#emily thorburn

[jessisnotnormalq]

Chapter 1: Favour

Masterlist

“You sure you’ve got everything?” Jada asked, hurrying round the living room to pick up some last-minute items. “Make sure you give her a bottle with her tea. They’re in the fridge at the back, remember to warm it up first, won’t you?”

            “I’m not a complete idiot, you know,” Jim responded with a laugh. “I do have a vague idea what I’m doing. I help my sister with her baby all the time.”

            “You’ll phone me if anything happens, won’t you?”

            He rolled his eyes teasingly. “Yes, Jada. Now if you don’t hurry up, you’re gonna be late.”

            “All right, all right,” she sighed, crouching down to where Emily was playing on the floor. She scooped her daughter up into her arms, planting a kiss in her soft curls. “See you tomorrow, baby. I’ll miss you.”

            Emily gave a little squeal, flashing her a cheeky grin as Jada put her back onto the floor and turned to address Jim again. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Phone me if you need anything.”

            “Stop worrying!” Jim laughed, stepping around Emily to push Jada towards the door. “You’re supposed to have fun. Everything here is under control.”

            “See you tomorrow, Izzy!” Jada called up the stairs as they reached the hallway, hoping her other housemate could hear her.

            Her fears proved unfounded, however, when Izzy's face appeared out of her bedroom doorway. “Have fun!” she called back, waving. “I expect some exciting stories when you return!”

            Jada was unsure what kind of exciting adventures Izzy expected her to have at Ubi’s New Year’s party, but she nodded anyway, turning and heading out into the cold December evening. The last December evening, she realised with a nostalgic twinge as she climbed into her car. The last evening of 2015.

            She reversed out of the driveway, pausing only to hit the start button on her Satnav before she set off. It had been five months since she’d last seen Ubi, when he’d moved out of his student accommodation in the summer and got himself a new place with a friend. The drive would take her forty-five minutes, her Satnav informed her, so she had planned to stay overnight and come home the next morning. However, it would be the longest time she’d spent away from Emily since bringing her home from the hospital eight months ago, and Jada only hoped she could last the night.

            The house was not what Jada had been expecting for a third-year university student with no job. It looked as though it had been built in the Victorian era, with great bay windows and a small wooden porch, and was nestled on the edge of a country park. Despite having donned her best outfit—a red bodycon dress complete with heels she’d not seen for so long she’d had to clear the dust off them—she couldn’t help but feel massively underdressed for such an elegant setting.

            She was soon reassured, however, by the sight of Ubi, who opened the front door wearing a fairly smart-casual shirt and skinny jeans as she was locking her car.

            “Jesus Christ, Ubi,” she began as she made her way onto the porch. “Who’d you have to kill to end up in a place like this?”

            Ubi grinned, taking her coat as she stepped inside. “Nothing to do with me. Morgo’s the one who deals with all the shady stuff. I just stand to the side and look innocent.”

            “Innocent? You?” Jada laughed. “You’re not that good an actor.”

            His smile widened. “Maybe that’s just what I want you to think.” He gestured for her to follow him into the living room, which was full of incredible antique-looking furniture to match the house’s grand exterior.

            “Fucking hell, Ubi, is your friend loaded?” she gaped, but he only chuckled. “What the hell did you have to do for him to let you stay here?”

            “Oh, you know, just the usual. Gotta help him reap the souls of the chosen, etcetera,” Ubi joked, causing Jada to smack him lightly on the arm. “You’re actually here early for once. Morgo’s gone out to get some extra drinks, so guess who gets to help me set up?”

            “Aren’t I lucky?” she replied sarcastically.

            Before long, other people had started to arrive, some of whom Jada recognised from her brief time at university, though most of them she had never seen before. The official start to the party was signalled by the music beginning to play, and soon drinks were being handed round as darkness began to fall.

            It was around midnight when Jada stumbled into the kitchen, drink in hand, to find Ubi leaning against the counter and discussing something in a hushed voice with another man. The two of them looked up as she entered.

            “Jada, come over here,” Ubi called, gesturing to her. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

            Jada did as she was told. “All right, but you better not be trying to set me up with anybody. I swear, I’ve had enough of that from Izzy.”

            Ubi laughed, shaking his head, while the stranger gave a small smile of amusement.

            “No, no, it’s nothing like that,” Ubi assured her. “I just wanted to introduce you to Morgo. Morgo, this is Jada Thorburn.”

            He gestured between them, and the man named Morgo offered his hand.

            “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Ubi has told me so much about you already.”

            Jada snorted. “Nothing bad, I hope?”

            Morgo had an unusual air about him. He regarded her with an unreadable expression, though she couldn’t help but feel slightly unsettled as his eyes appeared to almost look through her. They were partly obscured by his unruly hair, which fell in brown curls across them so that she was only able to see them when he wished her to. He seemed to belong perfectly in the surroundings of such an old and obscure house, but looked positively out of place amongst the people within the current setting. Even his clothes looked wrong; his too-large shirt and rolled up jeans looked as though they must have been borrowed off somebody else.

            “You were in his drama class, yes? A budding actress?”

            Jada nodded. “Had to drop out last year, though.”

            “Oh really? May I ask why?”

            “Had a baby,” she replied, shrugging. “She was premature, so it just seemed easier to quit and focus on her at the time.”

            “A shame,” Morgo shook his head. “I imagine her father is looking after her now?”

            “Nah, my mate is. We live together, so he helps me out when I need it.”

            “Ah, I see.” Morgo nodded thoughtfully, and Jada began to wonder just how much information he was gleaning from her.

            From the living room, one of the guests could be heard shouting above the music. “Ten minutes ‘til midnight!”

            “I’m going back in there,” Ubi announced, swigging the last of his drink before picking up another. “Anybody coming?”

            “Nah,” Jada responded, while Morgo just shook his head. “I’ll be in in a bit though.”

            “All right, see you later, then,” Ubi bid them farewell, before heading back into the party.

            Morgo took a sip of his drink, wrinkling his nose at the taste. “I have a favour to ask of you,” he said after regaining his composure.

            Jada frowned. “What kind of favour?”

            “I need you to trust me.”

            Her frowned deepened, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “No offense, but that seems kind of a shifty thing to say.”

            He chuckled, almost taking another sip from his can before he pulled it away from his lips hastily. “You’re staying here until tomorrow, correct?”

            Jada was starting to wonder if that was such a good idea. “…Yeah?”

            “Good, I will be able to explain more then.” He gave her a broad smile. “For now you should just enjoy the party, I suppose.”

            Now it was Jada’s turn to drink, though she continued to frown at him over the top of the glass. “You’re a bit odd, you, aren’t you?”

            Again, Morgo chuckled. “I imagine so. Ubi seems to believe so, at any rate.”

            “You sure you can’t tell me whatever this ‘favour’ is now?”

            He sighed, waving his hand vaguely. “It would take too long, too many people around.”

            She nodded in neither agreement or approval, screwing her mouth up. “Right. Well, I’m gonna go back in there now. See you some other time.”

            “Of course,” Morgo nodded, though there was a small smile playing on his lips. “Some other time.”

            She made her way back into the living room, re-joining Ubi as the image of Big Ben on the laptop screen began to count down. Why neither Ubi nor Morgo had invested in a TV for the place she couldn’t understand, but that thought was soon pushed aside as the clock began to chime. Suddenly, the sky exploded in a burst of colour, the lights on the London Eye mimicking the fireworks in their own colourful sequence as 2016 burst onto the screen. Jada wished that one day she could see the show in person, perhaps when Emily was bigger and could appreciate it properly.

            She’d had to watch last year’s countdown from her hospital room, keeping her headphones turned low so that it wouldn’t startle Emily. They’d been able to hear it even without the headphones, though, through the window, and Jada could still remember the flashes of colour dancing across the incubator where her one-day-old daughter lay. She’d been so sensitive to loud noises back then; she’d opened her little mouth to croak a protest, though there’d been no cry. She was too little to cry, the nurses had said.

            Jada found herself crying now, watching the fireworks flash onscreen and reflecting on just how much her life had changed in the past year. When Ubi spotted her across the small crowd huddled round his laptop, his face grew concerned, at first. But after she’d explained her very legitimate reasons to him, he’d only shook his head with a smile and decided it was probably time she went to bed.

            The rest of the guests were just beginning to disband as she settled into the spare room, all thoughts of the party already leaving her as she fell into unconsciousness.

            When morning came, complete with a chorus of birdsong and sunlight filtering through the curtains and falling across her face, Jada wished it would piss off. She squinted at the traitorous gap in the fabric, before hauling the covers over her head with a groan. It had been so long since she last got the chance to go out, she’d almost forgotten hangovers existed.

            Eventually, she’d managed to pluck up the courage to face the infernal sun, changing into her spare clothes before heading downstairs to see what the breakfast situation looked like in The Manor.

            She wouldn’t have been surprised to find a professional cook slaving away in the kitchen, but instead she was greeted by Ubi’s ever-cheerful grin as he scrambled some eggs, while Morgo seemed thoroughly invested in the newspaper he held before him.

            “Morning,” Ubi greeted her, prompting Morgo to look up and give her a nod. “How d’you like your eggs?”

            She returned Morgo’s nod with a small smile, before replying. “Uh, scrambled, I guess.”

            “You were right,” Ubi grinned, turning to Morgo and depositing the eggs onto his plate.

            Morgo simply raised his eyebrows at his housemate, before returning his gaze to the paper. “Of course.”

            Jada stretched, sitting opposite Morgo at their small wooden table and rubbing her forehead.

            “Ubi, will you get the remedy I prepared from the cupboard above the sink, please?” Morgo requested, still not looking up.

            Ubi did as he was asked, handing a small black vial to his friend, who in turn held it out for Jada.

            “Take that. It’ll stop the pounding in your head.”

            Jada thanked him, taking the vial and popping the cork out of it. Immediately she was hit with the smell, which she could only guess was the scent of some kind of offal. “Ugh, what is it?”

            “Just a few herbs, really. I’d say it won’t taste as bad as it smells, but…” She thought he smirked, “Probably best to down it in one.”

            She glanced to Ubi, who gave her a reassuring smile. After sighing in resignation, she tilted her head back, trying not to think about the horrific sludge that was passing over her tongue. She spluttered when she finished, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

            “I hope those eggs are nearly done,” she croaked.

            She’d earnt a smile from Morgo, while Ubi chuckled, turning back to his pan. “Just a minute.”

            Morgo’s gaze remained on her, and after a moment he folded his paper up and set it down, intertwining his hands over it. “What time do you expect to be back home, then?”

            “I told Jim I’d be back as soon as I could,” she replied. “Didn’t want to be away too long.”

            “Of course. And are you planning to drive yourself?”

            She nodded. “’Soon as I can.”

            Morgo turned to glance at Ubi, who seemed to be watching them out of the corner of his eye. “Well I’m glad you gave no solid timeframe. That will make things much easier for us, I imagine.”

            Jada frowned, her headache worsening. “You what?”

            Morgo was back to leaning on the table again, his gaze becoming intense. “You’re adopted.”

            Jada snorted at the absurdity of the comment. “You know, I’m really glad you felt the need to tell me that. I’d have had no idea otherwise,” she retorted sarcastically. She caught Ubi’s smirk, though Morgo seemed unamused, so she added, “D’you think I don’t know that?”

            “Did you never wonder who your parents were?”

            “No.”

            The two seemed surprised at her answer.

            “Why not?” Morgo asked.

            She shrugged. “They didn’t want me; why should I waste a single thought on them? Life doesn’t really work like in the films, you know.”

            Morgo’s expression softened. “Your mother did want you. She cared about you very much.”

            She felt her eyebrows raise in challenge. “And you would know?”

            His eyes dropped, his fingernail beginning to scratch at the paper underneath his hands. “I didn’t know her very well. Not at all, really. I only met her once, in passing. The day I saved your life.”

            Jada scoffed again. “You what?”

            Morgo’s eyes returned to her face, his words suddenly coming very fast. “Your mother was killed in a fire. She was staying in an inn in the capital, and you were with her. We were trying to keep an eye on things, to make sure everything was all right. When I saw the blaze I knew I had to go in, that I had to do something. It was too late for your mother, and I’m sorry for that, but then I found you. She’d doused your crib in water, it seemed, which gave me just enough time to get you out. Naturally, I couldn’t keep you here with us, though Ubi tried to argue with me. So we found a nice orphanage for you-”

            “Orphanage?” she interrupted. “What is this, the Victorian era? It’s called an adoption centre.”

            “My apologies-”

            “And what am I, anyway? Fucking Harry Potter? My parents were killed, but you managed to save me in the nick of time? Yeah right, and the next one.”

            Wearing a quizzical expression, Morgo turned to Ubi, who shrugged. “She doesn’t believe you, basically. I told you it would have been easier to keep her with us.”

            “I can’t believe you’re buying into this shit, too,” Jada scowled. “Is this some sort of stupid joke?”

            “No, no,” Morgo said. “I promise you I’m completely serious. I saved your life, gave you to the authorities in this world to be properly adopted, and then Ubi’s been keeping an eye on you recently, until now.”

            “'In this world'?” she repeated. "What are you actually fucking talking about?"

            Morgo sighed in exasperation, rubbing his brows. “You were born in Albion, which is in a separate world to this one. Now, if you’d just co-operate, we’d get through this much faster and then you can go on your merry way.”

            Jada crossed her arms, still scowling, but said nothing.

            “Very good. Now, since I saved your life, you could say you owe me a favour.” Jada wasn't sure she agreed, but Morgo was looking at her expectantly, seemingly waiting for her retort. When none came, he sighed again. “What do you know of the Arthurian legends?”

            A moment passed, before he gave a sound of frustration. “You can talk now.”

            “I did a few projects on them in high school,” she replied with a bitter shrug. “But I don’t see what this has to do with anything.”

            “Well you wouldn’t, would you?” Morgo retorted.

            Ubi snickered, causing the two of them to look back over towards him, still scrambling some more eggs.

            Morgo turned back to her first. “How did they end, the legends?”

            Jada sighed. “Arthur’s killed by Mordred, at the Battle of Camlann.”

            “Not killed, mortally wounded,” Morgo corrected.

            “Fine. Arthur is mortally wounded by Mordred at the Battle of Camlann. Because the distinction is so important.”

            “It is,” Morgo countered. “‘Mortally wounded’ implies that Arthur was not yet dead when he was taken to Avalon.”

            “So?”

            “So, I need you to make sure he doesn’t die.”

            What little patience of Jada’s remained now vanished. “And how the fuck am I supposed to do that?”

            “You need to find a way to heal him. Luckily for you, I know just the right way. But you’ll have to use magic, of course.”

            “Magic? You realise that all of this makes absolutely no sense, right?” She turned to Ubi for help. “Is he on something?”

            “Nope,” Ubi replied. “Magic is real. You might not have realised, but you come from a long line of magic users, dating back for more than four hundred years.”

            Jada changed her focus. “Are you on something?”

            He grinned. “Nope. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed anything yet.”

            “She’d have had no need to,” Morgo interjected, calling Jada’s attention back to him. “But now you do. I’m sending you to study under Merlin. You’ll learn the basics of magic there, but after that you’ll have to move on to a more difficult school of study.”

            Jada laughed. “Oh yeah? And will I be going to Atlantis for dinner, as well?”

            Morgo seemed unamused, so she changed her tone as she rose from the table. “Look, I don’t know what the hell you’re on about, but I am not going to Camelot to learn how to use magic to save a fictional king, all right? Sorry to disappoint, but I’m busy.”

            She turned on her heel, ready to head out the door, pick up her keys, and never return to this house again. Behind her she heard Morgo rise, his chair scraping against the tiles.

            “Morgo, we can’t make her,” Ubi said. “If she doesn’t want to, there’s nothing we can do.”

            She was in the hallway now, about to retrieve her coat from the rack that Ubi had hung it on as the kitchen door behind her swung open again. She was grateful she’d thought to move her bag with the rest of her belongings by the door already. A smooth escape would have been so much more difficult otherwise.

            She bent to pick it up, purposely paying no heed to the figure behind her as she did so, until he said something that she did not expect.

            “Swefe nu.”

            Before Jada could turn to even frown at him, she felt her legs buckle beneath her as the floor rushed to meet her. The last thing she heard before unconsciousness took her was Ubi’s voice of indignation:

            “Morgo!”

Chapter 2 ->

[dw-flagler]

BLONDE WILDBOW CHARACTERS

Every wildbow character with hair color described as blonde or similar to blonde. Characters are listed in alphabetical order.

A character's category is determined by their debut appearance. Though Lisa Wilbourn appears in both Worm and Ward, she will be listed as a Worm character, and not as a Ward character.

WORM:

Ashley Stillons I (Damsel of Distress)

Ava ? (Cuff)¹

Brad Meadows (Hookwolf)

Carol Dallon (Brandish)

Crystal Pelham (Laserdream)

Dean Stansfield (Gallant)

Elijah Mathers (Valefor) (Later dyes white)

Elle ? (Labyrinth)

Emily Piggot

Eric Pelham (Shielder)

Gabriel Maxberry (King)

Glastig Uaine/Valkyrie

Greg Veder (The Worst)

Hero

Hoyden

Jaager Charles (Gasconade) (Appears ONLY in PRT Quest)

Jeanne Wynn/Brown (Citrine)

Jessica Biermann (Fenja)

Katherine Oldershaw (Grace)

Kurt Wynn (Harbinger/Number Man)

Leonid(?)

Lisa Wilbourn (Tattletale)

Marissa Newland (Sundancer)

Melody Jurist (Cricket)

Mike ? (Lightstar)

Missy Biron (Vista)

Mrs. Knott

Neil Pelham (Manpower)

Nessa Bierman (Menja)

Oliver ? (Oliver)

Principal Blackwell

Riley Grace Davis (Bonesaw)

Sam ? (Prism)

Sarah Pelham (Lady Photon)

Tammi Herren (Rune/Scribe) (last name presumed)

"Tom Moss" (Acidbath)

Victoria Dallon (Glory Girl/Antares)

"White Fairy"²

Blonde Adjacent:

Alabaster (white hair)

Kamil Armstrong (white hair)

Madeline ? (Winter) (white hair)

Paige Mcabee (Canary) (yellow feathers, hair unknown)

Polka (white hair)

Scion (gold hair)

Scrub (white hair)

The Simurgh (silver hair)

Worm has: 38 blonde characters, and 8 blonde-adjacent characters, for a total of 46.

WARD

Ashley Stillons II (Swansong)

Ashley Stillons III (Damsel of Distress)

Axehead? (Presumed)³

Bianca ? (Goddess)

Harbinger V (Limerick)

Hunter ? (Mincemaid)

Jay ?

Kathlee Rosenthal (Monokeros)¹

Lachlan ?

Lionwing

Moose

Mr. Drowsing

Nate ? (Reconciliation)

Paris

Rain O'Fire Fraizer (Precipice)

Ryan ? (Cradle)

Samuel Vasil

William Giles (Scapegoat)

Blonde Adjacent:

Anita Vera (white hair)

Christine Mathers (Mama Mathers) (silver hair)

Coiffure (silver hair)

Colt (Colt) (bleached hair)

Dino (silver hair)

Egg (yellow hair)

Engel ("glowing" hair)

Enyo (silver hair)

Foggy Idea (gray dyed hair)

Nailbiter (bleached hair)

Presley ? (gray-white dyed hair)

Vince Crowley (poorly-bleached hair)

Voltrage ("pale" hair)

Ward has: 18 blonde characters, and 13 blonde-adjacent characters, for a total of 31.

PACT:

Blake Thorburn

Chloe Duchamp

Diana Thompson

James Thorburn

Joanna Duchamp

Lea Duchamp

Lola Duchamp

Paul Thorburn

Penelope Duchamp

Peter Thorburn

Rose Thorburn Jr.

Rose Thorburn Sr.

Roxanne Thorburn

Sandra Duchamp

The Briar Girl

Blonde Adjacent

Malcolm "Fell" Atwell ("light" hair)

Pact has: 15 blonde characters, and 1 blonde-adjacent character, for a total of 16.

TWIG:

The Baron Richmond

The Duke of Francis

Duncan Lambsbridge

Emily Gage

Gordon Lambsbridge(?)

Helen Ibott

Jamie Lambsbridge

Jessie Ewesmont

Lord Carling

Lord King

Lord Leeds

Marcella

The Duke of Francis

The Twins (counts as 2)

BLONDE ADJACENT

Lady Glora ("pale of hair")

Lara (white hair)

Nora (white hair)

Twig has: 15 blonde characters, and 3 blonde-adjacent characters, for a total of 18.

PALE:

America Tedd

Anthem Tedd

Avery Kelly

Edith James

Eloise Miraz

Freak (of Freak & Squeak)

Gillian Ross

Liberty Tedd

Reggie the Composite Kid

Snowdrop

The Family Man

Ulysses Miraz

Wallace Davis

BLONDE ADJACENT

Mrs. Schaff (white hair)

Crooked Rook (white hair)

Gemma Duchamp (Grey hair)

Luna Hare (white hair)

Pale has: 13 blonde characters, and 4 blonde-adjacent characters, for a total of 17.

CLAW:

"Valentina's Mom & Sister"

Claw has: 2 blonde characters, and 0 blonde-adjacent characters, for a total of 2.⁴

Notes

¹ Both cuff and monokeros are noted to have dark hair in Ward while having blonde hair in their original appearances (Worm and WD Helena respectively).

² White Fairy is Mr. Gladly's girlfriend and a prolific redditor who is seen during the leviathan battle and the PHO greg interlude. deep cut. As a mortal enemy of greg veder, please treat her with appropriate respect.

³ Axehead is never seen in ward. However, Titan Skadi (who forms from Axehead) is described as having golden hair. I am presuming that this is from axehead the human having blonde hair.

⁴ Literally 1 person told me any characters from claw. i haven't read it. there's more than 2, but i haven't seen anything.

[greatwyrmgold]

The Dallons are the perfect white nuclear family, in the sense that their dysfunction is rooted in the institution of the American nuclear family. Amy isn't an invader to the nuclear family, she's a participant in and victim of it.

Anyone who thinks that Wildbow's writing supports the institution of family as an ideal has simply not read anything he wrote. There are positive family relationships in his stories, but the institution is consistently a source of harm.

There's the Dallons, of course. Also every OG Undersider. Brian's parents are mediocre at best, and Brian contorts his life to mimic the Family Man Ideal so that he can get his little sister into a stable household. After taking Rachel from her bio-mom, she was shuffled between foster homes, looking for a perfect family that could force her into the Good Daughter mold. Lisa's parents tried to financially exploit her new superpowers while she was still grieving their other child's death. And then there's Nikos "fucking" Vasil; enough said.

It shows up with minor characters; very few young parahumans have happy home lives, and the institutions that govern their world almost never cares. And it shows up outside of Worm. Most of Breakthrough has their own parallels to the fucked-up Dallons. Avery's family mean well, but they don't have any time or energy to support her after greasing all the squeaky wheels in the house. Verona's dad abuses his position of influence and authority over her. The Thorburns in Blake's parents' generation try to turn their family ties into bargaining chips, and some of the kids that caught that corruption. Basically every Practitioner family is shitty in at least one way.

Even Twig, which barely has any conventional familial relationships, manages to squeeze in Candida Gage, better known as Emily. Those parents gave their precious Candy a ton of mad science operations that were supposed to make her immortal, even though she explicitly said no. Emily ran away from home, and her parents send the Lambs out to kidnap find her. This whole conflict—everything done to Emily, everything she does, her part in the Primordials and the greater plot—all of it boils down to the Gage parents assuming they had and deserved total control over their child.

Wildbow's stories have consistently framed the family as a dangerous institution. If you have good parents, you're fine; if you have shitty parents, or average parents in a bad situation, you are screwed.

I've been meaning to write a post about this for a while. It's probably the most consistent, theme across everything Wildbow's ever written. It fits neatly into the loosely anti-authoritarian (or at least anti-institution) bent of his bibliography. It's usually not the central conflict or theme, but it's there, consistently. It's blindingly obvious, if you take the time to look.

I'm not someone who usually attacks people's head canons cause a lot of the time, who cares? I have a bunch of my own after all. But I've started seeing people going around touting this as absolute fact, acting like you should obviously realize it is true, and attacking others for not believing in it. So I'm kinda like, fuck it, lemme give my thoughts on it.

Any time I see people talk about Amy's relationship to the Dallons as "an invader to the perfect white nuclear family," it's immediately obvious they don't know what the fuck they're talking about. Not even Carol thought about her own family like that. What book did you read where the Dallons are EVER portrayed as the perfect nuclear family. It feels like the biggest cope to stick Amy into this role she blatantly isn't to fit some weird standard that exists only in the posters head.

Like, who is the one pushing against Amy in this hypothetical? Mark? Vicky? Well, no that doesn't track. Mark's issues are with his depression and Vicky just treats her like a sister. So, then is it supposed to be Carol holding her at arms length due to her inherent otherness? I mean, I guess kind of? A far cry from the nuclear family, but I guess saying "her mom doesn't like her" won't live up to those high-minded ideals you're trying to hit

But even that isn't really true, is it? Carol doesn't treat Amy as some Other invading her family. She treats Amy poorly because of her own underlying traumas about Marquis and the men who made her trigger. Plus, the second she figures Amy out after she wretches Victoria, she welcomes her in with open arms. So like, what's the family Amy is disrupting here?

I think the issue is obvious; it was subtext someone thought sounded fun so they twisted canon to make it fit. It all reminds me so much of the wooby Amy stuff people on SB love to do, just with a different take to it. Amy is a pretty vile person and so to make what she does more acceptable her backstory has to be more tragic. It's this entire rewriting of her adoption and relationship with the Dallons drenched in the language of social justice to make it more appealing to readers, all with this vague aloofness to canon to try and hide the fact it's pretty much bullshit.

[carouselcometh]

The Birds (1963) dir. Alfred Hitchcock/The Kingfisher by Van Gogh/The Cardinal by Henry Carlile/Hope is a Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson/Ravens Hiding in a Shoe by Robert Bly/The Peacock and Peacock Butterfly by Archibald Thorburn/Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens/The Silence of the Lambs (1991) dir. Jonathan Demme/The Wild Swans at Coole by William Butler Yeats/Ravens Hiding in a Shoe by Robert Bly/The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius

That? Well, its for the birds

[darleneslover]

Not my official character list but!

Characters you can request:

Mr robot

Darlene Alderson

Elliot Alderson

Tyrell wellick

Domlene

Tyrelliot

Criminals minds

Spencer Reid

Aaron Hotchner

Emily prentiss

Derek Morgan

Penelope Garcia

Elle Greenaway

Jennifer jareau

Cat Adams

Jemily

Moreid

Aubrey plaza characters

Ingrid Thorburn

April ludgate

Cat Adams

Christian Slater characters

Jason dean

Mark hunter

George kuffs

Jd x Veronica

Community:

Abed nadir

Troy Barnes

Annie Edison

Trobed

What can I request?

Any promt (unless I don’t feel comfortable with it)

Fluff

Angst

Headcanons

Au

Imagines

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

2022 Leo Award Nominations - Part 1

Some Hallmark Movies and Hallstars have been nominated for for the Leo Awards. Part one of a two part post. Part one will cover the television movies. 

Night One will air Tuesday, July 5 and will be live-streamed on YouTube. The pre-show will start at 6:45 and the show will start at 7pm.  The categories with nominated Hallmark movies/actors will be: 

TELEVISION MOVIE Picture Editing Musical Score Production Design Costume Design Hairstyling Casting Choreography 

Night Three will air Saturday, July 9, hosted live at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The show begins at 7pm.  The categories with nominated Hallmark movies/actors will be: 

TELEVISION MOVIE

Program Direction Screenwriting Cinematography Supporting Performance - Male Supporting Performance - Female Lead Performance - Male Lead Performance - Female 

Best Television Movie 

A Clüsterfünke Christmas - Producers: Jamie Goehring, Shawn Williamson, Jonathan Shore, Danielle von Zehneck, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Meghan Hooper White, Josh Van Houdt 

A Dickens of a Holiday! - Producers: Ben C. Silverman, Shel Piercy, Cynthia Chapman 

Playing Cupid - Producers: Ben C. Silverman, Shel Piercy 

Right In Front of Me - Producers: Charles Cooper, John Cassini, Michael Prupas, Joel S. Rice 

Secrets of a Marine’s Wife - Producers: Charles Cooper, Judith Verno

The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls - Producers: Charles Cooper, Ryan M. Murphy 

Best Direction Television Movie 

Brazen - Monika Mitchell 

Kite Festival of Love (High Flying Love) - Christie Will Wolf 

Playing Cupid - David Weaver 

Right In Front of Me - Linda-Lisa Hayter 

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Vows We Have Made - Linda-Lisa Hayter 

Sweet Carolina - Peter Benson 

Best Screenwriting Television Movie 

As Gouda as it Gets - James Phillips 

Kite Festival of Love (High Flying Love) - Christie Will Wolf 

Best Cinematography Television Movie 

A Clüsterfünke Christmas - Graham Talbot, Nelson Talbot 

Dying to Belong - Amy Belling 

Honey Girls - Stirling Bancroft 

Poisoned in Paradise: A Martha’s Vineyard Mystery - William McKnight 

Secrets of a Marine’s Wife - Adam Sliwinski 

Sweet Carolina - Geoff Wallace 

Best Picture Editing Television Movie 

A Dickens of a Holiday - Rob Lawrenson 

Honey Girls - Charles Robichaud 

Mystery 101: Killer Timing - Daniel Krieger 

Secrets of a Marine’s Wife - Jon Anctil 

The Baker’s Son - Luis Lam 

Best Musical Score Television Movie 

A Christmas Together With You - Jeff Tymoschuk 

A Clüsterfünke Christmas - Hal Becket 

Playing Cupid - Michael Neilson 

Secret life of a Student - Cameron Catalano 

Soccer Mom Madam - Hamish Thomson 

Best Production Design Television Movie 

A Clüsterfünke Christmas - Brian Davie 

Honey Girls - Paul Joyal 

North to Home - Gonna Scotto 

Playing Cupid - Paul Joyal 

Secrets of a Marine’s Wife - Moe Curtin 

Best Costume Design Television Movie 

A Clüsterfünke Christmas - Jessica Kalan 

Honey Girls - Barbara Gregusova 

Playing Cupid - Trisha Petrovich 

Secrets of a Marine’s Wife - Valerie Halverson 

Best Castin Television Movie 

A Dickens of a Holiday! - Annalese Tilling, Errin Lally 

Making Spirits Bright - Catharine Falcon, Bim Narine 

North to Home - Annalese Tilling, Errin Lally 

Playing Cupid - Catharine Falcon, Bim Narine 

Best Supporting Performance Male Television Movie 

A Clüsterfünke Christmas - Nils Hognestad 

Making Spirits Bright - John Cassini 

Open by Christmas - Michael Karl Richards 

Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia - Jim Thorburn 

The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls - Brad Harder 

Best Supporting Performance Female Television Movie 

Brazen - Emilie Ullerup 

Chasing Waterfalls - Rhinda Dent 

Cradle Did Fall - Kristen Robek 

Journey of My Heart - Bethany Brown 

The Other Me - Pauline Egan 

Best lead Performer Male Television Movie 

Love on Fire - Devon Alexander 

Making Spirits Bright - Carlo Marks 

North to Home - Tom Stevens 

Psycho Intern - Madison Intern 

Right in Front of Me - Marco Grazzini 

[pandaemoniumpancakes]

Harold Bloom’s study, New Haven, June 2019. 

                       ❧

☛ John Pick, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Priest and Poet.

    Graham Storey, A Preface to Hopkins.

    Justus George Lawler, Hopkins Re-Constructed Book.

☛ Romanticism Reconsidered: Selected Papers from the English Institute.

    Christopher Ricks, Tennyson.

    The Prose of John Clare, eds. J. W. and Anne Tibble.

☛ Ronald A. Sharp, Keats, Skepticism, and the Religion of Beauty.

    George Harry Ford, Keats and the Victorians.

    Marjorie Levinson, Keats’s Life of Allegory.

    John Middleton Murry, Keats.

    Andrew Motion, Keats.

    Robert Gittings, John Keats.

    Walter Jackson Bate, John Keats.

☛ Jay Fellows, Ruskin’s Maze.

    Jay Fellows, The Failing Distance: The Autobiographical Impulse in John Ruskin.

    George Landow, The Aesthetic and Critical Theories of John Ruskin.

    Joan Evans and John Ruskin, The Lamp of Beauty.

    Kristine Ottesen Garrigan, Ruskin on Architecture: His Thought and Influence.

    The Winnington Letters of John Ruskin, ed. Van Akin Burd.

☛ Michael O’Neill, Shelley.

    Neville Rogers, Shelley at Work: A Critical Inquiry.

    Richard Holmes, Shelley.

    Gerald McNiece, Shelley and the Revolutionary Idea.

    Arthur Montague D'Urban Hughes, The Nascent Mind of Shelley.

    Richard Harter Fogle, The Imagery of Keats and Shelley.

    C. E. Pulos, Deep Truth: Study of Shelley's Scepticism.

☛ M. H. Abrams, The Fourth Dimension of a Poem: and Other Essays.

    M. H. Abrams, The Correspondent Breeze.

    M. H. Abrams, The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition.

    M. H. Abrams, Natural Supernatural.

    M. H. Abrams, The Milk of Paradise.

☛ Samuel Butler, Essays on Life, Art and Science.

    The Complete Poems of Emily Jane Brontë, ed. C. W. Hatfield.

    Morse Peckham, Romanticism.

    Michael George Cooke, The Romantic Will.

    A. K. Thorlby, The Romantic Movement, Problems and Perspectives in History.

    Geoffrey Hartman, David Thorburn, Romanticism: Vistas, Instances, Continuities.

[01sentencereviews]

Actress, 2017

Daniela Vega as Marina Vidal; A Fantastic Woman

Taraneh Alidoosti as Rana Etesami; The Salesman

Nicole Kidman as Celeste Wright; Big Little Lies (also The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Top of the Lake: China Girl, and The Beguiled)

Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson; A Quiet Passion

Saoirse Ronan as Christine 'Lady Bird' McPherson; Lady Bird

Carrie Coon as Nora Durst; The Leftovers (Season 3)

Vicky Krieps as Alma; Phantom Thread

Aubrey Plaza as Ingrid Thorburn; Ingrid Goes West

Shailene Woodley as Jane Chapman; Big Little Lies

Jennifer Lawrence as Mother; mother!

Honorable Mentions: Juliette Binoche as Isabelle; Let the Sun Shine In | Carla Gugino as Jessie Burlingame; Gerald’s Game | Sally Hawkings as Elisa Esposito; The Shape of Water | Riley Keough and Jena Malone as Sarah and Mindy; Lovesong | Garance Marillier as Justine; Raw | Jessie Pinnick as Cyd Loughlin; Princess Cyd | Brooklynn Prince as Moonee; The Florida Project | Ahn Seo Hyun as Mija; Okja | Bria Vinaite as Halley; The Florida Project

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Have you heard the one about two Republicans and 5,000 Democrats who walk into a primary election? It’s not much of a joke to Democrats. In at least three U.S. House primaries in California on Tuesday, Democrats are in real danger of not advancing a candidate to the November general at all, thanks to the Golden State’s unusual “jungle primary” rules. That’s inspired panic among liberals and frantic — often counterintuitive — efforts to game the system. But there’s a greater chance than people realize that the jungle primary system will burn Republicans as well. In fact, if the GOP is locked out of the two biggest races on the ballot this year — for U.S. Senate and governor — the jungle primary could hurt them a lot more than it does Democrats.

Jungle primaries can be confusing even to locals, so let’s start with a refresher. In California,1 all candidates regardless of party run on the same ballot in the June primary. The top two vote-getters (again, regardless of party) advance to a head-to-head election in November. When this system went into effect in 2012, moderates were supposed to benefit because candidates would have to appeal to the whole electorate rather than just their partisan base. But three elections later, Californians disagree on whether it has succeeded.

What it has done is occasionally let two candidates of the same party slip through to the general election, which critics say deprives voters of a true choice in November.2 Let’s say you have a district that’s perfectly split — 50-50 — between Democratic and Republican voters, but 10 Democratic candidates run for the seat compared with only two Republicans. The two Republicans might get 25 percent of the vote apiece, while the Democrats each receive 5 percent. That would advance the two Republicans to the general election, locking up that district for the GOP.

That’s exactly what Democrats fear will happen in California’s 39th, 48th and 49th congressional districts — and perhaps in the 10th and 50th districts as well. Those districts’ swing status attracted a large number of credible challengers in what has been a great recruiting year for Democrats, but that high Democratic enthusiasm could backfire as a result of the jungle primary.

Crowded fields in California

Primary races by the total number of candidates on the ballot

Candidates running Race Incumbent party Open seat Dems Reps Other/ No Party Total Senate D 10 11 11 32 Governor D ✓ 12 5 10 27 District 39 R ✓ 6 7 4 17 48 R 8 6 2 16 49 R ✓ 4 8 4 16 10 R 6 2 0 8 1 R 4 2 1 7 12 D 4 1 2 7 50 R 3 3 1 7 52 D 1 6 0 7 4 R 4 2 0 6 22 R 3 1 2 6 23 R 4 1 1 6 36 D 1 5 0 6 45 R 4 1 1 6 51 D 1 3 2 6 53 D 1 4 1 6 7 D 1 2 2 5 8 R 3 2 0 5 17 D 3 1 1 5 25 R 4 1 0 5 29 D 2 1 2 5 43 D 1 3 1 5 5 D 1 0 3 4 11 D 2 1 1 4 26 D 2 2 0 4 30 D 3 1 0 4 42 R 2 1 1 4 44 D 2 2 0 4 46 D 1 1 2 4 2 D 2 1 0 3 3 D 2 1 0 3 9 D 1 1 1 3 15 D 1 1 1 3 18 D 1 1 1 3 20 D 2 0 1 3 24 D 1 2 0 3 28 D 2 1 0 3 31 D 2 1 0 3 33 D 2 1 0 3 34 D 1 0 2 3 35 D 2 1 0 3 47 D 1 2 0 3 6 D 2 0 0 2 14 D 1 1 0 2 16 D 1 1 0 2 21 R 1 1 0 2 27 D 2 0 0 2 37 D 1 1 0 2 38 D 1 1 0 2 40 D 1 0 1 2 41 D 1 1 0 2 13 D 1 0 0 1 19 D 1 0 0 1 32 D 1 0 0 1

Show more rows

Source: California secretary of state

The most clear and present danger for Team Blue seems to be in the 48th District. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a magnet for controversy, from his friendliness and contacts with Russia to his belief that homeowners should be able to refuse to sell their houses to gay people. It’s made him a Democratic target in this light red seat (R+4 going by FiveThirtyEight’s partisan lean),3 and even some fellow Republicans are fed up. Former Rohrabacher protégé Scott Baugh is running against his old mentor, providing a viable alternative to buttoned-down Orange County Republicans who may disapprove of the Trumpish incumbent.4 That’s motivated national Democrats to campaign hard against Baugh to secure a top-two finish for one of their eight candidates on the ballot. In an effort to improve that terrible math, three of those Democrats have withdrawn from consideration, and the party is handing out pamphlets reminding voters not to pick their names.

Two major Democratic candidates remain: Stem-cell researcher Hans Keirstead won the California Democratic Party’s endorsement, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has sided with entrepreneur Harley Rouda. The DCCC’s move was intended to consolidate support around Rouda, but it may have only formalized the party’s schism. Why the preference? The DCCC no doubt appreciates Rouda’s ability to self-fund and was reportedly scared off by unsubstantiated allegations of Keirstead sleeping with female graduate students and punching one of his female students in the face. The two candidates share a solidly progressive platform, but Rouda may also hold more crossover appeal as a Hillary Clinton-supporting former Republican (like many voters in the district).

But in California’s two open House seats, both parties are at risk of a top-two lockout. In the 39th District (D+3), no fewer than four Democrats and three Republicans have realistic shots at a place on the November ballot. Former state Assemblywoman Young Kim, whom outgoing Rep. Ed Royce has endorsed, is considered the GOP front-runner, but that may be an overly hasty assumption. Two internal polls of the race put Kim in a virtual tie with fellow Republicans Bob Huff, a former state Senate minority leader, and Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson.

In turn, just a few points away sit the race’s two independently wealthy Democrats, who have far outspent the rest of the field. Gil Cisneros, a Navy veteran who won a $266 million lottery jackpot in 2010, has lent his campaign $3.5 million, while insurance executive Andy Thorburn has invested “only” $2.8 million. Worried that their high-dollar war of words was just pushing both of them down in the polls, Democratic leadership brokered a cease-fire between them last month. The DCCC initially campaigned here only to drag down Huff and Nelson (apparently ceding one runoff slot to Kim) but has lately started airing ads supporting Cisneros — despite a Democratic legislative candidate’s accusations that he made inappropriate sexual advances toward her. Finally, two other Democrats, Emily’s List-backed pediatrician Mai Khanh Tran and former Obama administration appointee Sam Jammal, could also be factors in the race. The bottom line is that any of the top seven candidates — and therefore any combination of parties — could finish in the top two.

And in California’s 49th District (D+1), national Republicans have been at least as active in trying to manipulate the field as national Democrats have been. The American Future Fund has spent more than $1 million propping up state Board of Equalization member Diane Harkey and Assemblyman Rocky Chávez and fending off a third GOP candidate, San Diego County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar. Meanwhile, the DCCC has spent $1.7 million against Chávez (who is the most moderate Republican and probably the most electable) without picking sides among the Democratic contestants. The strategies seem like they’ve been effective: According to a SurveyUSA poll taken at the end of May, Harkey led the race with 24 percent, followed by Democrats Doug Applegate and Sara Jacobs with 11 percent, Democrat Mike Levin with 10 percent and Chávez (who actually led in SurveyUSA’s previous poll of the race) with 8 percent.

But polls of U.S. House races and primaries are notoriously error-prone, and there’s been plenty of upheaval among the Democrats. Applegate, a retired Marine colonel, was Democrats’ November candidate for this seat in 2016 but has been dogged by 14-year-old allegations that he stalked and threatened his ex-wife, although she has defended and endorsed him in 2018. Meanwhile, Jacobs, whose grandfather is the billionaire co-founder of Qualcomm, has benefited from Emily’s List’s largest-ever independent-expenditure campaign ($2.3 million), but the 29-year-old has been dinged for exaggerating her work experience. And the race’s leading fundraiser is a fourth Democrat, real estate investor Paul Kerr.

In two final districts with vulnerable GOP incumbents, it’s also possible (but less likely) that either party will be shut out of the top two. In the heavily Latino 10th District (D+1), Rep. Jeff Denham has cultivated a moderate reputation, especially on immigration. His lone Republican challenger, Ted Howze, hopes to rally the district’s hard-core conservatives with cries of “amnesty.” Among Democrats, venture capitalist Josh Harder has raised a strong $1.5 million, beekeeper Michael Eggman has plenty of name recognition from his failed 2014 and 2016 campaigns, and former Riverbank Mayor Virginia Madueño enjoys the support of Emily’s List.

Finally, the R+19 50th District wouldn’t be competitive under normal circumstances, but Rep. Duncan Hunter is under FBI investigation for personal use of campaign funds. Democrats Ammar Campa-Najjar and Josh Butner have gone nuclear on each other, potentially paving the way for Republicans Bill Wells or Shamus Sayed to finish second to Hunter. Wells is mayor of El Cajon, a city of more than 100,000 people on the district’s western edge, but businessman Sayed has raised five times as much money. In mid-May, a SurveyUSA poll found all the non-Hunter candidates within the margin of error of one another.

But here’s the thing: If Democrats (or Republicans) miss out on the general election in any of those races, the most either party could lose is one House seat.5 That’s bad, of course, but the damage would be limited. Not so, however, if a party is locked out of the general election in a high-profile statewide race. Unfortunately for conservatives, it’s Republicans who are likely to miss out in November on California’s U.S. Senate race and possibly also the gubernatorial election. And that could have bigger consequences than just one race.

As FiveThirtyEight’s Clare Malone writes, California’s general election for the U.S. Senate is likely to come down to two Democrats representing two different visions for the party: more moderate Sen. Dianne Feinstein and progressive upstart Kevin de León, the former state Senate president. Even worse, Republicans could also be shut out of California’s other major statewide race this year: governor. Everyone else is basically just trying to make the runoff with Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has raised the incredible sum of $36 million. Not to be outdone, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has raised $34 million and also gotten a $20 million assist from a pro-charter-schools outside group. State Treasurer John Chiang has raised “only” $14 million and hopes to win over Democrats turned off by Newsom’s and Villaraigosa’s past scandals.

Meanwhile, President Trump has urged Republicans via tweet to consolidate behind businessman John Cox instead of state Assemblyman Travis Allen. Newsom has also subtly tried to lift Cox in an effort to face a Republican in the fall. The trend in polling (which, weirdly for this primary season, has been ample) suggests these developments may have made a difference, but Cox — and the GOP — could easily still lose that second runoff spot.

Latest polls of the California governor’s race

Democrats Republicans Dates Pollster Newsom Villaraigosa Chiang Cox Allen May 29-30 Competitive Edge 31% 13% 4% 23% 10% May 22-28 UC Berkeley 33 13 7 20 12 May 21-24 Emerson College 24 12 10 16 11 May 12-24 YouGov 33 9 8 17 10 May 21 SurveyUSA 33 8 10 17 12 May 11-20 PPIC 25 15 9 19 11 Apr. 18-May 18 USC Dornsife/LAT 21 11 6 10 5 Average 29 12 8 17 10

Both California’s senatorial and gubernatorial races were always going to be safely Democratic in this D+26 state, so it may seem like no big deal if Republicans fail to advance in them. It’s even happened before: Democrats Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez were the top two vote-getters in the 2016 Senate primary before facing off in the general election. But this year, without a presidential race on the ballot, the races for Senate and governor matter more than just for their own sake. As the two races headlining California’s 2018 ballot, they have the power to drive turnout across this state of 40 million — and all 53 of its congressional races.

A Republican shutout at the top of the ticket could depress conservative turnout statewide, perhaps nudging districts where the Republican is currently favored, like the 4th and 21st, more toward the toss-up column. That could damage the party’s chances in a dozen swing districts, not just in one, like a shutout in an individual House race would. In 2014, poor turnout in “orphan states” — those without competitive races for governor or Senate — cost Democrats House seats that they didn’t even know were in danger. The biggest consequence of the jungle primary could be that California becomes 2018’s version of an orphan state — for Republicans.

[americanfreighttrucking]

Twist Bioscience to Present at Two Investor Conferences in September

Twist Bioscience to Present at Two Investor Conferences in September

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#DNA–Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, today announced that Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience and Jim Thorburn, CFO of Twist Bioscience, will present at two investor conferences in September:

Baird 2019…

[autisticspencergilpin]

So Far in 2017 I Watched...

Every movie I’ve seen ranked by how much I enjoyed it.

1. Brigsby Bear

2. The Big Sick

3. Spider-Man: Homecoming

4. Ingrid Goes West

5. The Belko Experiment

6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

7. Patti Cake$

8. Get Out

9. Captain Underpants

10. The LEGO Batman Movie

11. Brad’s Status

12. Landline

13. Kong: Skull Island

14. The Incredible Jessica James

15. The Fate of the Furious

16. Monster Trucks

17. Baby Driver

18. Logan Lucky

19. Girls Trip

20. Wonder Woman

21. Rough Night

22. Home Again

23. The House

24. Logan

25. The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature

26. Maudie

27. Baywatch

28. You Get Me

29. A Ghost Story

30. Kiss and Cry

31. The Shack

More lists under the read more.

Best Characters

1. James Pope (Brigsby Bear)

2. Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick)

3. Peter Parker (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

4. Ingrid Thorburn (Ingrid Goes West)

5. Beth Gardner (The Big Sick)

6. Rod Williams (Get Out)

7. Rocket (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

8. Mike Milch (The Belko Experiment)

9. Harold Hutchins (Captain Underpants)

10. Dana (Landline)

11. Robin (The LEGO Batman Movie)

12. Brad Sloan (Brad’s Status)

13. Jessica James (The Incredible Jessica James)

14. Nebula (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

15. Yondu (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

16. Ned Leeds (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

17. George Beard (Captain Underpants)

18. Dina (Girls Trip)

19. Draax (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

20. Alice (Rough Night)

21. Luke Hobbs (The Fate of the Furious)

22. Emily Gardner (The Big Sick)

23. Laura (Logan)

24. Groot (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

25. Maud Lewis (Maudie)

26. Peter Quill (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

27. Tony Stark (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

28. Mantis (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

29. Frank (The House)

30. Carley Allison (Kiss and Cry)

Best Ships

1. Kumail/Emily (The Big Sick)

2. Beth/Terry (The Big Sick)

3. Peter/Ned (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

4. Tripp/Meredith (Monster Trucks)

5. Harold/George (Captain Underpants)

6. Patti/Bob (Patti Cake$)

7. Diana/Steve (Wonder Woman)

8. Ingrid/Dan (Ingrid Goes West)

9. Jessica/Boone (The Incredible Jessica James)

10. Tony/Peter (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

11. Luke/Deckard (The Fate of the Furious)

12. Brad/Craig (Brad’s Status)

13. Sharmeen/Azmat (The Big Sick)

14. Ronnie/CJ (Baywatch)

15. Ali/Jed (Landline)

16. Buddy/Darling (Baby Driver)

17. Scott/Kate/Frank (The House)

18. Greg/Louise (Brigsby Bear)

19. Maud/Sandra (Maudie)

20. Blair/Frankie (Rough Night)

21. Naveed/Fatima (The Big Sick)

22. Alice/George (Home Again)

23. Mike/Evan (The Belko Experiment)

24. CJ/Bob (The Big Sick)

25. Mike/Leandra (The Belko Experiment)

26. Lonny/Bud (The Belko Experiment)

27. Precious/Frankie (The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature)

28. Jess/Peter (Rough Night)

29. Holly/Allison (You Get Me)

30. Alice/Pippa (Rough Night)

Sexiest Male Characters

1. Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick)

2. Tej Parker (The Fate of the Furious)

3. James Pope (Brigsby Bear)

4. Dan Pinto (Ingrid Goes West)

5. Mike Milch (The Belko Experiment)

6. Steve Trevor (Wonder Woman)

7. Buddy (Baby Driver)

8. Boone (The Incredible Jessica James)

9. Evan (The Belko Experiment)

10. Bob (Patti Cake$)

11. Tony Stark (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

12. Keith Mclure (The Belko Experiment)

13. Brad Sloan (Brad’s Status)

14. Rod Williams (Get Out)

15. Teddy (Home Again)

16. Dominic Toretto (The Fate of hte Furious)

17. Peter Quill (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

18. Logan (Logan)

19. Peter (Rough Night)

20. Scotty (Rough Night)

21. Julian Stevens (Girls Trip)

22. Aaron Davis (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

23. Chris Washington (Get Out)

24. Frank (The House)

25. Clyde Logan (Logan Lucky)

26. Ronnie Greenbaum (Baywatch)

27. Austen (Home Again)

28. Justin Miller (Home Again)

29. George (Home Again)

30. Max Chilblain (Logan Lucky)

Sexiest Female Characters

1. Dana (Landline)

2. Beth Gardner (The Big Sick)

3. Emily Gardner (The Big Sick)

4. Jessica James (The Incredible Jessica James)

5. Patti Dombrowski (Patti Cake$)

6. Leandra Florez (The Belko Experiment)

7. Dina (Girls Trip)

8. Darling (Baby Driver)

9. Dany Wilkins (The Belko Experiment)

10. Ingrid Thorburn (Ingrid Goes West)

11. Alice Kinney (Home Again)

12. Alice (Rough Night)

13. Ramsey (The Fate of the Furious)

14. Kate Johanson (The House)

15. Mason Weaver (Kong: Skull Island)

16. May Parker (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

17. Mellie Logan (Logan Lucky)

18. Khadija (The Big Sick)

19. San (Kong: Skull Island)

20. Nebula (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

21. Louise Pope (Brigsby Bear)

22. Maud (Maudie)

23. Taylor Sloane (Ingrid Goes West)

24. Gabriela (Logan)

25. Victoria Leeds (Baywatch)

26. Mantis (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

27. Gamora (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

28. Melanie Sloan (Brad’s Status)

29. Latoya (Get Out)

30. Ayesha (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

[rocklandhistoryblog]

This Week in Rockland - #30 Years Ago

Nyack Historian, Virginia Parkhurst, Recounts Progress of Local Women - Honored in Proclamation from Village

Excerpt from The Journal News, March 25, 1989 #WomensHistoryMonth

Nyack women have come a long way, but they only gained political office in the past decade, according to the village historian.

The village hired its first female employee in 1893, a typist earning $3.71 a week, but it wasn't until 1987 that Jean Gardner became the first female trustee, Virginia Parkhurst said.

Parkhurst, a retired former reporter for The Journal-News, spoke at a Women's History Month ceremony Thursday, where she was honored by the village Board of Trustees with a proclamation for her "many years of service as a newspaperwoman and later historian in her adopted village."

For Women's History Month, Parkhurst compiled some of the highlights of women's contributions to the village, including that of the first and only female village postmaster, who served more than a century ago.

Sarah Christie's father was appointed postmaster in 1860 by President Abraham Lincoln, and Christie was named to replace him when he died 20 years later.

“But Sarah and her father had been Republicans, and when Grover Cleveland and the Democrats came into power" in 1885 "the poor thing lost her job," Parkhurst said.

Other prominent Nyack women in the late 19th century included Emma Thorburn, librarian at the public library, and Addie Furman, manager of the local West ern Union telegraph office.

At the time, most of the roughly 150 working women in Nyack labored in the village's shoe factories for $3.50 a week. There were, however, two saloon-keepers and two hotel proprietors.

About 1930, Cornelia Bedell became the first woman president of the Nyack Board of Education, and, after World War II, women served "with distinction" on the Park Commission and the Nyack Housing Authority board, Parkhurst said.

In 1961, women began to take power at Village Hall when Natalie Berne became village clerk, and her sister-in-law, Betty Berne, made an unsuccessful run for mayor the first and only woman to campaign for that job.

After Gardner, who is now village clerk, broke the gender barrier on the village board, Joan Moffet, Sandra Burns, Emily Feiner and Isobel Hesse also have served as trustees.

Village Attorney Linda Christopher, appointed in 1988, is the first woman to hold that job, Parkhurst said.

Thursday's proclamation was presented to Parkhurst with a standing ovation from about 40 people at the meeting.

_____

Reporter Virginia Parkhurst interrupted her newspaper career to serve in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. She spent part of her enlistment in the South Pacific, developing Air Force photographs. She later called her military career "the smartest thing I ever did." After the war she resumed her roles as reporter and editor for the Rockland Journal-News

_____

The HSRC is pleased to be compiling “This Week in Rockland” a weekly feature appearing in the Rockland Review. Check out other events that happened this week in history! On Newsstands everywhere or online at www.rocklandreviewnews.com

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[literaryhousepress]

TODAY IS THE BIG DAY! Today is the day we release Cherry Tree, Issue 5! Our fifth issue features work by Lauren K. Alleyne, Aldo Amparán, E Kristin Anderson, John Andrews Kitchens, Matthew James Babcock, Alyse Bensel, Justin Bigos, Tommye Blount, Brooke Champagne, Alan Chazaro, Emily Cinquemani, Kevin Clouther, Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach, Oliver de la Paz, Denise Duhamel, Kelly Dulaney, Cathy Edmunds, Stevie Edwards, Kate Gaskin, Joanna Gordon, Kyle Hemmings, Luke Jacob, Sally J. Johnson, Jane Kim, Ben Loory, Suvi Mahonen, Alicia Mountain, Miguel Murphy, Andy Powell, Kevin Prufer, Dean Rader, Scott Ragland, Nancy Reddy, Phoebe Reeves, Aaron Smith, Alison Stine, Matthew Thorburn, Maureen Thorson, Milla van der Have, Kelly Garriott Waite, Joanna White, Patrick Whitfill, and Claire Yoo. Contributors’ and subscribers’ copies are in the mail and should be arriving any day now. Forgot to subscribe? Do it now! Just follow this link: http://bit.ly/2AlLNnP. And when you get your copy, we’d love if you would post a photo of you with your issue on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram with the hashtag #cherrybomb. We’ll be sharing and retweeting all of them! Thank you so much for helping us to celebrate this wonderful new issue!

[theconservativebrief]

June 5 marks one of the most consequential and crowded primary days of the year.

Much of the action is in California, where a “jungle primary” system could lock Democrats out of important House races in November and 84-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein is facing a compelling primary challenger. There’s also a surprisingly heated governor’s primary contest in South Dakota.

Eight states go to the polls on Tuesday: Alabama, California, New Jersey, Iowa, Montana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and South Dakota. Of course, not all those states have high-profile primary elections. We’ll guide you through what you actually need to pay attention to, with live results below, powered by Decision Desk.

California

The House races in California could make or break the blue wave. Zac Freeland/Vox

Incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein, at age 84, is the oldest US senator; she’s been in office since 1992. This year, she has a challenger: state Sen. Kevin De León, the former president pro tempore of the California Senate, who thinks California might be ready to elect a younger, more progressive candidate. But Feinstein is still fairly popular in the state and has a war chest with millions. She’ll be tough to beat.

On the Republican side, there’s pro-Trump candidate James Bradley, who has little money and almost no name recognition. He’s unlikely to make it through the primary.

Rep. Tom McClintock, the incumbent Republican and the most conservative Congress member in California, is almost guaranteed the top spot in the “top two” primary system. But there’s a heated race between two Democratic women to claim the No. 2 slot to run in November.

Jessica Morse, 35, a national security strategist whose résumé includes the State Department, Defense Department, and USAID, has gained the Democratic Party endorsement and the support of many progressive groups. She’s outraised her Democratic competitors and even McClintock and is the Democratic favorite. But Regina Bateson, an MIT professor and native of the local town Roseville, has mounted a formidable challenge.

This R+10 district is rated as Likely Republican by the Cook Political Report, but Democrats still think it’s in play. McClintock represents a district encompassing Roseville, Lake Tahoe, and down to Yosemite National Park — but he doesn’t live there.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Jeff Denham, who came into Congress in the 2010 Tea Party wave, will likely be up against one of three Democrats in November: Michael Eggman, a 53-year-old third-generation beekeeper who is making his third run against Denham; Josh Harder, the 31-year-old venture capitalist who backed the meal kit service Blue Apron; and Virginia Madueño, the 52-year-old former mayor of Riverbank who has been tapped by Emily’s List.

In 2016, Denham narrowly won by 3.4 percent in one of the closest House races in the country, and Hillary Clinton won the Central Valley district in 2016 by 3 points too; it’s rated as a toss-up, and is a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, friend to President Donald Trump and the author of the House Intelligence Committee’s dubious Russia investigation memo, is in a pretty safe Republican seat. But Democrats are still targeting the district, hoping Nunes’s role defending Trump in the Russia investigations will give them a boost. Andrew Janz, the Fresno County deputy district attorney, is considered best positioned to take on Nunes. He has the endorsement of the California Democratic Party and has raked in more than $1 million to challenge Nunes (mostly because Nunes is so nationally well-known/disliked). Entrepreneur Bobby Bliatout and business consultant Ricardo Franco are also running.

In this toss-up Los Angeles County district, the seat of incumbent Rep. Stephen Knight, who has been in office since 2015, is being targeted as a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats. All eyes are on attorney Bryan Caforio, who challenged Knight in 2016 and has locked up a lot of endorsements from labor and progressive groups. Democrat Katie Hill, a nonprofit policy advocate, has also mounted a formidable challenge, with the backing of Emily’s List, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and a number of California’s Democratic Congress members. Both Caforio and Hill have out-fundraised Knight so far.

This is a heated race to fill an open seat, vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Ed Royce. On the Democratic side, two wealthy candidates are in an ugly battle for a spot on the November ballot. Gil Cisneros, a former Navy officer and 2010 lottery winner (he won $266 million), is on the DCCC’s Red to Blue list, which is as close as the national campaign arm gets to endorsing a candidate. He’s up against Andy Thorburn, a health insurance executive and former teacher. It’s been a doozy of a race, including allegations of tax fraud and legal action over a voicemail. There’s also another Democrat in the running, pediatrician Mai Khanh Tran, who’s endorsed by Emily’s List.

The field of Republicans running in this race is just as deep as the Democratic side. Three stand out: Shawn Nelson, the Orange County supervisor; Bob Huff, who is the former state Senate minority leader; and Young Kim, who has served in the state Assembly. This Orange County district is prime territory for Democrats to make gains in November, but they’ve failed to get behind a single candidate, and it could result in Democrats getting shut out of the general election altogether.

Four Democrats are looking to earn a top-two slot and challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. There’s Katie Porter, a UC Irvine law professor, who has endorsed Medicare-for-all and has the support of Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris. Dave Min, another UC Irvine law professor, is more moderate and received the endorsement of the California Democratic Party. Brian Forde is an ex-Republican who worked under President Obama, and Kia Hamadanchy is a young Iranian American who has worked for populist Democrats like former Sen. Tom Harkin and current Sen. Sherrod Brown. This is a diversifying Orange County district, where Clinton beat Donald Trump by 5 points in 2016.

There’s a highly contested race playing out in Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s coastal district. Rohrabacher, who is expected to make it past the primary, has a surprisingly formidable Republican challenger in Scott Baugh, a former Orange County Republican Party chair who is a longtime friend of Rohrabacher’s.

In a field of eight Democrats, two stand out: Harley Rouda, a DCCC and Indivisible-endorsed real estate investor who donated to Republican campaigns as recently as 2016; and Hans Keirstead, a stem cell scientist with a California Democratic Party endorsement who has spent a lot of time trying to fend off 2009 allegations that he slept with his grad students and got into a drunken fistfight. The race is a circus. Clinton eked out a 1-point win in this district in 2016, so Democrats are energized for a potential takeover, but if Baugh does well, there’s a possibility Democrats are going to get shut out of this race altogether.

This is a wide-open race to fill retiring Rep. Darrell Issa’s seat. Four Democrats are in a dead heat: real estate investor Paul Kerr; Sara Jacobs, the CEO of a nonprofit who comes from a wealthy family; environmental lawyer Mike Levin; and retired Marine Col. Doug Applegate.

There are a whopping eight Republicans on the ballot too, and no clear winner among the pack. Among the notable candidates are Rocky Chávez, a state Assembly member and retired Marine Corps colonel; Diane Harkey, who used to serve in the state Assembly and has current Rep. Darrell Issa’s endorsement; and Kristin Gaspar, an Orange County supervisor and small-business owner who has Rep. Ed Royce’s endorsement.

Issa was considered to be the most vulnerable Republican in the midterms, having won reelection by the slimmest margin in the country; then he dropped out, leaving his Orange County/San Diego County district up for grabs. Clinton won the district by 7.5 points, and with a stacked ballot on both sides of the aisle, the possibility of a Republican shutout is just as likely as a Democratic one.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter’s San Diego district is hardly competitive. Registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats 42 percent to 27 percent, and Trump won by 15 points. But Hunter has been dogged by serious legal and ethics scandals, accused of having inappropriate relationships with women, drinking on the job, and other unprofessional conduct, which his office has denied. He’s under investigation by the FBI. And there are two formidable Democratic challengers: retired Navy SEAL Josh Butner, and Ammar Campa-Najjar, who worked in Obama’s Department of Labor. Real estate agent Patrick Malloy, who has run against Hunter in the past, is also in the race.

Iowa

Iowa’s primaries are a test of the national health care debate. Zac Freeland/Vox

Three Democrats are vying for the opportunity to challenge incumbent Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in November. Business owner Fred Hubbell and local labor leader Cathy Glasson are competing in the Democratic primary. Hubbell is the top fundraiser and first in the only poll on the race so far, but Glasson could be a competitive challenger.

Reynolds’s signature achievement is probably moving Iowa’s 600,000 Medicaid enrollees into managed care, a privatized version of the program where private health plans administer Medicaid’s benefits. Hubbell wants to reverse that privatization, while Glasson supports a more liberal single-payer option. State Sen. Nate Boulton recently dropped out of the race following sexual misconduct allegations.

Small-business owner Cindy Axne and former Bernie Sanders campaign aide Pete D’Alessandro are running for chance to challenge Incumbent Republican Rep. David Young. Axne has been endorsed by Emily’s List, while D’Alesandro (no surprise) has Sanders’s support. Cook rates this district R+1 this year, so it definitely has the potential to swing. And there’s a strong health care angle in this race. The Democratic side is a contest between a progressive vision for health care and a more moderate one: Axne is running on fixing Obamacare, while D’Alessandro has fully embraced a platform that includes Medicare-for-all.

Montana

Republicans Russ Fagg and Matt Rosendale duke it out for the chance to run against incumbent Democratic Sen. John Tester. Zac Freeland/Vox

There are four Republicans running for the chance to kick out incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Tester. But the primary has heated up between Montana state auditor Matt Rosendale and retired state Judge Russ Fagg. Trump won Montana by 20 points in 2016, and Tester hasn’t exactly made friends with the president lately, so Republicans are working hard to kick him out. Conservative outside groups are spending millions to boost Rosendale, but it has the potential to backfire in a state where local ties are paramount. Rosendale moved to Montana from Maryland nearly 20 years ago, but Fagg is a fourth-generation Montanan and is painting Rosendale as a carpetbagger. The fact that outside groups are going all in for Rosendale could irk the locals.

New Jersey

New Jersey is among the key battleground states in Democrats’ fight to reclaim the House. Zac Freeland/Vox

Incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez is running for reelection, and the only other Democrat on the ballot is community news website publisher Lisa McCormick.

As for the Republicans, pharmaceutical executive Bob Hugin, construction company executive Brian Goldberg, and attorney Dana Wefer are all running. Hugin, a self-funder, has poured $7.5 million into his campaign already — he’s expected to win the GOP primary fairly easily. The only reason the general election contest might get interesting in this blue state is that Menendez faced trial last year on corruption charges. The jury failed to agree on a verdict, the prosecution ended with a mistrial, and the Justice Department decided to drop the charges rather than try a second time. Even though he wasn’t convicted, none of this looked great politically for Menendez.

Democrats were thrilled when Republican Rep. Frank LoBiondo decided to retire after 24 years in Congress because it gave them an opportunity to contest this district at the southern end of New Jersey.

There are four Democrats running: state Sen. Jeff Van Drew, retired teacher Tanzie Youngblood, former Cory Booker aide Will Cunningham, and farmer Nathan Kleinman. Since Trump won this district by about 4 points, the party thought that Van Drew, a moderate state senator, would be their strongest nominee, but his voting record (he’s voted against same-sex marriage and often backs business interests on environmental matters) is making him vulnerable in a Democratic primary. Youngblood has gotten the most attention, as a progressive black woman running against a moderate white man with the backing of the state’s establishment.

Meanwhile, the Republican field is generally viewed as weak.

Engineer Hirsh Singh, former Assembly member Samuel Fiocchi, lawyer Seth Grossman, and former FBI agent Robert Turkavage are all running. Singh leads in county party endorsements, which are particularly important in New Jersey because they’re printed on the ballot — he won four of eight county GOP endorsements in the district.

In the center of the state is the most Republican-leaning district in New Jersey, but Navy veteran Josh Welle and former Asbury Park Council member Jim Keady think they have a chance in November against incumbent Rep. Chris Smith. Josh Welle won all three Democratic County party endorsements and leads his rival Keady in fundraising, while Keady has the backing of the Bernie Sanders-aligned group Our Revolution.

This district was one of Democrats’ rare 2016 House pickups, as lawyer Rep. Josh Gottheimer defeated the deeply conservative longtime incumbent Scott Garrett by a little over 4 percentage points. Republicans hope they can take back the seat, and veteran conservative activist and former Mayor Steve Lonegan is facing off against former Council member John McCann in the GOP primary.

Former State Department official Tom Malinowski, attorney Goutam Jois, and activist Peter Jacob are vying for the chance to challenge incumbent Rep. Leonard Lance, the likely Republican candidate. Lance is the only New Jersey Republican in a district Hillary Clinton won (by about 1 percentage point), so he’s naturally one of Democrats’ top targets in the state. Malinowski, who served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor in the Obama administration, has the party’s backing, and blew away his rivals in fundraising. Peter Jacob, who has pledged not to accept PAC money, has the Our Revolution endorsement.

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, who’s been in Congress since 1995, chose to retire rather than run again, so Democrats have a big opportunity in this wealthy suburban district that Trump won by just 0.9 percent.

The Democrats in the race are former Navy pilot and prosecutor Mikie Sherrill, entrepreneur and advocate Tamara Harris, research scientist Alison Heslin, lawyer Mitchell Cobert, and history professor Mark Washburne. Sherrill has far surpassed her rivals in fundraising (she’s one of the top Democratic challenger fundraisers in the country) and won all the county-line endorsements.

There are five Republicans running as well: Assembly member Jay Webber, entrepreneur Peter De Neufville, investment banker and Army Reserve Maj. Antony Ghee, liberal Republican Martin Hewitt, and former concert promoter/Roger Stone employee Patrick Allocco. Webber is the expected GOP nominee.

New Mexico

New Mexico Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham is running in the Democratic primary for governor to challenge conservative Rep. Steve Pearce, who has the Republican nomination. Zac Freeland/Vox

Current Republican Gov. Susana Martinez is term-limited out of the position, giving Democrats an opportunity to turn New Mexico state leadership even more blue. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the current chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, is the favorite to win the Democratic primary. Grisham received an overwhelming proportion of the vote during a pre-primary convention the Democratic Party held earlier this spring.

Jeff Apodaca, a former media executive, and the son of former New Mexico Gov. Jerry Apodaca, is also running. State Sen. Joseph Cervantes is trailing at a distant third. The winner will be up against pro-Trump conservative Rep. Steve Pearce, a member of the Freedom Caucus and the lone Republican vying for the seat.

Lujan Grisham, the current representative for this heavily Democratic district, is also among the contenders for governor — setting up a fight among a slew of Democrats for her seat.

Among a stacked six-person Democratic roster, three have built sizable campaign war chests: former US Attorney Damon Martinez, retired University of New Mexico law professor Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, and former New Mexico Democratic Party Chair Deb Haaland. As the Huffington Post pointed out, their three-way battle for Democratic votes underscores a fight for control of the future of the party, with different organizations like Emily’s List and VoteVets running ads on opposing sides of the race.

Haaland, as part of her platform, has also emphasized a goal of becoming the first Native American woman elected to the House. Pat Davis, an Albuquerque City Council member; Damian Lara, a former congressional staffer who now works as a lawyer; and Paul Moya, CEO of the consulting firm Millennial Labs, are on the ballot as well. Former state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones is the sole Republican running. She ran against Lujan Grisham for the House position in 2012.

With Rep. Steve Pearce, the current Republican representative, running for governor, this district is open for fresh faces on both sides of the aisle.

As for Democrats, Water attorney Xochitl Torres Small has a strong lead, with the backing of DCCC, Emily’s List, and NARAL Pro-Choice America. US Coast Guard veteran and history professor Madeline Hildebrandt is on the docket as well.

On the Republican side is a long list of conservatives.

The House Freedom Caucus is backing state Rep. Yvette Herrell, and Sen. Ted Cruz is endorsing former state Republican Party Chair Monty Newman. Meanwhile, Gavin Clarkson, a former official in the Trump administration’s Interior Department, has leaned into his ties with the White House. Former Gary Johnson campaign staffer Clayburn Griffin is also on the ballot. The Second District leans Republican and voted for Trump by more than 10 points over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

South Dakota

There’s a heated governor’s race in South Dakota between Rep. Kristi Noem and state AG Marty Jackley. Zac Freeland/Vox

There’s a heated primary between Rep. Kristi Noem and South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley. Noem has served in Congress since 2011, and Jackley has been in office since 2009. Recent negative ads Jackley and Noem have run about each other reflect the closeness of the race. And Jackley has been tied up in a bizarre scandal over a $1.5 million sexual harassment and retaliation settlement. The recipient, a woman who won a harassment and retaliation suit after being dismissed from a state agency for filing complaints, claims Jackley delayed her settlement payments over politics.

A recent Mason-Dixon poll found Noem with a 1-point lead over Jackley and concluded she’s doing better with female voters. Candidates don’t have to distance themselves from Trump; the president has a 72 percent approval rating in South Dakota. Whoever wins this primary will likely be the next governor of South Dakota.

Original Source -> Live results for key June 5 primary races

via The Conservative Brief

[andrewromanoyahoo]

With key GOPers retiring, could Orange County lead the way to a Democratic wave?

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. and Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images, Getty Images (2))

LOS ANGELES — If you’re wondering whether a Democratic wave could wash away the current GOP-controlled Congress in November, check out what’s happened so far this week in the traditional Republican stronghold of Orange County, Calif.

Two short days ago, the situation was stable. Four congressional districts overlap with the O.C.; Republicans represent all four. Each of these Republicans (Ed Royce in CA-39, Darrell Issa in CA-49, Dana Rohrabacher in CA-48, Mimi Walters in CA-45) was considered vulnerable to some degree, in part because in 2016 Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in their districts — a first for a Democratic presidential candidate. But thanks to the power of incumbency, and a few big war chests, the Washington consensus said that only Rohrabacher’s race was a toss-up. The rest still leaned Republican.

What a difference 48 hours makes.

On Tuesday morning, Royce, the powerful chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stunned the political world by announcing his retirement. “In this final year of my Foreign Affairs Committee chairmanship, I want to focus fully on the urgent threats facing our nation,” Royce said in a statement. “With this in mind, and with the support of my wife Marie, I have decided not to seek reelection in November.

Then, one day later, Issa followed Royce’s out the door. “Throughout my service, I worked hard and never lost sight of the people our government is supposed to serve,” Issa said in a statement. “Yet with the support of my family, I have decided that I will not seek reelection in California’s 49th District.”

In response, the authoritative handicappers at the Cook Political Report flipped both seats from Lean Republican to Lean Democrat, improving the Dems’ odds of picking up the 24 seats they need to take back the House.

Democrats, of course, rejoiced. “The Republican agenda in Washington has been a direct attack on Californians,” crowed Drew Godinich, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “California Republicans clearly see the writing on the wall and realize that their party and its priorities are toxic to their reelection chances in 2018.”

But beyond the predictable partisan messaging, what does this week’s sudden upending of some the most important House contests in the country actually say about the looming 2018 midterms?

First, the DCCC may have a point. “Toxic” is too strong a word, but there has been a real conflict between the priorities of the GOP leadership in Washington — both on Capitol Hill and in the White House — and the electoral interests of blue-state Republicans.

Take 2017’s two defining legislative efforts: Obamacare repeal and tax cuts. The former, which never passed the Senate, was wildly unpopular in California, where residents have flocked to the state-run health-insurance exchange. Yet both Royce and Issa felt compelled to vote for it, despite near-constant protests from activists in their districts.

Demonstrator protest against U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican congressman Darrell Issa (R-Vista) outside Issa’s office in Vista, California in 2017. (Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)

The Trump tax cuts, meanwhile, inspired even more Golden State outrage, largely because they slashed deductions for mortgage interest and for state and local taxes, which disproportionately benefit Californians. Both Royce and Issa publicly struggled to get to yes on the bill; eventually, Royce did, and Issa — gun-shy after securing reelection in 2016 by a mere 1,600 votes — did not. But their constituents know that what really matters is which party controls the House, and the national GOP agenda isn’t working to the advantage of most Republicans in California — or high-tax states such as New York and New Jersey, either.

This tension has, in turn, underscored the deeper Trump Era challenges facing Royce, Issa and their ilk. Clinton won Orange County — a place that had been the heart of the conservative movement, fueling the campaigns of Barry Goldwater and, later, Ronald Reagan — for two reasons (as I’ve written in the past).

The first is that Orange County is changing. In 1980, roughly 285,000 Latinos lived in the O.C. (about 15 percent of the total population). As of 2014, that number had grown to more than 1 million (or 34 percent of the total population), and Latinos are expected to surpass non-Latino whites as the county’s largest group by 2027.

In recent years, the local Asian population has surged as well. The result is a region that’s much more diverse, and much more reliant on immigrants, than it was in Reagan’s day.

At the same time, the white voters who still make up a plurality of Orange County’s electorate are, for the most part, a particular breed: wealthier and more educated than average.

Which brings us to the second force at work here: Trump. In 2016, the New York developer underperformed among white college graduates, and lost college women to Clinton by 7 percentage points. Combine that weakness with Trump’s widespread unpopularity among Latinos and other minorities, and you start to see why Trump lost Orange County by 9 percentage points only four years after Mitt Romney won there by 6. He was a particularly bad fit for its evolving electorate — and now that he’s president, his 39 percent approval rating and anti-blue-state policies probably aren’t helping matters. (The Trump administration’s decision to allow oil companies to resume offshore drilling — and then to exempt Florida, but not California — angered Californians who may still remember disastrous spills off their beaches.)

All of which has conspired to make reelection more of a slog for Issa, Royce and other suburban and/or blue-state Republicans nationwide — and to make retirement sound more appealing. The numbers tell the tale. As NPR’s Jessica Taylor has noted, there are now “31 Republicans who will not seek re-election in November: 19 who are retiring outright and another 12 who are running for higher office.”

The last time either party had nearly that many members vacate their seats during a midterm year was 1994. Twenty-eight Democrats departed that cycle — and the GOP eventually took control of Congress, gaining a staggering 54 House seats in what was billed, at the time, as a “Republican Revolution.”

So yes, the back-to-back retirements of Royce and Issa are symptomatic of something larger: an electoral landscape that is rapidly shifting in the Democrats’ favor.

This sort of momentum wouldn’t matter much if the Dems weren’t prepared to capitalize on it. But so far, they seem to be.

Six Democratic candidates are already running for Royce’s seat, including Mai-Khanh Tran, a Vietnam-War-refugee-turned-pediatrician-turned-two-time-cancer-survivor; Andy Thorburn, a teacher-turned-union-leader-turned-millionaire-businessman; and Gil Cisneros, a Navy veteran and former shipping manager who became a philanthropist after winning a $266 million lottery prize in 2010.

And four Democrats are gunning for Issa’s job: environmental activist Mike Levin, who’s raked in more than a million dollars since announcing his candidacy in March; Sara Jacobs, a former Obama administration official endorsed by EMILY’s List; Paul Kerr, a real estate investor who outraised Issa last quarter; and Doug Applegate, a Marine veteran and attorney who nearly defeated Issa in 2016 in that cycle’s closest Congressional contest.

Doug Applegate speaks in Hollywood, California in 2016. (Photo: Tara Ziemba/Getty Images)

In other words, these are not the gadflies, vanity candidates and sacrificial lambs that have tended to run against Royce & Co. in previous elections.

But before Democrats get too excited, a note of caution. This cycle’s unprecedented glut of Trump-resisting recruits could be a mixed blessing — particularly in California, and particularly in contests without a GOP incumbent on the ballot.

The Golden State, you’ll recall, has a nonpartisan primary system: Democrats, Republicans and independents all compete against each other in the primary, and the top two finishers proceed to the general election regardless of party affiliation.

Here, the risk is that splitting the Democratic vote four or six ways in a historically conservative area could allow two Republican candidates to come out on top — a result that becomes more likely when a GOP incumbent is no longer monopolizing the Republican vote and a couple of serious Republicans step in to replace him or her.

Which is probably what will happen now that Royce and Issa are gone. Though the California GOP has been decimated statewide, the party’s infrastructure remains strong in Orange County. Well-known candidates are already volunteering to run in Royce’s place, including former assemblywoman and longtime former Royce aide Young Kim, whom Royce immediately endorsed.  Also in the mix are former state Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff and Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson.

New Republican candidates are expected to announce soon in Issa’s district, where top names include state Assemblyman Bill Brough, who has said he’s “considering running”; Diane Harkey, chair of the California Board of Equalization, which administers taxes and fees; and Scott Baugh, a former Orange County GOP chairman.

None of these Republicans will have incumbent-level name ID — or cash. But they also won’t have congressional voting records, which means they’ll be able to put more space between themselves and the national GOP (and Trump) than any incumbent.

The bottom line is that by announcing their retirements in quick succession, Royce and Issa have emphasized how everything is set to break the Democrats’ way in 2018. But riding a wave to victory next November will require skill and strategy and maybe a bit of luck — and now more than ever, Orange County is the place to watch to find out if the Democratic Party can pull it off.

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Read more from Yahoo News:

As Florida evades Trump drilling plan, California and other coastal states ask, ‘What about us?’

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Lessons from ‘Fire and Fury’: In Trump’s White House, flattery will get you everywhere

Oprah and Trump go way, way back together. Here’s proof.

Photos: Record rain and mudslides hit California

[whyareyouwinkingatme-blog]

Thanks FBi Radio & Women in The Arts for hosting Ali & Emily on your program Agenda in Sydney this morning! Follow this link to listen back to the program.