government.

There is no concrete evidence supporting the idea that political ideas shared on TikTok are more progressive or pro-Palestine than what you find on other platforms or that it skews more progressive than the overall population — with nearly 70 percent of voters now supporting a cease-fire in Gaza. It’s unclear how TikTok’s algorithm handles political content. But one of lawmakers’ greatest concerns is that the platform has offered a new avenue for people to virally spread political messages outside of traditional media.

This is not to say that TikTok doesn’t pose data-privacy concerns. But as Paris Marx writes, TikTok’s opaque data-privacy practices are not specific to TikTok or China. TikTok is a private company. Like all profit-driven social media companies, US- and Chinese-owned alike, there are genuine concerns over data usage — but the TikTok ban won’t fix those.

'The US government’s desire to ban TikTok instead of taking industry-wide action is a good indication that its campaign isn’t really about national security or data protection,' Marx points out, 'but something much deeper: namely the preservation of American economic and geopolitical hegemony.'

In this regard, the federal government sees a lot to gain from banning TikTok. Asserting control over highly profitable Chinese tech companies will help US companies like Meta maintain dominance in the social media space, an important consideration given the United States’ growing Great Power rivalry with China. The ban may also allow the US government tighter control over media narratives, particularly around Israel’s increasingly unpopular war on Gaza and government repression of protests.

I’m a content creator on TikTok, alongside millions of others. TikTok has allowed me to reach millions of people to share ideas about movements for social and economic justice. Recently, I’ve covered the wave of student protests calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and university endowment divestment from weapons manufacturers and other financial ties to Israeli apartheid by interviewing students on the ground in New York City. If TikTok is banned, it means shutting down my voice and the voices of many others who are loudly opposing our government’s support for Israel and spreading awareness of the growing protest movement.

It’s unclear if the ban will be upheld in court. And if the forced sale is upheld, it’s also unclear if twelve months will be enough for a sale to make it through the legal and financial red tape. In any case, it will be at least a year before we see any changes to the app and its availability in the United States.

If the TikTok ban is successful, though, it will serve as a major blow to free speech without actually protecting users’ data. It will mean restricting access to news and political ideas simply because the federal government wants to suppress the ideas that are being shared and popularized on the platform — like opposition to US support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza."

- Caitlyn Clark, "The TikTok Ban Is an Egregious Assault on Free Speech." Jacobin, 29 April 2024.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Current state of Vote Uncommitted

(Linked for data)

Only a few states have yet to hold primaries.

As of now, according to this data, over 794 Thousand primary votes have been uncommitted/uninstructed/none/etc

+794,000

+794k

And this isn't even counting all the people in states that lacked uncommitted options and had to vote write in, or vote for some random other democrat in protest, or left blank, etc. Since so many of those are also protest votes in line with vote uncommitted, I would add another 100-150k to the amount of protest votes Vote uncommitted has gotten so far.

The largest amounts of uncommitted votes are in crucial swing states, by margins that far exceed the tiny amount Biden won by in 2020.

And remember, these numbers are just people who go out to vote in primaries; It takes effort to do that.

Almost 4/5ths of a million Primary voting Democrats have gone out to tell Biden

1) fuck you

2) we are against your genocide

3) our votes for you are dependent on you changing course now and totally

4) We do not have faith in your ability to win while doing this and attacking your own supporters, so stop and change course now

And this is just the vote uncommitted campaign; There are also the many, many, many major dedicated lifelong democrat donors and fundraising organizations that have signed letters and statements telling him to change course because they either can't support this genocide or they know this will cost him the election if he doesn't change course now, as well as those who have cut of funding for the same reasons, and those who did both and more.

here's a fun little quote to keep in mind

When you look at the smallest popular vote shift needed to give Trump a victory, the 2020 election was close. Indeed, it was even closer than 2016. If Trump picked up the right mix of 42,921 votes in Arizona (10,457), Georgia (11,779), and Wisconsin (20,682), the Electoral College would have been tied at 269 all. The House would have then decided the election. Republicans will hold the majority of state delegations in the new Congress, and they undoubtedly would have chosen Trump. If Trump had also picked up the one electoral vote in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, which he lost to Biden by 22,091 votes, he would have won the Electoral College outright.  -CFR

[gwydionmisha]

Primaries are Ongoing:

Important! Remember to vote in all primaries, not just presidential!!!

NOTE: There is a call for people to vote "uncommitted" in the Democratic primary as a protest against Biden's Israel policy. The time to pressure Biden with your vote is now, not in November. The pressure from all the different types of protests do seem to be working, if far slower than we'd like.

NOTE 2: There is a similar protest against Trump where people vote for a candidate who isn't running. Check your state to see who people are promoting.

NOTE 3: Important non-Presidential Primaries are also ongoing! Vote the whole ballot!

Maryland, Nebraska, West Virginia: 5/14/24 (Senate and House Primaries as well! Important!!!)

Georgia, Kentucky, Oregon, Idaho: 5/21/24 (House Primaries as well! Important!!!)

Idaho (Democrat): 5/23/24

Texas (Run Off Election): 5/28/24

Iowa (House Primary), District of Columbia (Democrats), Montana (General Primary, Important), New Jersey (General Primary, Important), New Mexico (General Primary, Important), South Dakota: 6/4/24

[weather-usa]

A historically hot summer continues its deadly rampage with no signs of letting up.

A historically hot summer in the United States is causing a deadly surge in July, with the toll expected to rise as the hottest days are yet to come.

This has been the hottest summer on record for around 100 US cities, spanning from Maine to California. Heat is suspected in the deaths of at least 37 people in the US in July, though this number is likely underestimated due to the time it takes to attribute deaths to extreme heat, nature’s most prolific weather killer.

See more:

Many of the deaths have occurred in the West, where cities have shattered all-time high-temperature records during an unprecedented and prolonged heatwave—conditions scientists link to the effects of climate change driven by fossil fuel pollution.

In Santa Clara County, California alone, heat is being investigated as the cause of at least 19 deaths, according to the county’s medical examiner office.

While everyone is vulnerable to heat, certain groups are at higher risk. These include children, the elderly, pregnant individuals, people with heart or blood pressure issues, outdoor workers, and anyone without access to reliable cooling.

In Santa Clara County, at least three of the potential heat-related deaths involved unhoused individuals without adequate access to cooling, and nine were over the age of 65, the county medical examiner reported to CNN.

In Southeast Texas, at least one person has died from heat-related causes, as over 1 million people remain without power four days after Hurricane Beryl. Others have died or fallen ill from improper attempts to stay cool using generators.

Tragically, four children have lost their lives this month due to heat-related incidents: a 2-year-old in Arizona and Georgia, a 4-year-old in Texas, and a 5-year-old in Nebraska who were left in cars. Additionally, a 10-year-old child died from a heat-related medical event while hiking in a Phoenix park amid scorching temperatures last week, as Phoenix has broken or tied multiple daily heat records since July began.

See more: https://www.flickr.com/photos/weatherusa_app/53775099164/in/dateposted-public/

In Phoenix, temperatures have soared above 110 degrees, with nightly lows remaining above 90 degrees since last Tuesday. Maricopa County is investigating dozens of deaths potentially linked to extreme heat.

Oregon has reported at least 10 suspected heat-related deaths, with six occurring in Portland's Multnomah County. Portland saw record-breaking highs for five consecutive days last week, with temperatures reaching triple digits on three occasions.

The heat wave has also impacted outdoor enthusiasts. A motorcyclist succumbed to heat exposure in Death Valley, where temperatures soared to 128 degrees, setting a new daily record and coming within six degrees of the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

A 50-year-old man also tragically passed away while hiking in Grand Canyon National Park on Sunday amid extreme heat, confirmed by the National Park Service.

Climate and Average Weather Year Round in 44102-Cleveland-OH:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/200457469/Weather-Forecast-For-44102-Cleveland-OH

Confirming heat as the cause of these deaths remains a complex process, as noted by David S. Jones, a physician and historian at Harvard University, in previous comments to CNN. Medical examiners or coroners must determine a single cause of death, and in some areas, these officials may lack medical backgrounds, being political appointees or elected officials.

"The assessment of (cause of death) itself is intricate," Jones explained. "For instance, if someone is found deceased in an apartment, determining the primary cause of death—such as attributing it to heart disease because the heart stopped—is often the approach taken by many medical examiners."

As more deaths are confirmed and temperatures remain high, heat-related fatalities are expected to increase in the coming weeks.

While the intense heat in the Western United States is set to gradually ease starting late this weekend, temperatures will return to near-normal or slightly above-average summer levels. July typically remains hot across the region, even without daily record-breaking heat.

Across much of the US, above-average temperatures are forecasted to persist through the end of July and potentially into early August, according to the Climate Prediction Center.

See more:

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-80023

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-80024

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-80025

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-80026

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-80027

[imaginespazzi]

Bestie, I absolutely love the reactions, and the potential upset picks based on nothing but vibes (because is there any other way to pick them really?), the silly goofy vibes F4 predictions! All of it!

Ok, so I've created a few too many brackets lmao, some (read: most) with all vibes and zero logic, and a couple with slightly more logic, maybe, lol. But I guess my "primary" bracket consists of the following, and I'll start from sweet 16, to make it shorter (yk when i say shorter i really mean longer):

Sweet 16

Albany 1:

SC vs Oklahoma (I actually think Indiana could get through over Oklahoma but for humanity's sake, I'm manifesting the Sooners) Oregon St vs Notre Dame ( I wanted to give Nebraska and/or Ole Miss the upset in Rd 2, which I have in a couple of my other brackets, but ultimately, I think Oregon St and ND get through)

Albany 2:

Princeton vs Kansas St (ok so my primary bracket should really be one of my more logical ones but fuck that, it's March Madness for a reason, and I desperately want Princeton to get through and upset Iowa. I mean, just imagine being the team that sends CC and the Hawkeyes packing, and to do it in Carver? Give me a Kaitlyn Chen buzzer-beating game-winning shot for the theatrics! Oh and Colorado and Kansas St is a toss-up for me rn, but I'll go with Ayoka Lee)

LSU vs UCLA (I badly wanna see Louisville upset LSU bcos in Jeff I trust buuuut I just can't see it rn, I'm sorry Jeff)

Portland 3:

USC vs Columbia (yeah that's right, fuck it, Columbia in against Vandy then upsets Baylor and VT cos it's Abbey Hsu's last year and the universe owes her one! 😌)

UConn vs Ohio State (Does a Syracuse/Auburn/Arizona matchup scare me a little? Sure, but just a little, cos March P and MVLi will get them through. Also, what's with the committee and setting up players against their former team - HVL vs Louisville and Celeste vs Duke, lmao committee be a lil messy sometimes)

Portland 4:

Texas vs Utah (I know people are expecting Utah to stumble early, maybe even in the first round, but not me bestie, NOT ME)

Tennessee vs Stanford (you're right that there's really no in between with TN, either they upset NC State or get blown out by them but I'm going with the upset)

Elite 8

South Carolina vs Oregon State (I know, I have Oregon St with the upset over ND, but idk i think a part of me is a lil biased towards PAC 12 teams just given what they'd had to contend with even though ACC was a tough one too, so I'm giving Oregon St the slightest edge)

Kansas St vs UCLA (I wanna take Princeton all the way to an Elite 8, I do, but I didn't 😭 And maybe I'm too high on UCLA but like you said, they're just more consistent and I trust them more than LSU and most other teams)

USC vs Ohio State (I'M SORRY Y'ALL! Ok, look, as I might have said before, I'm a massive Jacy and Cotie fan and because it's Jacy's final year, I kinda have a slight bias towards OSU right now. But what about Aaliyah and Nika, you ask?? What about "bleed blue always"? I know, I'm such a traitor, but in my defence? my main attachment to UConn is Azzi, even though I do love the rest of the team - and since Azzi isn't playing, my attachment to a few other players (read: Jacy and AP) have been a little stronger this season. PLS FORGIVE ME)

Utah vs Stanford (read previous statement and my said attachment to certain players - I'm wishing on any and every shooting star that AP goes on a generational run and takes Utah this far 🙏 I also have TN upsetting Stanford in some brackets, but not this one)

Final 4

South Carolina vs Stanford (Given I'd been letting my heart dictate most of these picks, I really should have just gone with Utah to make it here, but this is the one time my brain actually took over)

UCLA vs Ohio State (like you, USC still doesn't move me as much as other teams, although I do think they're actually a solid team even outside of Juju, but hey if I picked Ohio State over UConn then I should really stand by that now huh)

National Championship

South Carolina vs Ohio State

Champion

Ohio State (I will say, I think after the second sweet-16 reveal, I picked OSU to win then and so I thought well I might as well stand ten toes down and stay consistent 😅)

Again, I'm sorry for betraying UConn like this, I know pookie would be disappointed in me 😔 but fear not y'all, I swear I made another bracket where I have UConn win it all soooo, call it even?

Anyway, this is all from an unqualified, amateur, and unserious wcbb fan who used simply nothing but vibes and a quarter of a brain cell to make these picks!

I'm sorry you had to read through all that, bestie. I know you're probably like, i didn't ask for this!! But I hope it was entertaining, if anything 😂

Biggest love to you always, Nivi. 💗

-🙋‍♀️

Hi bestie <3

BABES NOT YOU PICKING AGAINST MY HUSKIES 😭😭😭

Now that, that's out of the way (I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed 🥲) I actually see the vision with your bracket but I'm ngl babes we are on very different wavelengths for the first time lol because "main" bracket is not this at all (well kinda).

I have SC vs Indiana (still rooting for Fairfield) because I have Oklahoma losing to FGCU and I picked the Nebraska upset so I have them vs ND but I have SC coming out of that region as well.

Also babes I'm with because I have Princeton making the sweet 16 as well like it's what we deserve but I'm picking the Louisville upset because fuck Kim Mulkely lmao but I do ultimately have UCLA coming out of that region.

Our Portland 3 region is so insanely difference because I'm so sorry bestie I have OSU getting upset by Duke in the 2nd round. And this is gonna backfire but I have USC getting upset in the 2nd round by Kansas and then obviously I have UConn coming out of the whole things.

But we see each other with Portland 4 because I have Texas vs Utah and Stanford vs Tennessee as well but then listen APHive, I'm so sorry, and I have Utah going further in my fun brackets, but in the main, I had to put Texas above. I have Stanford coming out of that one though.

Anyways all of this to say that I have Stanford vs UConn in the national championship with UConn winning it all. I genuinely tried to make *1* bracket where UConn didn't win and I just couldn't so basically in every world in my brain UConn wins.

I love your thoughts always babes (even when you're betting against my huskies) and I love that they're always long. <3

[toastydoll]

Since rainbow high is getting extremely worrisome w the new line I’ve coped by making my own wave 6 (drumroll please):

Scarlet, Pumpkin, Mustard, Moss, Cornflower, Royal Purple!

Tbh I was just listing off colors I wished we had gotten in a gc and then realized a) they made a rainbow and b) they were all autumnal themed so I made an inadvertent autumnal wave! All with two outfits bc I’m allowed to dream. I want to make them eventually too bc hello my New Year’s resolution is to make more customs than last year.

Scarlett Connell (scarlet red/orange): a multimedia artist with a passion for eco-friendly graffiti, Scarlett Connell hails from the Pacific Northwest. Growing up on the Oregon coast, Scarlett fell in love with thrifting materials from old logging camps and cargo railroads. Her main outfit is a scarlet beanie, a scarlet plaid scarf, a white tank top, a pair of patchwork scarlet overalls, and graffitied scarlet doc martens. Her second outfit is a scarlet oversized flannel, faded rainbow dream t shirt, torn/cuffed scarlet jeans, and short scarlet rain boots. She keeps her makeup subtle save for a bold detail (scarlet tinged lip, blush, natural brows, graphic scarlet eyeliner) and her scarlet hair straight and chin length. Y’all…she’s the red/orange butch doll we’ve all been waiting for.

Paloma Gordon (pumpkin orange): a sweet-as-can-be baking and pastry major from Salem, Massachusetts. Growing up in such an autumnal region made Paloma fall in love with both the flavors and fashions of the season. Her primary outfit is a pair of cropped ankle pumpkin pants, pumpkin crocs, a white chef coat w pumpkin buttons, and a pumpkin orange neckerchief. Her second outfit is a pair of pumpkin plaid woolen pants, a white cable knit sweater w pumpkin detailing, and pumpkin suede booties. Her makeup is soft and warm yet very, very precise: much like her approach in the kitchen, and she keeps her hair in long curly pumpkin orange ringlets, tied back in a high ponytail. I always wished rh would do a baking major since culinary arts are some of the most impressive art forms in the world (we almost got there w poppy).

Amelie “Frenchie” du Mous (mustard yellow): always on point, Frenchie hones all of her high fashion skills from growing up in Paris into a neatly tailored fashion focus. Her primary outfit is a plaid mustard pinafore over a lace trimmed white blouse with bell sleeves, mustard yellow knee high socks, brown heeled oxfords with mustard laces, and a mustard beret trimmed in white lace. Her second outfit is a pair of knee length mustard plaid shorts w matching suspenders, platform mustard leather loafers, mustard mid calf socks, and a white puffed short sleeved blouse with a mustard plaid bow tie. Her hair is straight and long in two tails. We never got a dark academia girl so here she is to fall in love w scarlet

Ivy Pines (moss green): emerging from the woods for the first time in her life, Ivy is ready to bring her foraging gift to Rainbow High! Her art has always been from the forest around her and her family in Northern California, whether she’s crafting her own dyes or whittling intricate jewelry. Her first outfit is an ombré dip-dyed lace maxi dress (white into moss green) with thin straps, an oversized moss green cardigan, knit to texturally simulate moss (look up moss stitch w this specific rough spin yarn istg it looks just like moss), moss sandals, moss socks, and wooden jewelry with moss jewel accents. Her second outfit is moss green crochet pants, moss flats, and a white peasant top w moss embroidery. Her makeup is natural with mossy green eyeshadow, and her hair is loose beachy waves. She’d come w alt heeled feet but both her shoes would be flat :0. She’s the mori girl we deserved but never actually got.

Corinne St. Germaine (cornflower blue): traveling all the way from Middle-of-Nowhere, Nebraska, Rainbow High is Corinne’s first interaction outside of her hometown’s sixty people. She’s not totally ignorant of the world though—she’s actually huge on the internet! Her fashion style has been dubbed Lolita Americana: gold rush pioneer outfits through a cute girly lens. Her first outfit is a cornflower blue pioneer dress with a knee length hem, high neck collar, long slightly puffed sleeves, and white apron, as well as lace knee high cornflower stockings, cornflower leather ankle boots, and a cornflower bonnet trimmed in white lace. Her second outfit is a cornflower wool coat, long cornflower wool skirt, and knee high cornflower riding boots. Her hair would have a soft wave and probably be in a half up style, and her makeup would be soft. In a perfect world she’s also got a parasol >:3

Leanna Royale (royal purple): Known for clothing real life royals and only the most fashionable celebrities, the prestigious House Royale has unveiled its latest stride into the fashion world: a daughter named Leanna. Raised from birth on fine art and livery, Leanna is a princess in all but political power. Her first outfit is a polished royal purple velvet pantsuit with a royal satin shirt and purple velvet heeled pumps. Her second outfit is a silk bejeweled minidress, royal purple bejeweled strap heels, and a royal purple fur stole. Her makeup is elegant and refined, complete with a royal purple lip. Her hair is long royal purple locs in an elegant updo, and yes: she has a tiara. She’s every bit of posh violet wishes she could be (/hj)

I’m gonna try and make these! Bases would probably be whatever I can find that’s cheap, though a good visualization I’m going on rn is based on the color create dolls (scarlet and mustard for green eyes, pumpkin and royal for purple eyes, cornflower and moss for blue eyes). Maybe I won’t go so far to do two outfits but I’ll try and at least make one for each :)

[likehephaestionwhodied]

Can you pretty please make a history of leather lesbians post? Your reblog about lesther daddies made me cry because it was so full of love and respect.

I'm gonna start with the bad news, which is no I can't. That post and the specifics of that post come from 1. being a leatherman and 2. months of intense research prepping to write my master's thesis. And so that is full of academic history. And I'm not knocking non-academic history; I rely on non-academic community history for my thesis; almost entirely, there is very little academic history on the community. But that's the thing, it's community history and I've never been a member of that community.

This is not good or bad news, but because of the nature of some leather spaces, particularly the ones I write about in my thesis, there is very little if any, cross-over of gay men and lesbian leather. THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT DOES NOT HAPPEN but this is why I know very little.

During the 70s there was an anti-sex push that affected gay leathermen and leather lesbians differently. Leather lesbians were in the trenches fighting for their right to also be feminists because there was a huge feminist movement that all sex is bad, particularly sex that looks like or is heterosexual sex and leather/SM is abuse etc. etc. Which is a dynamic that is different from what leathermen are looking at which is more "we should try to be like heterosexuals and stop having so much weird sex"

The good news is I do have some things you could read if you want to get a rudimentary grasp of lesbian leather history.

Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice edited by Mark Thompson. This is a collection of essays by leatherfolk, by virtue of the editor being a gay leatherman there's an over-representation of gay men in this collection but there are essays by lesbians. Gayle Rubin [who we're gonna talk more about later] writes about a fisting club for gay men but she talks about when Lesbians and women in general were included. But there are other essays by lesbians about lesbians.

Coming to Power: Writings and Graphics on Lesbian S/M Edited by members of SAMOIS a lesbian/feminst S/M Organization. This is going to be probably the most helpful to anyone looking for a historical grounding in Lesbian leather. It's not a text on the history of leather rather, it's a primary source, these are leather lesbians talking about their experence. The unfortunate thing is, and you'll run into this a lot with niche community groups, it's hard to get your hands on. You're looking at 150-200 dollars if you want to buy the third edition. But I found it on accident in my university's library, so you might be able to find it in your local academic library (I am in the middle of Nebraska so there's a little bit of hope for you, too where ever you are.) OR you might be able to get it through interlibrary loan, there might also be like PDF copies floating around.

There are two people I'll point you towards as being the two people I know that have written on this subject.

Patrick Califia: Patrick is a trans man who, in the late 70s and early 80s prior to identifying as a trans man, was a big name in the San Francisco lesbian leather community. He is featured three times in Coming to Power and has an essay in Leatherfolk he is referenced in a lot of the gay male press as being the lesbian point of contact, also an erotica writer. So his early stuff might be helpful.

Gayle Rubin: If you are want to read heavy academia about queers in general, Rubin is who you should start with. She essentially invents Queer Theory with her article "Thinking Sex." the most pertinent article for my answer to you is "The Leather Menace" The title itself is a derivative of "lavender menace," and it plays with this theme that you see over and over and over again across the queer leather community of being a marginalized community inside an already marginalized community.

Rubin also wrote one of the best academic pieces on the gay male leather community The Valley of the Kings, it was never published and exists in only two places, Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan and Chicago at the Leather Archives and Museum. I have not gotten to read it in full. Someday I'll grow the balls to email her and ask her if there's an easier way to read it.

If you read these anthologies, goggle these women, google the organizations they mention. I know absolutely nothing about Dykes on Bikes but surely someone's written some kind of history about them.

If you have the chance go to The Leather Archives and Museum, there's a heavy emphasis on gay leathermen, but it is a community archive for all the leather community.

The thing about digging for the history of this community is there is no published "here is the history of the leather community" you have to read this person's memoir and the clippings you could find of this or that publication and someone's history of this that or some other organization.

I'm sure if some 50-year-old Leather Dyke comes across this, it'll be met with, "Okay, kid you have no idea what you're talking about." and to her and everyone else, I'd say, "yeah, no, I don't have a clue." this is just where I would start if I wanted to dig into this topic.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

I'm not sure what to make of this completely renovated and modernized 1969 mid-century home in Omaha, Nebraska, that was reno'd in 1995. 5bds, 5.5ba, $1.85M.

Like the waterfall feature.

The entrance hall sort of looks like an office.

The main living space is huge and Iooks like they may have redesigned the fireplace in the conversation pit.

There is another sitting area in the corner.

A built-in credenza divides this area from the kitchen/dining space 2 steps up. Sliders open to a deck.

The large kitchen has room for a table that seats 6.

Like the way the kitchen curves.

Behind the kitchen is a large pantry with a full size wine cooler.

And, beyond the wine cooler it turns into an office space.

With laundry.

I'm thinking that maybe the underlit bed in the primary bedroom conveys?

Built-in closets and desk. Looks kind of like a hotel room.

Large en-suite has a step up to a walk-in closet.

This is nice. Each bedroom has some sort of built-in with lots of storage, be it a desk or a wall unit.

Another smaller 3 piece bath.

Stairs to the lower level.

It's a large family/TV room.

There's another office down here.

Rec room with a bar. It's huge down here.

Looks like 3 different staircases and another office.

Wine racks, I wouldn't call it an actual wine cellar.

Wow, it's gigantic. This is like a dance studio.

Guest powder room down here.

Plus a kitchenette.

Beautiful pool.

.77 acre lot.

[brw]

Noticed in one of your posts in your Hank Pym tag that you said his family might have corn farmers but in Age of Ultron #10 it says that his father is a factory foreman and his mother a bookkeeper. Sorry if this comes off as condescending, it's not intended that way.

YOURE COMPLETELY RIGHT i always remember the bookkeeper thing but not the factory foreman. i think i assumed the implication was agriculture because their house is shown with a barn nearby and the primary form of farming in nebraska is of course corn farming, but i mean it's very possible it was already there if they bought the land for cheap or they couldn't afford to continue working as a farm and had to switch careers or something.

[plethoraworldatlas]

A federal appeals court shocked voting rights groups on Monday with a ruling that only the US government, not outside groups or citizens, could sue to enforce the Voting Rights Act’s provisions.

The civil rights law, which outlaws racial discrimination as it relates to voting, has typically been enforced by lawsuits from these groups, not by the government itself. Now that the Republican-appointed eighth circuit court of appeals has made the ruling by 2-1, this “private right of action” to enforce Section 2 of the law is called into question.

...

The ruling is not simply an esoteric question of law: it would dismantle the primary mechanism voting rights groups use to protect against racial discrimination in voting, often in the form of lawsuits challenging electoral maps.

Voting rights groups expect the ruling will be appealed to the US supreme court. The eighth circuit ruling applies to the states the circuit court covers: Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Wendy Weiser, the vice-president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice, called the decision “radical” and wrote on X that it was “deeply wrong, and it goes against decades of precedent and practice”.