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giftofshewbread · 4 years ago

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Days of Prophecy

By Daymond Duck Published on: March 28, 2021

Jesus compared the end of the age to the days of Noah and the days of Lot.

So much Bible prophecy is being fulfilled, these days could also be called the days of prophecy.

Here are some recent events that caught my attention.

One, in early Mar. 2021, Israel announced plans to build the “Peace Railway” to connect Israel with the Gulf nations, China, the EU and others.

This could take a few years, but it is prophetically significant because China has already spent hundreds of billions of dollars building the “silk railroad” to the Middle East, and the Bible teaches that the Kings of the East (probably China and others) will invade the Middle East during the Tribulation Period.

Two, concerning peace in the Middle East: on Mar. 16, 2021, Israeli Prime Min. Netanyahu said there are 4 more normalization agreements (peace treaties) on the way.

Netanyahu did not name the 4 nations, but it is believed that 3 of them are Indonesia, Mauritania and Saudi Arabia.

If 4 more agreements are signed, that would up the “Abraham Accords” to 8 nations.

Israel is moving closer to the covenant with death (Isa. 28:14-15; Dan. 9:27).

Three, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog: on Mar. 19, 2021, Middle East expert Joel Rosenberg said “the threat of war between Israel, Iran and Hezbollah is rising.”

He noted that three Israeli leaders took emergency trips to Europe and Russia to relay Israel’s concern that war is coming.

Israel’s Pres. Rivlin and IDF Chief of Staff Kochavi visited Germany, Austria and France.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Ashkenazi visited Russia.

Rivlin has also secured an invitation to visit the U.S. to address a joint session of Congress (the time of this depends on when Congress can meet because of Covid).

Four, also concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog: on Mar. 21, 2021, it was reported that there is a growing alliance between Russia, Iran and Turkey and a growing dislike by these three nations for the U.S.

Russia, Iran, and Turkey are working together to divide up Syria and gain more influence in the Middle East.

Five, concerning the U.S. being a blessing or a curse to Israel: on Mar. 18, 2021, it was reported that the Biden administration will reset America’s relationship with Israel in four areas: 1) The U.S. will re-establish diplomatic ties with the Palestinians; 2) The U.S. will return to the Two-State Solution (division of Israel); 3) The U.S. will oppose putting the “Made in Israel” label on products from the West Bank; and 4) The U.S. will return to giving the Palestinians millions of U.S. tax dollars each year.

Six, concerning world government: in a video that has reportedly gone viral on social media, a doctor from Ireland, Anne McCloskey, warned that “The Great Reset” is being pushed by globalist elite individuals and groups that want to drastically reduce the population of the earth.

McCloskey believes the Coronavirus crisis is a created event that people are using to establish a totalitarian world government.

McCloskey warned that these people are coming for you and everything you have, including all of your property, savings, and freedom.

It is important to understand that the Antichrist and False Prophet will use the economy (buying and selling) to control people and silence or eliminate those who disagree with their godless world government.

Seven, concerning the cashless society: it is being reported that one goal of “The Great Reset” is to completely transform the global money system into a cashless society.

Central Banks in several nations, including the U.S., are already discussing the creation of digital currencies that can be tracked.

These digital currencies will eventually make paper money worthless.

People will not be allowed to buy and sell without them.

For your information, the Republican Gazette recently reported that the cryptocurrency market has passed one trillion dollars in value.

This is fact, not a conspiracy theory that could be several years in the future.

Something like this could be a precursor to the Mark of the Beast.

Eight, concerning the coming economic collapse:

On Mar. 17, 2021, it was reported that Biden has asked Congress to reform the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, so he can raise corporate taxes to cover some of his spending, and the Tax Foundation has estimated that it will destroy 159,000 jobs (be aware that this is at a time when many businesses are locked down and facing bankruptcy).

On Mar. 17, 2021, it was reported that Biden signed an executive order on the day he was inaugurated that canceled the sale of oil and gas leases on 80 million acres of land in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association estimates that will endanger an industry that employs about 250,000 people (experts are warning that everyone’s utility bills will skyrocket).

On Mar. 22, 2021, it was reported that Biden regularly consults with former Pres. Obama on a number of issues (recall that Obama promised to transform America, spied on Trump, his people were involved in the Russian Collusion Hoax, etc.).

On Mar. 22, 2021, it was reported that Biden plans to spend more than $100 million on bus and airline tickets, hotel rooms, detention facilities, Covid treatment, etc., for illegal immigrants.

On Mar. 23, 2021, it was reported that Biden is preparing a $3 trillion stimulus package to deal with Climate Change, rebuild America’s infrastructure, etc. (Know that many U.S. citizens didn’t receive a stimulus check from the last stimulus package.)

Nine, concerning mandatory vaccinations and tracking people, on Mar. 17, 2021, the Israeli Knesset approved a bill to require certain people to wear an electronic bracelet that will monitor whether they are obeying Israel’s quarantine laws or not.

These bracelets, called “Freedom Bracelets,” won’t track a person’s movements, but if that person leaves the area that they have been quarantined to, the authorities will be notified.

Officials are using Covid as an excuse to race toward many kinds of tracking systems to locate and keep up with the movement of people.

Ten, concerning the Coronavirus, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that 85.01 million doses of vaccine were given in the U.S. between Dec. 14, 2020, and Mar. 5, 2021.

1,524 people died in the first 48 hours, there were 31,079 adverse incidents (5,507 serious), and 85 reports of miscarriage or premature birth.

The short-term risk of death or serious affliction is small, but it is there, and there has not been enough time to determine unknown long-term risks.

In addition to the above, on Mar. 16, 2021, the Office of Attending Physicians reported that only 75% of the members in the U.S. House of Representatives have been vaccinated.

Even though 25% have not been vaccinated, all House members are allowed to use the House gym showers, locker room and swimming pool.

So, why are gyms, etc., locked down in several cities and states when House members are using the House gym, etc.?

Eleven, I want to share an e-mail from a reader that doesn’t want to be vaccinated.

Much of it is over my head, but it is well-stated and, in my opinion, very important.

Knowingly putting the name of Lucifer into your body is literally identifying yourself with him (The enzyme that activates the quantum dots in Gates’ vaccine is called Luciferase. Lucifer was Satan’s name when he fell; Isa. 14:12).

Knowingly taking aborted human fetal tissue into your body is not much different than cannibalism (When you can’t eat by mouth, you get nourishment through an IV into your body, so what’s the real difference?).

Satan is behind this whole thing, because it is unnatural for a person to want to exterminate their own species; even animals have respect for their own kind!

He (Satan) started his attack on the human genome (DNA) in Genesis 6, and nearly accomplished his agenda, BUT GOD intervened and protected the human race through Noah and his family because they were the only people on earth who had clean genetics (the pure human genome).

Jesus came as a human with a pure, uncorrupted human double helix of DNA; therefore, His sacrifice was done as a human and is for human beings only, not for animals, or synthetics, or ‘transhumans’ because none of them are ‘in the image of God.��

This current vaccine will begin the process of altering the human genome, but it does not splice into the double helix and completely change the DNA; however, the ‘mark of the beast’ (the Quantum Dot Tattoo) will totally corrupt the human genome, splicing itself into the double helix, so that the person who takes it will no longer be ‘in the image of God’ but will be ‘in the image of Lucifer’ with an alien form of DNA, one that was not created by God but is an abomination just like the Nephilim.

I never thought I would see Hosea 4:6 so clearly as I do today: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” I wonder if the believers who take it will pay a price in eternity? If they are born again, they cannot lose their salvation, but God says they will not be ‘priests,’ and He will ‘forget their children,’ so does this mean that they will lose rewards? I think so! It’s up to each of us to be responsible for our actions, as God says in Romans 1:20 that ‘they are without excuse.’

Twelve, here is another interesting e-mail from a reader in MO.

No one is date-setting, but this is amazing, if true, and I pray that it will brighten your day.

The reader’s pastor asked his congregation at their Wednesday night Bible study to open their Bible to the last two verses in the Bible (Rev. 22:20-21).

The verses are 20 and 21 (as in the year 2021), and they read, “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

Some would love for Jesus to come quickly for His Church in 2021.

Finally, if you want to go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

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anonymoustalks · 4 years ago

Conversation

The left has become absorbed by identity politics and is obsessed with race.. it scares me that they will create more racists than before they started

(6-17-20) You both like politics.

You: heyaa

Stranger: Hi

Stranger: How are you

You: anything you're interested in?

You: I am fine

Stranger: I'm interested in hearing opinions on things

You: oh, me too ^^

You: what kind of things?

Stranger: Politics is divisive, but in order to get a better understanding I wish to listen to both sides

You: awesome, I think that's great ^^

Stranger: :) thank you

You: do you have issues you care about most?

Stranger: The current fall of western society

You: fall of western society huh

You: can you elaborate more?

Stranger: Over the past few years we have seen western society devolve. Where once we were fairly united and we stood strong, we have become more divided and with the introduction of identity politics, that has just worsened till we have gotten to where we are now. China is currently pushing her borders, and yet with the US in flames and the uk following suit (along with France for that matter), noone challenges it

You: mhm *nodsnods*

Stranger: To speak out against the lunacy is to be called a racist and a bigot, not that that's anything new of course but those who are calling for these things seem to not really understand the importance and significance of their actions. I see this as akin to the 1920s Weimar Republic. They are pushing for things they don't want

You: you type a lot haha

Stranger: Sorry i am choosing my words carefully

You: mhm it's fine

You: so you think strong foreign policy is very important?

Stranger: I do. I am from South Africa, though I live in the uk. For those who live outside the us and Europe, we see the importance of Baro and the us on a geopolitical scale. China owns the east of Africa, if not central as well. The us has been the top dog preventing them and Russia from doing much for years, though that's going to change in the coming years

Stranger: NATO not baro* bloody autocorrect

You: oh okay I was wondering what that was haha

Stranger: If I may ask, where are you from?

You: the us actually

Stranger: I thought you might be given the time :) it's half 1 am here

You: yeah it's late!

You: so in your view, western countries need to have more of a spine?

You: is that basically what you're saying?

Stranger: Always. But history has a cycle.

Stranger: Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times

You: very fair

You: speaking of cycles, I think something that is floating around these days

You: is whether it's sort of like the beginning of the end of american hegemony

You: sort of like UK's empire gradually had its sunset

Stranger: This is what I am concerned with. All empires have their time in the sun, and all shall fade. I had hoped I would be dead before it happened. I made a prediction several years ago that should trump win in 2020 again, there will be civil war. I am unsure on my prediction of civil war, but I can see that he will win. Should there not be war, I give it another 2 presidencies before yourselves will fall, and ww3 breaks out

You: hmm the us is steamy right now, but idk about civil war

Stranger: It's been brewing for a while now by my estimation

You: that said I would not be surprised about China continuing to be more aggressive

You: that stuff with India yesterday?

You: ^^

Stranger: Without strong willed opposition, they will always push more overtly. They have done so in the shadows for years now

Stranger: And that's just one example

Stranger: They have intruded on Thailand air space as well

You: I don't think either democrats or republicans are very foreign-policy aggressive right now though

You: idk if your concern will be that much better with biden

You: clinton was a little hawkish but she lost 2016

Stranger: It would be much worse with Biden, or anyone from the left EXCEPT Tulsi Gabbard

You: oh you sounded like you didn't want trump to win lol

Stranger: I don't like him. But honestly, he's the best option out of what has been shown. Bernie is a socialist, Hillary is a warmonger, Biden will probably be a puppet. Who can stand? Hillary could be strong, but you would go to war. For all his faults, Trump has avoided war and conflict. He brought North Korea to the discussion table.

You: okay ^^

Stranger: I may not like him but he is effective, and has been a boon to you economy though as someone who works in finance, the next crash is due soon

You: fair enough although I think a lot of places are hurt by the coronavirus economy anyways

Stranger: Yeah.. the lockdowns are odd.. why quarantine those who are healthy? We have always quarantined those who were I'll first, and then those who go out and riot get a free pass? It's a bit confusing, and is a little bit of double think. Rules don't apply to you if you have the correct opinions it would seem

You: idk the US never really had forced quarantines

You: everything here was just you were supposed to do it

Stranger: The uk did, apologies

Stranger: Well not heavily enforced near me

You: we had college students going to beaches even though the quarantine was happening

You: because young ppl think they are invincible

You: and dumb ^^

Stranger: Hahaha yeah you aren't wrong in that

Stranger: But I have waffled on, may I hear your opinions on what we have discussed?

You: mhm, I disagree but it's cool yo~

Stranger: No that's great, it shows that we can discuss and hopefully come to compromise

Stranger: Thank you for being chill and relaxed

You: mhm I'm basically a hippie though so I don't usually take strong stances on international intervention

Stranger: That's fair and understandable. I used to agree with that as well for many years

You: I kind of think it's a little bit of a selfish position to take (the peace one)

You: in the sense that I don't want to deal with other people's problems

You: so in a sense it's kinda selfish

Stranger: It is and it isn't :)

Stranger: It's a moral good and a difficult thing. Peace only exists as reprieve from war. Humanity is a war like species, and peace only ever exists between them. And I applaud your pacifism

You: idk I'm not sure if it's always something to applaud

You: I think in a sense it's a kind of inaction

Stranger: A good thought experiment for you then, look at ww2

You: yup

You: I'm familiar with isolationism in history and its ramifications

Stranger: The us was neutral officially for years, and because they took no strong stance, the Nazis rose to power. Admittedly it was partly the fault of all the allies and ww1 but that's a digression.

Stranger: But war was thrust upon them officially by what happened. The peaceful stance can be taken from you, but that is not a bad thing in my opinion

You: yup

Stranger: What would you do if you could, at that time?

You: at that time?

You: hmm

You: it's not a question I've thought very much about

Stranger: I thought on that myself

You: and what did you conclude?

Stranger: My answer was intervention. Stop the Anschluss, the Munich agreement, the extremely harsh measures of the treaty at the end of ww1

You: oh yeah that was a terrible treaty

You: I kind of imagined myself as an average person though haha

Stranger: But I understand the reasoning at the time for allowing all those things to go through

Stranger: I am too

You: you would have protested your government signing that treaty?

Stranger: That's why thay generation was called the greatest generation. We the average man stood up and took up arms, because they believed what was right.

Stranger: It is difficult to say that if I lived in that time I would. Of it was today, 100%

You: mhm... war is frightening

Stranger: We cannot judge the past with the same moral standing we have today

You: of course

Stranger: And yes, war really is a horrible thing

Stranger: If peace was an option, I would go for it. Often times though, we have no control over that

You: mhm there is suffering in a lot of places, and violence that arises from suffering and hatred

Stranger: Look at the Nazis and the hatred of the Jews. That was extremely common all across Europe, the uk and the us. Many leaders in politics and business liked the Nazis initially. But just because something is common, does not make it right

You: I actually never understood antisemitism

Stranger: You are quite wise, and I agree with you. But the sad thing is, there will always be suffering

You: or why people hate(d) jewish people

Stranger: The scary thing is, many of those in BLM look up to a man called Farrakhan (forgive me on the spelling) who is a huge antisemite. Like he openly calls for violence against them. He gets away with it, because he is black. Why he hates them I don't know. They are hated I think, because they are the oldest abrahamic religion and the oldest monothesist one as well, from which both Islam and Christianity draw their teachings from initially

You: I just don't understand why they are hated

You: often by christians too

Stranger: Me neither, I find it abhorrent. They have been persecuted for thousands of years

You: yeah idk I just don't understand why

Stranger: I have yet to find out why. I know in Islam they hate them as it is dictated within their scriptures, though the exact wording I am unsure on. Christians I would think it's because they don't believe that Jesus was the son of God

You: I guess so

Stranger: But I may be entirely wrong

Stranger: Which I probably am

You: idk I don't know anything so I have no clue

Stranger: Hence why I like and want discussion :) we learn more through communication

Stranger: We become better the more we communicate

You: is there a reason why you dislike blm so much?

Stranger: I stand against identitarianism

You: so basically all those "pride" movements?

Stranger: I come from a racist country that segregated everyone and everything based on the colour of everyone's skin and I was hated for being the colour of my skin just for being born. I cannot condone movements that wish to implement the same things, as it will lead to suffering and hatred.

Stranger: I have nothing against being proud of your race, though I think the idea is a bit stupid. I have an issue with everything needing to divided up based on the colour of ones skin, I choose to judge someone on the basis of their character. I'm not perfect and there are times where I have been prejudiced but it is something I am consious of and wish to not do

You: mhm okay

You: I'm not sure if blm wants things to be divided up based on race though

You: I thought they were mostly against police brutality

Stranger: Some very much so are. Though I will concede that not all of them are, and I should tar everyone with the same brush. But as a counter to that, look at CHAZ in Seattle, they have segregated farms though calling them that is hilarious

You: I thought chaz is just a city block?

Stranger: On the police brutality, I agree with them and that reform must happen. Abolishing police is not a good idea. More funding is required, better training and better internal policies and structures to vette and review the officers is needed. Abolishing them will lead to anarchy. You are correct that Chaz is, but it is a microcosm showing the very things I stand against. I am against racism of all kinds, segregation is a form of racism. The us had a history where they did it too and agreed that it was wrong

You: mhm

You: I just wasn't familiar with blm as pro-segregation

You: that said, most blm activists are just really young

Stranger: They have been co-opted by those who are. And many activists are young white kids

You: I don't think mainstream democrats take them very seriously

Stranger: I'm not so certain. But I hope I am wrong

You: idk I mean these days who knows what kind media we each read

You: so I'm sure I'm in a bubble too

Stranger: They may see these things as a good and helpful idea, but the road to hell is often paved with good intentions

Stranger: Of course, and I hope I'm wrong. I recommend a variety of news sources, especially independent ones. A great one is a guy named Tim Pool on YouTube. He is a left leaning centrist guy who is upfront with his leanings. But he gives the news as it is

You: mhm I try to avoid youtube news

You: although idk if it's truly reliable to always go through bbc or ap or others

You: they are just mainstream

Stranger: BBC is very biased in my opinion. Tim used to work on mainstream media but he left. I would call him credible, he looks at news sources and verifies them. He's very milk toast and fence sits allot the problem with news is that all sides want to spin things the way they want it

You: mhm okay

You: is there any kind of mainstream media that you like?

Stranger: I don't trust any of them when it comes to almost anything except weather and sport scores. I will listen to what is said from various sources before coming to my own conclusions. I have lost all faith in the media since 2016

You: I see, I guess it ends up being hard to find something to trust

Stranger: Unfortunately it is. My reasons for it was both the elections in the us for 2016 and the brexit vote here in the uk. I was very similar to you then, very much so a hippie and very left leaning. I disagreed with Trump and Brexit, but I lost. But the way the media and society within the left handled themselves and the situation, that put me off completely and pushed me to become more conservative than what I was

You: interesting, although I'm not exactly following what made you more interested in conservative things

Stranger: The constant denigration of those who you disagree with. The treatment hat those people got, most of whom are the working class, upon the backs of which society is upheld. They are not racist or evil. They have a different opinion and different values. How does making a choice in a democracy make someone evil when neither side is perfect?

Stranger: The left preaches tolerance, except that it doesnt in reality

You: mhm yeah I don't like that

You: I don't think it is effective either

Stranger: All it does is polarize people

Stranger: And drive them further away from reaching g a compromise

You: right

Stranger: Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with Brexit, but as a democracy we made a decision. So now we need to exact that decision. I would have voted for trump despite my disdain for him

Stranger: Enact not exact*

You: I think there are a lot of people who think similarly as you do ^^

Stranger: There really are

Stranger: The left has become absorbed by identity politics and is obsessed with race.. it scares me that they will create more racists than before they started

Stranger: Constantly calling your opposition racist and evil will force them into being it

You: mhm I think there are some things to distinguish between social media left-wing people and people in everyday life I think

You: the vitriol is always much more amplified online than people are irl

Stranger: Oh agreed! Twitter is not real life, but it has started to bleed over

You: I live in a fairly liberal state, although I don't really think I have ever seen twitter irl

You: although I do think there is probably self-censorship occuring

You: in the sense that people are afraid of what their neighbors will think

Stranger: There is allot of that

Stranger: Anything you say will be used against you. Even if it's not that controversial

Stranger: People have lost their jobs for an opinion not done at work

You: that said, I don't think that's per say the "left's" fault though -- I just think that public opinion has shifted dramatically in the last 10 years

Stranger: Or how about the man who lost his job because his wife said something controversial

Stranger: I agree with you

Stranger: I really do

Stranger: Allot of this I do think could have been stopped years ago

You: I don't really like the lynch firing of people

You: that companies do for their public image

You: because the truth doesn't matter

You: it's just public image

Stranger: They do so because they are scared of the mob

You: but at the same time, I think public image is a thing because majority opinion really has shifted in the past two decades

You: opinions on homosexuality have swung dramatically in the US

You: ten years ago it was totally okay in public to be anti-homosexual

Stranger: Obama was against gay marriage until it was politically important for him to win the next election

You: but public opinion I think has swung really fast

You: yeah

You: I think he swapped at the first poll that showed >50% of americans supported it

Stranger: Yep! I find it hilarious that that was the case

You: yes but I think conservatives find this kind of fast change extremely uncomforting

You: I can understand that sentiment

You: also isn't it getting kinda late for you? ^^

Stranger: Conservatives are by their very nature are conservative. Change is neither malevolent nor benevolent, but we cannot look at change as universally good. Not can we disregard tradition

Stranger: It's 3 am and I can still keep going, I'm enjoying this conversation :)

You: I need to do the dishes eventually lol

Stranger: If you wish to leave you can by all means :) I won't hate you for it

You: I'm fine either way tbh

You: are you working right now? if you have work tomorrow you should prob go to bed

Stranger: It's up to you :) I can go for ages though my coherence Kay descend

Stranger: I'm sadly unemployed at the moment having lost my job earlier this year

You: coronavirus?

Stranger: Sadly yes

You: that's unfortunate, I'm sorry

Stranger: Not your fault :) so don't stress

You: so aside from Russia and China and the decline of western things, is there anything else that you stress about lol?

Stranger: The drive of censorship

Stranger: I have serious issue with censory

You: mhm

Stranger: And yourself?

You: mhm I dunno really

Stranger: That's good, though I would urge you to become concerned with censorship

You: mhm maybe

You: for me it's sort of a contextual concern I think

You: in the sense that it depends on your vantage point

Stranger: Opinions, art and books doesn't matter. Today it is their voice, tomorrow it is my voice. The day after it becomes your voice. Censorship takes away their rights to speak, and your rights to listen

You: mhm, what I mean is that my family immigrated from China

You: so my reference point of censorship is literal government censorship

You: in comparison the "political correctness" thing just doesn't seem as big to me imo

You: because 90% of it to me is sort of like a person's relationship with the neighbor basically

You: the US government doesn't censor what you can publish essentially

Stranger: That's fair enough, but this is where it starts. Things take time, and if anyone gives in (such as they have in several cases) that builds. In time that becomes the norm, there after what gets censored will not be at the choice of the people but of those who are in power

You: perhaps, although I kind of have faith in the 1st ammendment and the US supreme court

You: we barely have libel laws or defamation laws in the US because of the 1st ammendment

Stranger: I have seen calls to change and amend it. In the uk we have no freedom of speech, people have been arrested for jokes, what's been said on Twitter, etc. There are those who say that it's ok to censor this and that because e they are problematic or it would be good for everyone. But that is how it starts. The US has so much freedom

You: ahh... yeah I feel like it is different in the uk

Stranger: The uk doesn't care for free speech. It's very worrying and there are calls for even more censorship here.

You: mhm that sounds worrisome

Stranger: I guess I project it across to all western countries, and that is something we have seen recently

You: I don't think the US will lose the 1st amendment anytime soon, it's not politically realistiic

Stranger: Look at Amazon censoring books and movies being removed etc, this is how this begins. If it is allowed now, how can we stop it in the future

You: idk the status of free speech in other countries

You: actually this is a very interesting topic

Stranger: The us is one of the only countries that has it

You: do you think freedom of speech should be protected in private spaces?

Stranger: Codified in law that is

You: because technically freedom of speech for us is supposed to be only related to public government relationships

Stranger: I believe it should always be be protected

You: specifically "congress will make no law restricting freedom of speech" (paraphrased)

You: so you believe that private companies should not control what is said on their premises?

You: I mean it's fine if you believe that, it's actually just a bit further than what the current status quo is

Stranger: Yes. They are not above the law. Society may shun them, but they should not become involved. Outright calls for violence are against the law and that should be honoured, outside of that no they should not impose on pthers

You: hmm in the US this is where things get super complicated

You: because conservatives are also the ones who want content restricted/said in their religious schools too

Stranger: I've noticed.. and that has an effect on the rest of the world

You: basically "freedom of religion" and "freedom of speech" being on the same political side here makes things very weird

Stranger: And yeah I am aware of that as well, though the pendulum seems to have swung to the other side now. And it will swing back to the other side again

You: kind of like "My store should have the freedom of religion to deny my patrons of being homosexual in my store" kinda thing

Stranger: Yeah it is hard but there is more to the opposite side than just the one thing

You: it's a weird convoluted thing when both are conservative issues

Stranger: That's a difficult one, but I would say that should be discussed and debated but the highest courts. I cannot say from a legal sense one way or the other, morally I can say that it's hard to decide. I think that everyone should get a choice but I am uncertain

Stranger: By not but*

You: mhm that's fine ^^

You: I just think it's very interesting because most laws here, they govern the relationship between between the government and the people

You: so our freedom of speech laws do not apply to amazon censoring books because they are a private company

Stranger: Which is the difficult thing

Stranger: They are protected by being a private company

Stranger: As it's not just them

You: maybe ^^ we have a free market though, so things that cannot be published on amazon will find an outlet elsewhere

You: provided there is a demand for it

You: that said, it also has some gray area with morality laws

Stranger: That is true but monopoloes make things harder to find

You: kind of like youtube banning pornographic content

Stranger: Yeah I can understand that morally, legally I don't know but I would assume that there is some laws regarding that

You: I mean I'm just used to many various sites having bans of various sorts

Stranger: The uk has some

Stranger: Yeah, but there are protections for them being platforms not publishers

You: I don't think there is any law forcing youtube to ban pornographic content; it's just a branding choice by the company

Stranger: If they are publishers, those protections don't apply

You: like I think they want to be seen as family-friendly

Stranger: Fair enough, would have thought there might be

You: porn sites are not illegal in the US lol

Stranger: Not family friendly, advertisement friendly

You: lol true

Stranger: Sorry I don't know enough to be able to say :) I'm happy to admit that

You: mhm aside from political correctness, I guess I just don't personally see a big problem with censorship in the US

You: although I think I have a different belief than you that I think it's okay for private companies to choose what they want to publish

You: even if the ban content

You: these companies still need to compete

Stranger: Them doing so is fine, but if they wish to be protected as platforms they cannot act as a publisher. I think that's the Crux of their protections

Stranger: It is something that has been going for a while though

Stranger: And I think Trump will have it in his campaign for reelection this year

You: okay ^^

Stranger: But I don't know, he has been interested in censorship and has said he is against it in the past

You: I think people mean different things by censorship

You: but that's just imo

You: there are almost no western countries that experience censorship by their governments

You: so people mean things like censorship at their workplace

You: although imo that's kind of less censorship and more on the political correctness spectrum

Stranger: True. That is very true. But if you don't stop censorship openly, then should it come from government you don't already know you can stand against it

You: but to me, that "political correctness" isn't anything new either; it's as old as time

You: like did we always worry about saying something that would offend our boss?

You: ^^

You: it's always been there

You: I just think people are uncomfortable because bosses have changed in the last few decades

Stranger: It's not just their work place. The new "town square" is has become online. Your freedoms online are not protected despite it being codified in law

Stranger: And you aren't wrong, and coming from China or at least your family, you bring an interesting perspective

You: I feel like in the US we have very little digital legislation

You: the US of is head of hear

You: *there

Stranger: The world needs a digital bill of rights, to protect us all and our data. But we won't get it

You: but I don't think we have anything guaranteeing that speech on the Internet is free by any regard

Stranger: I would argue we do

You: hm? which law?

You: I like most websites have ToS's and rules banning X Y or Z on their site

Stranger: Freedom of speech and expression

You: oh I mean in terms of law

Stranger: That is what I meant, so that we are free to speak and express ourselves. I also believe that our data should be private and cannot be sold and that should be protected. There are other things that I have heard but it's difficult to remember all those that were proposed

You: ahh

You: yeah we don't have those laws right now

Stranger: Today stuff is okay but you are not protected

You: although the EU has some privacy ones that we don't have in the US

Stranger: The EU doesn't care mostly

Stranger: Some laws only protect some information, I'm talking about all of our information

You: ^^

Stranger: Everything we post and do is tracked, monitored and sold

Stranger: We revel in it, "I was talking about cats/dogs and all of a sudden I got adds for cat/dog products"

Stranger: We hear that often

You: yup

Stranger: Also, with regards to our rights and things, who holds these companies accountable?

Stranger: Take google for example

Stranger: They have been caught tampering with the elections

You: well, again, we have basically no laws about this in the US so there is no accountability

Stranger: They openly censor news and opinions

Stranger: They are a monopoly

You: although some europrean countries have lawsuits whatever with them

You: yup they totally are

You: where are anti-trust laws lol?

Stranger: That's what I think Trump will be looking at, I would if I was in his shoes

Stranger: But they were given special protections

Stranger: Those need to be taken away, the large companies need to be broken up but governments are incompetent

Stranger: I don't trust them to do it well

You: mhm it actually reminds me of south korea actually

Stranger: I mean there are a few senators in the states that I think have the moral fortitude to do so, but I don't know

You: countries are loathe to break up companies that they're proud of basically

Stranger: Yep

You: like samsung in south korea lol?

Stranger: They wouldn't break them up

Stranger: It would do serious damage to the economy and blah blah blah

You: their revenue was like 20% of the entire country's gdp

Stranger: Yep it's a difficult argument

Stranger: And I can understand why you wouldnt

Stranger: That 20% could drop to below 1%

You: anyhow it is getting kind of late

You: it was nice talking to you

You: and you should sleep ^^

Stranger: Likewise! :) I needed to move my sleep schedule for a 24 hour race on the weekend anyway, sp thank you for occuping my time and mind :)

You: goodnight!

Stranger: I'm glad to have met another willing to talk, take care my good friend

You have disconnected.

#omegle #identity politics #blm #foreign policy #trump #china #anti-semitism #tech #internet privacy #censorship #first ammendment #freedom of speech #political correctness #politics

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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‘Something Just Keeps Happening’: Dayton Shooting Hit a City Already in Pain https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/us/dayton-shooting-nan-whaley.html

‘Something Just Keeps Happening’: Dayton Shooting Hit a City Already in Pain

By Campbell Robertson and Mitch Smith | Published Aug. 9, 2019 | New York Times | Posted August 9, 2019 |

DAYTON, Ohio — First, the Ku Klux Klan came to town. Two days later, tornadoes destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses and obliterated entire neighborhoods in and around the western Ohio city of Dayton.

Then this past weekend, a gunman stormed onto a crowded sidewalk in the entertainment district — an area of town typically swarming with revelers who stay until the bars close in the early morning — and fired at least 41 shots into the crowd, killing nine people before he was shot dead by the authorities.

“Something just keeps happening,” said Amanda Hensler, an owner of a store, Heart Mercantile, that is across the street from where the massacre took place.

The day after the mass shooting — the second within a 13-hour period in America — residents flocked to Ms. Hensler’s store to buy T-shirts that read “Dayton Strong,” which has become something of a motto for this grieving, shocked city. The customers knew that the store would have them in stock because they had been printed three months earlier, after the catastrophic tornado outbreak.

Indeed, Dayton has been through a brutal six-month stretch, even before the Klan held a rally at the city’s downtown Courthouse Square. Since the beginning of February, the city has also endured a large infrastructure failure and federal indictments at City Hall.

Seeing the city through all this has been Mayor Nan Whaley, 43, a blunt and outspoken second-term Democrat who is believed to have political ambitions beyond Dayton, a city with about 140,000 residents who have endured more trauma this year than many larger cities experience in a decade.

Since Sunday morning, when she first appeared before a throng of reporters, Ms. Whaley has found herself in the biggest moment of her political life — and at the worst moment of her city’s modern history. She has been a whirlwind presence across the city, too, talking to victims’ families, briefing reporters and working with the state’s Republican governor to form bipartisan alliances on gun policy.

And then there is the Twitter feud with the president of the United States.

“She’s going to be governor one day,” said Senator Sherrod Brown, a fellow Democrat who represents Ohio. Mr. Brown was not speaking of Ms. Whaley’s presence solely over the past few days, but over the whole, bad year.

“There have been these three big things, two of them tragic,” he said, “and then you put all that in the context of the past 30 years, with globalization. It’s sort of been one thing after another.”

In February — after a water line break left tens of thousands without water, but before the federal indictments of current and former local officials — Montgomery County granted the Klan a permit to come to town on the last weekend in May. Afterward, the city sued, arguing that a paramilitary-style rally would present serious public safety concerns. Officials ultimately agreed to a consent decree that limited the weapons the marchers could carry.

The rally cost the city at least $600,000 in security costs, but in the end, only nine Klansmen showed up. They were hemmed in by more than 700 law enforcement officers and were easily drowned out by the shouts and chants of the hundreds who had come out to oppose the march. When the rally ended uneventfully, it seemed that the potential for serious violence had passed.

Two days later, the tornadoes hit.

“It was almost as if it was a metaphor of a divine nature,” said the Rev. Renard Allen Jr., the pastor of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, one of the larger churches in Dayton.

That tornado outbreak on May 27 devastated suburban communities and littered city streets with fallen trees. For weeks, residents lifted branches off strangers’ homes and served meals at temporary shelters.

“I think the tornadoes really brought the community together in a really bizarro kind of way,” said Shelley Dickstein, Dayton’s city manager. “We were very much still in the process of healing from the tornadoes when the mass shooting hit.”

When Ms. Whaley was elected to the City Commission at age 29, Dayton, like much of the industrial Midwest, was struggling to recover from a prolonged decline. Over the decades, factories and Fortune 500 companies had left Dayton. So had nearly half its residents.

But during her nearly six years as mayor, Ms. Whaley has presided over a downtown revival. Buildings that had long been vacant are being redeveloped. Some neighborhoods that had been emptied are seeing an infusion of new residents.

And during this time, Ms. Whaley has steadily built a larger profile for herself, taking on a leadership role in a national mayors’ organization, speaking openly about the toll of the opioid crisis on the state and briefly seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.

“People see that she’s striving for a higher political level,” said Gary Leitzell, her predecessor as mayor, who said Ms. Whaley’s ambitions have been seen by some as overshadowing the concerns in some neighborhoods.

“I don’t dislike her,” he added. But, “I do not trust her.”

Still, among mayors across the country, Ms. Whaley has become something of a celebrity.

“She is just so smart, she’s so accessible, she’s so real. Like, what you see is what you get,” said Christine Hunschofsky, the mayor of Parkland, Fla., which endured the unwelcome spotlight last year when 17 people, including 14 students, were killed at a high school in her city. “She is definitely someone other mayors look up to and learn from.”

But on Sunday, it was Ms. Hunschofsky who had guidance for Ms. Whaley. While Dayton police officers were still outside Ned Peppers bar, collecting evidence and methodically combing the vast crime scene, Ms. Hunschofsky texted words of encouragement. Buddy Dyer, the mayor of Orlando, Fla., the site of the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016 that left 49 people dead and more than 50 wounded, called Ms. Whaley. So did Bill Peduto, the mayor of Pittsburgh, where 11 people were killed in a synagogue last October.

At a vigil on Sunday, Ms. Whaley talked about joining an unfortunate fraternity of mayors whose cities had been the site of mass shootings. The crowd roared with approval for the mayor. A moment later, they drowned out the Republican governor, Mike DeWine, imploring him to push for tighter gun laws with chants of “Do something!”

Ms. Whaley said in an interview that she was not sure how Mr. DeWine would react. “After that I said to him, ‘I’m sorry, people are just wound up,’” she recalled. “He said to me, ‘Nan, that’s part of the job.’”

Since that vigil, the two have spoken every day, she said. They have effusively complimented each other at news conferences and tried to put on a bipartisan front for gun control proposals.

“She’s done a great job,” said Mr. DeWine, who grew up about 20 miles from Dayton. “Communities always look for leadership from the mayor when you have a crisis, and she’s stepped up.”

On Tuesday, Mr. DeWine proposed expanding background checks and enacting a version of a “red flag” law that would allow guns to be seized from people deemed dangerous. But feisty exchanges between Ms. Whaley and President Trump have not made a bipartisan alliance very easy.

Before Mr. Trump visited the city on Wednesday, Ms. Whaley said she planned to tell him “how unhelpful he’s been” on gun policy. She also would needle him about mistaking Dayton for Toledo in a national address on Monday about the shooting.

After leaving Dayton on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said on Twitter that Ms. Whaley’s characterization of his visit was “a fraud.”

For her part, Ms. Whaley said on Thursday that she was relieved he had left town.

“We’ve got to get to the work of grieving and bringing our community together,” she said. “All of the national drama about what President Trump is thinking and what he’s not thinking, it’s not helpful to our community.”

And there has been no shortage of help needed in Dayton.

On Thursday, for Ms. Whaley, this meant a news conference at a children’s hospital, lunch with the governor and her regular appointment with a counselor, which she highlighted on Twitter to emphasize the importance of mental health.

Still, officials in Dayton were looking ahead. Plans were already underway, the city manager said, for a New Year’s Eve party to bid good riddance to 2019.

Timothy Williams contributed reporting from New York.

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theliberaltony · 5 years ago

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup.

Poll of the week

Political junkies might think the whole country is devotedly following the 2020 presidential campaign (FiveThirtyEight certainly is). But remember, the election is still more than a year away. So it’s definitely fair to ask just how many people are already tuning in.

And with this in mind, a new survey from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 35 percent of Democrats1 said they were paying “a good deal” or “a lot” of attention to the campaign so far. Or in other words, only about one-third of Democrats are seriously following the goings-on of the campaign.

But one-third seemed a bit low to me, given that other pollsters have found that Democrats care a lot about picking a candidate they think can defeat President Trump this year, so I took a look at what other pollsters have found this cycle. I found that Quinnipiac University has asked a version of this question three times so far in 2019, finding each time that Democrats are paying quite a bit of attention to the race. For example, 74 percent said they were either paying “a lot” or “some” attention in the most recent survey.2

Democrats aren’t sleeping on 2020

Amount of attention Democratic respondents are paying to the 2020 campaign, according to three 2019 Quinnipiac surveys

Dates None at all Not much Some A lot June 6-10 8% 18% 29% 45% May 16-20 4 19 34 44 April 26-30 3 12 27 58

* Don’t know/not applicable not shown.

Source: Quinnipiac University

So what’s going on here? Well, it’s probably not that there’s a huge discrepancy in the number of Democrats paying attention to the election, but rather just a difference in how AP-NORC and Quinnipiac have asked this question. AP-NORC gave respondents five choices: “a lot,”, “a good deal,” “some,” “not much,” “no attention so far,” whereas Quinnipiac only offered four choices, not giving respondents the “a good deal” option.3 This means that in the AP-NORC survey, “some” is used as a middle-of-the-road response, whereas “some” is one of the Quinnipiac poll’s more attentive options. This means these polls aren’t directly comparable, but if you were to add the “some” response in AP-NORC’s survey to those who said they were paying “a lot” or “a good deal” of attention, you’d get 71 percent of Democrats in the AP-NORC poll who say they are following the race at least to “some” degree, which is roughly in line with what Quinnipiac has found.

And if we go back to previous cycles, the numbers from Quinnipiac actually suggest that Democrats are paying just as much attention as they normally would, or even more than usual. A CBS News/New York Times poll from early August 2015 that gave respondents options similar to Quinnipiac found that 72 percent of Democrats were paying either “a lot” or “some” attention. In other words, a poll that came out in August 2015 found Democrats to be just as attentive as a June 2019 survey. Plus, if you compare the people who said they were paying “a lot” of attention in both surveys, you’ll see that only 28 percent said that in the 2015 poll, compared to 45 percent in the Quinnipiac poll. And if we rewind eight more years to a late June 2007 survey from CBS News/New York Times, 71 percent of Democrats said they were paying “a lot” or “some” attention to the race, which is analogous to what Quinnipiac found in its June survey, with, once again, the share saying they were paying “a lot” of attention to the race (20 percent) much lower than what Quinnipiac has found in its 2019 polls.

So don’t read too much into that one AP-NORC survey. It turns out that Democrats may be paying as much attention as usual (or even more).

Other polling bites

A new report from the Pew Research Center shows a huge partisan gap over Americans’ attitudes toward capitalism and socialism. Republicans had sharply positive views of capitalism, with 78 percent holding a positive view and just 20 percent holding a negative one. But Democrats held mixed views: 55 percent had a positive impression while 44 percent had a negative one. Conversely, socialism was thoroughly disliked by Republicans, with only 15 percent holding a positive view and 84 percent holding a negative one. But Democrats were much more positive. Sixty-five percent had a positive impression and 33 percent had a negative one.4

New polling from Democratic pollster Global Strategy Group suggests that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might make a better target for Democratic candidates in 12 battleground states than President Trump. The survey, sponsored by campaign finance reform group End Citizens United, found Democrats ahead 48 percent to 45 percent on the generic ballot in those swing states. The pollster tested three different messages using McConnell, Trump and Republicans in Congress as foils to see how they changed voting intention. The language about McConnell produced the largest Democratic gain in the margin on the generic ballot — nine percentage points — while the language about Republicans in Congress and Trump increased the Democratic edge by six and three points, respectively.

According to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted just before the first Democratic debates, health care was the topic Democrats5 wanted to hear about most — 87 percent said it was very important for the candidates to talk about it. Other issues that were top priorities included: issues affecting women (80 percent), climate change (73 percent), gun policy (72 percent) and income inequality (70 percent).

Speaking of the debates, a number of candidates spoke in Spanish at different points, and YouGov recently found that 42 percent of Americans thought candidates are “pandering” when doing this versus 31 percent who believed they are being “respectful.” Among Democrats, 46 percent felt it was respectful compared to 32 percent who said it was pandering. Hispanic Americans also were more likely to view it as respectful (37 percent) than pandering (27 percent).

Young voters were an important part of Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign in 2016, and new polling from College Pulse found that Democratic college students6 are more supportive of the Vermont senator than other candidates. The group’s latest data showed Sanders with 26 percent, Elizabeth Warren at 20 percent, Biden at 17 percent and Pete Buttigieg at 10 percent. However, this represents continued improvement for Warren, who was in the single digits in April, while Sanders has slid from the low 30s to where he is now.

A new report from the Public Religion Research Institute found that only a relatively small share of Americans support refusing services to various minority groups for religious reasons, but that the share has increased in the past five years. Among the key findings was that 30 percent of Americans support business owners refusing service to LGBTQ individuals if it violates their religious beliefs. In 2014, only 16 percent of Americans supported this position.

Last week, President Trump decided to hold off on ordering a military strike against Iran, which had shot down a U.S. surveillance drone. A new HarrisX poll found that 26 percent of Americans support taking military action against Iran while 39 percent oppose such a move. Another 34 percent said they were not sure.

Trump approval

According to FiveThirtyEight’s presidential approval tracker, 42.3 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 52.7 percent disapprove (a net approval rating of -10.4 points). At this time last week, 42.5 percent approved and 53.1 percent disapproved (for a net approval rating of -10.6 points). One month ago, Trump had an approval rating of 41.2 percent and a disapproval rating of 54.0 percent, for a net approval rating of -12.8 points.

Generic ballot

In our average of polls of the generic congressional ballot, Democrats currently lead by 5.8 percentage points (46.1 percent to 40.3 percent). A week ago, Democrats led Republicans by 6.2 points (46.0 percent to 39.8 percent). At this time last month, voters preferred Democrats by 5.0 points (45.4 percent to 40.4 percent).

Check out all the polls we’ve been collecting ahead of the 2020 elections.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Geoffrey Skelley

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patriotsnet · 3 years ago

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How Many Votes Do Republicans Need To Repeal Obamacare

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-votes-do-republicans-need-to-repeal-obamacare/

How Many Votes Do Republicans Need To Repeal Obamacare

Schumer: ‘we Can Work Together Our Country Demands It’

Senate Republicans fail to get necessary votes to repeal and replace Obamacare

Until the end, passage on the Health Care Freedom Act, also dubbed the skinny repeal, was never certain. Even Republicans who voted for it disliked the bill.

The skinny bill as policy is a disaster. The skinny bill as a replacement for Obamacare is a fraud. The skinny bill is a vehicle to getting conference to find a replacement, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said at a Thursday evening news conference hours before the vote alongside fellow Republicans McCain, Ron Johnson and Bill Cassidy, before the details were released.

The skinny repeal was far from Republicans campaign promise of also rolling back Medicaid expansion, insurance subsidies, Obamacare taxes, and insurance regulations.

Many Republicans who did vote for it said they were holding their nose to vote for it just to advance the process into negotiations with the House of Representatives.

The legislation included a repeal of the individual mandate to purchase insurance, a repeal of the employer mandate to provide insurance, a one-year defunding of Planned Parenthood, a provision giving states more flexibility to opt out of insurance regulations, and a three-year repeal of the medical device tax. It also would have increased the amount that people can contribute to Health Savings Accounts.

Leigh Ann Caldwell is an NBC News correspondent.

Kevin Mccarthy: Republicans Can Repeal Obamacare Before Replacing It

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that Republicans could repeal Obamacare before finding a replacement for it, according to the Hill.

I dont think you have to wait, McCarthy told reporters. My personal belief, and nothings been decided yet, but I would move through and repeal and then go to work on replacing.

But healthcare experts, including some Republicans, say this approach could cause chaos for Obamacare enrollees and the insurance market during that period of time between the repeal of the law and when a replacement is found.

McCarthy and others have called for a transition period where Obamacare would be phased out gradually over a period of two years or another specified period of time after a repeal of the law is passed.

Even so, critics have said that insurers could leave the system once they know the law is being phased out, leaving no options for those enrolled in Obamacare for 2018.

Insurers have already left the exchanges in some states, leaving people with only one insurer to choose from when purchasing plans on the exchange.

The task of repealing and replacing Obamacare at the same time, however, could prove difficult for Republicans.

They need just 50 votes in the Senate to repeal the core of the healthcare law, but they need 60 votes in the Senate to pass a replacement to the law, which means the replacement would have to have support from Democrats as well as Republicans.

What We Learned In The House: Support For A Repeal Bill Can Happen Quickly

One lesson Ive taken from the past year of covering the Obamacare repeal-and-replace debate is that these bills look doomed to fail up until the moment they dont.

Take, for example, the American Health Care Act that the House passed this May. Within 48 hours, the bill went from doomed to sailing right through. The most puzzling part was how little happened in between.

Moderate Republicans like Rep. Fred Upton were critical of the bill because of how it could affect Americans with preexisting conditions. Upton publicly came out against the Obamacare repeal bill on May 2 in an interview with a local radio station. But literally the next day, he announced that a small tweak to the bill would win his support.

The tweaks didnt actually fix the core problems that Upton had with the bill. He secured a small pot of funding to help those with preexisting conditions and used that as cover to vote for a bill that would cause 22 million Americans to lose coverage.

Other Republicans quickly fell in line behind Upton, even though no major changes were made to quell their concerns, and the American Health Care Act passed the House on May 4.

Of course, some Republican plans that look doomed are, in fact, doomed. But at this stage, its really hard to tell the difference. Sometimes, as we saw in the House, a small amendment can make all the difference in flipping the key no votes to yes. Sometimes, as weve seen in the Senate, the votes just arent there.

You May Like: How Many Registered Republicans Are In The United States

Trumps Executive Action Could Erode Marketplace Built Under Obamacare

Attempts to repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act have failed in the past several months, leading President Donald Trump to issue an executive order expanding access to cheaper, less comprehensive health care plans.

The order, signed on Oct. 12, instructs federal agencies to remove certain limitations on “association health plans” and expand the availability of short-term health plans, both of which can skirt certain minimum coverage requirements included in the Affordable Care Act and state laws.

These changes will not immediately take effect; federal agencies will have to figure out how to act on Trump’s directions.

The executive action orders agencies to explore ways in which the government can expand access to short-term health plans, which are available to individuals on a three-month basis and meant for people who are in-between health care coverage plans. Under the instructions, association health plans would be allowed to sell plans across state lines; those plans allow small businesses to band together to create cheaper health care plans that offer fewer benefits.

The order was intended to create more options for individuals seeking health insurance and help stimulate competition among insurers. Some health policy advocates worry that it could disrupt the insurance marketplace in a way that would drive up health care costs for elderly individuals and people with medical conditions.

It will be months before changes are seen in the marketplace.

Likely To Vote No: 1 Senate Republican

Alaskas Lisa Murkowski also voted against all three versions of repeal in July, criticizing what she viewed as an overly secretive and partisan process to write the various bills and raising concerns about the Medicaid cuts. She has not slammed the GOP repeal effort as aggressively as Collins, but she does not sound especially inclined to back Cassidy-Graham.

So if Collins and Murkowski are no votes, Republicans need all four members below to vote yes.

Recommended Reading: How Many Seats Do Republicans Hold In Congress

Senate Gop Tries One Last Time To Repeal Obamacare

McConnell and his lieutenants will gauge support for the bill this week in private party meetings.

By BURGESS EVERETT and JOSH DAWSEY

09/17/2017 02:51 PM EDT

Republicans say Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wont bring up the bill if there is any chance of failure, given the dramatic collapse in the summer. | john Shinkle/POLITICO

Obamacare repeal is on the brink of coming back from the dead.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his leadership team are seriously considering voting on a bill that would scale back the federal governments role in the health care system and instead provide block grants to states, congressional and Trump administration sources said.

It would be a last-ditch attempt to repeal Obamacare before the GOPs power to pass health care legislation through a party-line vote in the Senate expires on Sept. 30.

No final decision has been made, but the GOP leader has told his caucus that if the bill written by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy has the support of at least 50 of the 52 GOP senators, he will bring it to the floor, Graham and Cassidy say. That would give Republicans one more crack at repealing the Affordable Care Act, a longtime party pledge.

Your guide to the permanent campaign weekday mornings, in your inbox.

Some Republicans believe that if the bill were put on the floor Monday, it would have the support of 49 senators.

Obama: Gop Blocked 500 Bills

President Barack Obama is railing against congressional Republicans, telling a Hollywood crowd that the midterm elections are crucial because the GOP is willing to say no to everything.

The president, speaking at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee event Wednesday evening hosted at Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horns home, said Republicans have been obstructionist since even before he took office.

Their willingness to say no to everything the fact that since 2007, they have filibustered about 500 pieces of legislation that would help the middle class just gives you a sense of how opposed they are to any progress has actually led to an increase in cynicism and discouragement among the people who were counting on us to fight for them, Obama said of Republicans.

The conclusion is, well, nothing works, the president continued. And the problem is, is that for the folks worth fighting for for the person whos cleaning up that house or hotel, for the guy who used to work on construction but now has been laid off they need us. Not because they want a handout, but because they know that government can serve an important function in unleashing the power of our private sector.

Obama opened by saying that he is in trouble at home, because in 2012 he had told his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, that he had run his last campaign.

Recommended Reading: When Did Republicans Turn Against Nixon

Wild Cards: 4 Senate Republicans

Utahs Mike Lee and Kentuckys Rand Paul have been continual roadblocks for Republicans during the repeal process, fighting it from the right and essentially opposing any legislation that leaves Obamacares rules and regulations in place. Lee has been noncommittal about Cassidy-Graham. But Paul has attacked it, arguing that it still gives states the choice and ability to effectively leave Obamacare in place. He sounds like a hard no right now, but Im skeptical he would cast the vote to block an Obamacare repeal bill. The reason: Paul has cultivated a brand as a strong conservative, so a vote that would, in effect, save Obamacare would not be ideal for him.

Kansass Jerry Moran, meanwhile, has been a vocal defender of Medicaid, so its not clear if he would back a bill that cuts Medicaid as much as Graham-Cassidy does.

McCain, for his part, was a key vote against Obamacare repeal in July and it seemed like a capstone to the Arizona senators career as a self-described maverick. He urged Republicans just this Sunday not to engage in a hurried process that skips over the relevant committees and doesnt include Democrats. Cassidy-Graham is being rushed, hasnt gone through the committees for hearings and has no Democratic support.

Want the latest politics news? Get it in your inbox.

Gop Has A Month To Pass Obamacare Repeal With 51

Republicans vote to repeal Obamacare

If Republicans want to try again to repeal the Affordable Care Act with just a simple majority, they only have until the end of September to do it.

Thats according to Sen. Bernie Sanders, the ranking member on the Senates budget committee. According to Sanders, the Senate parliamentarian declared Friday that the Senates 2017 budget resolution, which gave reconciliation instructions to repeal Obamacare, will expire at the end of the month.

That means that Republican senators will either have to pass a new budget to repeal health care with a simple majority or they will have to have 60 votes a filibuster-proof majority to make changes to Obamacare.

The parliamentarians office declined to comment to CNN, saying its policy was not to speak with the media. CNN has reached out to Republicans on the Senate budget committee about whether they agree with Sanders assessment.

Todays determination by the Senate parliamentarian is a major victory for the American people and everyone who fought against President Trumps attempt to take away health care from up to 32 million people, Sanders said in a statement. Now that the parliamentarian has determined that Senate Republicans cannot use reconciliation instructions to repeal the Affordable Care Act beyond this fiscal year, we need to work together to expand, not cut, health care for millions of Americans who desperately need it.

CNNs Manu Raju and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

Don’t Miss: How Do Republicans Really Feel About Trump

Trumps Promise To Repeal Obamacare Is Now In Limbo

President Donald Trump expressed disappointment after Republican lawmakers’ failure to muster enough votes to repeal Obamacare placed one of his loftiest campaign promises in limbo.

A series of defections by Senate Republicans scuttled two separate efforts to dismantle the sweeping U.S. health care law put in place by Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama.

“We’ve had a lot of victories, but we haven’t had a victory on health care,” Trump told reporters July 18, as it became clear the latest Republican legislative efforts would fail. “We’re disappointed.”

A slim margin of error constrained GOP efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare and forced a delicate balancing act between the party’s conservative and moderate members.

But defections by Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Mike Lee of Utah on July 17 brought to four the number of Republican senators to publicly oppose the bill , effectively killing the repeal-and-replace plan. Senate leadership could only afford to lose two Republican votes for passage.

Senate Republicans then turned their attention to a measure that would repeal major parts of Obamacare over two years, in theory buying lawmakers enough time to agree on a replacement plan before the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, was largely dismantled.

“I did not come to Washington to hurt people,” Capito said in a statement. “I cannot vote to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan that addresses my concerns and the needs of West Virginians.”

Gop Aims To Kill Obamacare Yet Again After Failing 70 Times

Chris Riotta U.S.Donald TrumpAffordable Care ActObamacare

The GOP may be down for the count in it’s failed attempts to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Actbut don’t count Lindsey Graham out just yet.

President Donald Trump met with the South Carolina senator and one of his fiercest critics in the Republican party on Friday night to discuss a bill that would effectively block Obamacare funding, according to two sources familiar with the meeting and legislation currently being drafted. Republican officials tell Politico Graham’s bill could potentially reach 50 votes after a series of failed attempts in recent weeks to both repeal and replace, then simply repeal, Obama’s landmark health care initiative.

After last week’s latest attempt to remove provisions of Obamacare ended with Sen. John McCain’s dramatic “no” vote effectively keeping it alive along with two other senators, Newsweek has found at least 70 Republican-led attempts to repeal, modify or otherwise curb the Affordable Care Act since its inception as law on March 23, 2010.

“I had a great meeting with the President and know he remains fully committed to repealing and replacing Obamacare,” Graham said in a statement Friday night. “President Trump was optimistic about the Graham-Cassidy-Heller proposal. I will continue to work with President Trump and his team to move the idea forward.”

How many more times that may take, is anyone’s guess.

Also Check: Which Republicans Voted To Impeach Trump Today

Dylan Scott guides you through the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and the health care policies that matter most.

Analysts expect the bill would lead to millions of Americans losing coverage, similar to previous Republican repeal bills. Republicans might not even know the full extent of the new bills effects on the health care system because they are likely to vote on the bill before the Congressional Budget Office can release its full analysis. The CBO is rushing to at least a provide a bare-bones analysis by early next week. The Senate has now scheduled two hearings for Monday and Tuesday on the bill.

Senate Republicans need 50 votes to pass this bill, meaning only two Republicans can defect. As my colleague Dylan Scott has pointed out, Republicans always have 45 or so votes to repeal Obamacare. Its the last five that are the battleground.

Several senators who opposed the last Obamacare repeal effort havent taken an official position yet. So the vote could fail just like past Republican attempts. But all signs we have from Capitol Hill suggest that it could pass. Cassidy is actively working to persuade senators to vote for the bill and reaching out to governors, too, to pressure their senators.

Ive had governors calling up their senators, 14 or 15 governors, saying you need to get on this, Cassidy told reporters at a Friday morning briefing.

Gop Health Care Bill Would Cut About $765 Billion In Taxes Over 10 Years

But sentiment has changed on Obamacare, with Gallup Poll finding this month that 55 percent now approve of the ACA.

The AHCA faces a much tougher road in the Senate, and if it dies there, some of those vulnerable GOP members may have made what ends up being a futile vote.

But there’s another side to consider, too. For Republicans who have made the refrain “repeal and replace Obamacare” their mantra for seven years now, not acting on their signature campaign promise could risk depleting enthusiasm among their core voters, who they also need to turn out in November 2018 to combat a Democratic base that is energized against President Trump.

And after the first attempt at repeal failed in an embarrassing fashion, House Republicans and Trump badly needed a win. That’s why they took a victory lap in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday afternoon, even though the bill is far from becoming law.

“The American people expected us to deliver on the promises we’ve made and that’s what House Republicans have just done,” National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Matt Gorman wrote in a memo after the vote.

Republicans have pointed out that more insurance companies are pulling out of state-run exchanges, and the GOP bill will cut about $765 billion in taxes over the next decade, NPR’s Scott Horsley reported, though mostly for wealthy Americans.

Thank you @RepMimiWalters and for standing in front!

Meredith Kelly May 4, 2017

Read Also: Are There More Democrats Or Republicans In The Us

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surveysbygracelynn · 4 years ago

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1) How are you doing in this time of COVID19? Do you personally know anyone who is not taking COVID19 seriously? I’m probably doing better than most, honestly. I don’t mind working from home, or not seeing people often. But I’m also a lot busier than normal. One of my friends still goes out a lot, but I don’t see him much. I think even my trump supporting family takes the restrictions serious to an extent.

2) What do you think of TikTok? Have you jumped on it yet? Why or why not? Tik Tok is great. I joined when it was about to be banned. I’m so glad I did because a lot of the content is great.

3) What game have you gone back to playing or missed playing because of this time of self-quarantining? Like everyone else I’m now on animal crossing most of the time. But I haven’t had a lot of time to play. My island is not pretty or thought out.

4) How internet-savvy are your parents? Can you think of time(s) when they surprised you with what they know (i.e. memes, platforms, emoji uses, etc.)? My parents are like good and not good. They know enough. It was kind of sweet when they hopped on the national daughters day trend this year because neither of them post much (when they did, it was me posting a caption for them lol)

5) What is your favorite foreign cuisine? What is your favorite food/dish from that cuisine? I love Italian and Mexican. I could probably eat both of those all the time. Italian, I love eggplant parm. Mexican, I love quesadillas.

6) What is an electronic gadget that you’ve had for more than 5 years? Would you say it was worth your money? Do you plan on replacing it any time soon? Hmm. That’s a good question. My laptop I think is about 5 years old now. I don’t think I bought it though. I might replace it eventually because it crashes a lot.

7) What TV show would you say you’ve re-watched more than two times? Are you re-watching anything now? Probably Full House and Friends in advertently. I’m not one to go back and watch a show multiple times as a series.

8) Do you remember the moment when you started feeling alarmed by the development of the COVID19? How did your life change since? I think I started actually taking it serious in the end of March. A lot of stuff was happening amidst the friend group, people were still coming to my apartment every day and I could not handle it.

9) What viral video/meme last made you furious or annoyed? Probably something a Republican posted lol

10) When was the last time you woke up feeling pumped and determined to have a great day? How did that day unfold for you? Uhmm.. I don’t know. lately I kinda just wake up cranky if I’m up too early or cranky if I’m up later than I have time to kind of chill by myself.

11) Do you use e-mail a lot at work? If so, what are your biggest e-mail pet peeves? If not, what mundane task do you do on a regular basis at work and what do you dislike about it? Yes, email is probably most of my job right now, as the phone calls have slowed down. I don’t really have any pet peeves about emails. It’s kind of annoying when people cc my boss on a random email to me but I don’t really get too worked up about it. I guess what would be my pet peeves is that most of my coworkers don’t read my emails when I send them.

12) What hobby or interest of your significant other do you have ZERO interest in? What about something you actually think might be fun or something you actually picked up thanks to them? If you don’t have an SO, you can think of a relative or friend as an example instead. Brandon has a lot of interests. games and anime are cool, but I can’t get into them as serious as he is. I guess I have zero interest in cooking which is kind of terrible to say. I would guess anime is something I picked up thanks to him. I played video games before.

13) Do you use Uber? If so, how often do you use it or cabs in general? Have you ever had an awkward moment with a cab driver? Only in emergencies or dire situations really. When I took it last month as to not get on the city bus coming home, there were a few. One guy was taking an awkward way back. And one guy had a car that you wouldn’t think was an Uber..

14) If you are employed, what would you say are the best and worst parts of your company’s culture. If you don’t work, what would you say is the busiest part of your day? The best part is the flexibility with things. Like, I could take a long lunch and it not be a problem. The worst part is trying to keep boundaries.

15) What was the last craving you fulfilled? That’s a good question. I haven’t really had many cravings lately but some of them I don’t find reason to fufill. I think the other day I was trying to recreate the subway sandwich but then we didn’t have cheddar. The one that really sticks out is when Brandon made us breakfast sandwiches before we went to the Beach.

16) Do you like stand-up comedy? Who are your favorites? When was the last time you remember discovering someone new that you actually liked? John Mulaney is probably my favorite. Hmm. That’s another good question... It probably honestly was John Mulaney.

17) Have you ever felt affected by the death of a celebrity or public figure? If so, who? Do you remember when you found out and what was your reaction to it? Not really, honestly. I mean I awlways cry when there’s like a memoriam tribute but no one really made me super sad.

18) What positive affirmation do you need to give yourself right now? My boundaries are necessary and are an act of self love..

19) How often do you get headaches? What are usually the cause(s)? What are your go-to remedies for it? What was the worst headache you’ve ever had? Lately it’s been a lot more. And then I get scared its COVID. but I usually try to power through them or take advil. I got migraines in high school but I really don’t remember much. I think I was still dating my first boyfriend at the time.

20) What was the last purchase you regret making? What about it that made it regrettable? How about the last purchase that you found absolutely worth your buck? I guess I sort of regret getting two types of light bulbs at the store. or this reeses ice cream which kinda sucked actually. The most worthwhile purchase as of late I think has been the reusable k cup. I use it like every day.

0 notes

techcrunchappcom · 4 years ago

Photo

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/presidential-debate-trump-and-biden-row-over-covid-climate-and-racism/

Presidential debate: Trump and Biden row over Covid, climate and racism

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US election 2020

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media captionWhat you missed – the best bits from Trump and Biden’s final debate

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US President Donald Trump and his White House challenger Joe Biden clashed over Covid and race while trading corruption charges, in their final live TV debate.

On the pandemic, Mr Biden would not rule out more lockdowns, while Mr Trump insisted it was time to reopen the US.

Mr Trump cited unsubstantiated claims Mr Biden personally profited from his son’s business dealings. The Democrat brought up Mr Trump’s opaque taxes.

Mr Biden has a solid lead with 11 days to go until the presidential election.

But winning the most votes does not always win the election, and the margin is narrower in a handful of states that could decide the race either way.

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Live updates: The scramble to claim victory

Final debate fact-checked

Key takeaways from the debate

More than 47 million people have already cast their ballots in a voting surge driven by the pandemic.

This is already more than voted before polling day in the 2016 election. There are about 230 million eligible voters in total.

In snap polls – from CNN, Data Progress and US Politics – most respondents said Mr Biden had won the debate by a margin of more than 50% to about 40%.

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What was the overall tone?

Thursday night’s primetime duel in Nashville, Tennessee, was a less acrimonious and more substantive affair than the pair’s previous showdown on 29 September, which devolved into insults and name-calling.

Following that political brawl, debate organisers this time muted microphones during the candidates’ opening statements on each topic to minimise disruption.

But the 90-minute debate, moderated by NBC’s Kristen Welker, was the scene of plenty of personal attacks between the opponents, whose mutual dislike was palpable.

In individual closing argument to voters, they offered starkly different visions for the nation on everything from shutting down the country to tackle coronavirus, to shutting down the fossil fuel industry to confront climate change.

media captionBody language expert Mary Civiello gives her view on Trump and Biden’s body language

Coronavirus ‘going away’

Nowhere was the distinction between the two candidates more apparent than in their approach to the pandemic.

Asked about his support for more lockdowns if the scientists recommended it, Mr Biden, a Democrat, did not rule it out.

But Mr Trump, a Republican, said it was wrong to inflict further damage on the economy because of an infection from which most people recover.

“This is a massive country with a massive economy,” said the president. “People are losing their jobs, they’re committing suicide. There’s depression, alcohol, drugs at a level nobody’s ever seen before.”

media captionPresidential debate: Trump and Biden clash on Covid response

Mr Trump, 74, declared that the virus was “going away” and that a vaccine would be ready by the end of the year, while Mr Biden warned the nation was heading towards “a dark winter”.

The president said: “We’re learning to live with it.” Mr Biden, 77, countered: “Come on. We’re dying with it.”

Mr Biden laid blame for the 220,000-plus American deaths as a consequence of the pandemic at Mr Trump’s door.

“Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America,” he said.

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image copyrightGetty Images

‘This guy is a dog whistle’

During a back-and-forth on race relations, Mr Trump said: “I am the least racist person in this room.”

He brought up the 1994 crime bill that Mr Biden helped draft and which Black Lives Matter blames for the mass incarceration of African Americans.

But Mr Biden said Mr Trump was “one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history. He pours fuel on every single racist fire”.

He added: “This guy is a [racial] dog whistle about as big as a fog horn.”

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Lasting impact unlikely

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Once again, Mr Biden largely held up under fire – avoiding the kind of gaffes and stumbles that could have played into Republican attempts to question his age and mental acuity.

The Trump campaign will try to make an issue out of Mr Biden’s call for a “transition” from oil-based energy – a risky thing to throw in at the tail end of the debate. In an era of hybrid cars and energy-efficient homes, however, when even petroleum companies employ similar language, it may not hit Americans as hard as Republicans imagine.

In the end, the raucous first debate probably will be what the history books record. And with polls showing most Americans already having made up their minds – and more than 45 million already having voted – the chance that this evening has a lasting impact on the race seems slim.

Bank accounts ‘all over the place’

Mr Trump brought up purported leaked emails from Mr Biden’s son, Hunter, about his business dealings in China.

But Mr Biden denied the president’s unfounded insinuation that the former US vice-president somehow had a stake in the ventures.

media captionWho really decides the US election?

“I think you owe an explanation to the American people,” said Mr Trump.

Mr Biden said: “I have not taken a single penny from any country whatsoever. Ever.”

The former vice-president referred to the New York Times recently reporting that Mr Trump had a bank account in China and paid $188,561 in taxes from 2013-15 to the country, compared with $750 in US federal taxes that the newspaper said he had paid in 2016-17 when he became president.

“I have many bank accounts and they’re all listed and they’re all over the place,” said Mr Trump. “I mean, I was a businessman doing business.”

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‘Trouble ahead’ on climate

Mr Biden described climate change as an “existential threat to humanity” and attacked Mr Trump for cutting curbs on polluters.

“Four more years of this man eliminating all the regulations that were put in by us to clean up the climate… will put us in the position where we’re going to be in real trouble,” he said.

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image copyrightReuters

Mr Trump defended his decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, saying he would not “sacrifice tens of millions of jobs, thousands and thousands of companies” for the agreement.

The two clashed on energy policy, as Mr Trump asked his challenger: “Would you close down the oil industry?”

“I would transition from the oil industry, yes,” said Mr Biden, adding, “because the oil industry pollutes significantly.”

He said Big Oil – a reference to big oil companies – had to be replaced by renewable energy over time with the US moving towards net zero emissions.

“Basically what he’s saying is he’s going to destroy the oil industry,” said Mr Trump. “Will you remember that, Texas? Will you remember that, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Ohio?”

The Biden campaign afterwards said their candidate had been talking about ending oil subsidies.

‘Who built the cages, Joe?’

The two again argued when Mr Trump was asked about his policy of separating hundreds of children from undocumented immigrant adults at the southern US border.

The president pointed out that migrant children were also detained under the Obama administration.

media captionPresidential debate: Trump says catch and release only works on those with ‘lowest IQs’

“Who built the cages, Joe?” he said, referring to the chain-link enclosures where unaccompanied migrant children were held during the Obama-Biden administration.

But the former vice-president said the Trump administration had gone further by separating families and the practice was “criminal”.

Any other stand-out moments?

Not surprisingly, both candidates accused the other of unfulfilled promises while in office.

Mr Biden took his opponent to task for his pledges to come up with a healthcare plan to replace Mr Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Mr Trump had been talking about making such a move for years but “he’s never come up with a plan”, the Democrat said.

The president, meanwhile, talked about what he said was Mr Biden’s own inactivity while in office.

“You keep talking about all these things you’re going to do… but you were there just a short time ago and you guys did nothing,” he said.

“Joe, I ran because of you. I ran because of Barack Obama, because you did a poor job.”

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itsfinancethings · 4 years ago

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New story in Politics from Time: Revenge of the Never Trumpers: Meet the Republican Dissidents Fighting to Push Donald Trump Out of Office

Jack Spielman has been a Republican his whole life. But over the past four years, he has come to two realizations.

Increasingly upset by President Donald Trump’s “appalling” behavior, his cozy relationships with dictators and the ballooning national debt, Spielman says his first epiphany was that he couldn’t cast a ballot for Trump again. But for the retired Army cybersecurity engineer, the final straw was the President’s retaliation against impeachment witness Lieut. Colonel Alexander Vindman, who retired in July after Trump fired him from the National Security Council in February. Spielman decided he had to do more than just vote for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden; he had to persuade others to do the same. So Spielman filmed a video for a group called Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT), explaining his views. “I want to do some part,” Spielman tells TIME, “to try to correct the wrong that I did in voting for this man.”

RVAT, which launched in May, is among a growing number of Republicanled groups dedicated to making Trump a one-term President. Since December, longtime GOP operatives and officials have formed at least five political committees designed to urge disaffected conservatives to vote for Biden. The best known of these groups, the Lincoln Project, has since forming late last year gained national attention for its slick advertisements trolling the President. Right Side PAC, led by the former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, launched in late June; a few days after that, more than 200 alumni of George W. Bush’s Administration banded together to form an organization called 43 Alumni for Biden. There’s also the Bravery Project, led by former GOP Congressman and erstwhile Trump primary challenger Joe Walsh. And plans are in the works for a group of former national-security officials from Republican administrations to endorse Biden this summer.

Since 2015, pockets of the party have bemoaned Trump’s Twitter antics, his divisive rhetoric and key elements of his platform, from the Muslim travel ban to his trade tariffs to his family-separation policy at the U.S.-Mexico border. But with the President’s approval rating in the party consistently around 90%, and GOP lawmakers terrified to cross him, the so-called Never Trump faction has proven largely powerless, with a negligible impact on federal policy.

Now, in the final stretch of the President’s term, the Never Trumpers could finally have their revenge. Four years ago, Trump won the Electoral College by some 77,000 votes scattered across Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. If even a small slice of disillusioned Trump voters or right-leaning independents defect to Biden in November, it could be enough to kick Trump out of office. “They are the constituency that can swing this election,” says Sarah Longwell, a longtime Republican operative and founder of RVAT.

This constituency now appears more willing to vote for Biden than they were six months ago, in no small part because of Trump’s faltering response to the corona-virus, which has killed more than 140,000 Americans and ravaged the economy. Between March and June, according to a Pew Research poll, Trump’s approval rating among Republicans and Republican-leaning voters dropped seven percentage points, to 78%. A June 25 New York Times/Siena College survey found that Biden has a 35-point lead over Trump among voters in battleground states who supported a third-party candidate in 2016. “Any small percentage of voters who no longer support him could be critical in closely matched swing states,” says Republican pollster Whit Ayres.

It’s too early to gauge how effective the raft of Never Trump groups will be. They’re dismissed by many Republicans as self-serving opportunists profiting off the polarization Trump has exacerbated. Trump also remains hugely popular among Republicans. “President Trump is the leader of a united Republican Party where he has earned 94% of Republican votes during the primaries–something any former President of any party could only dream of,” says campaign spokes-woman Erin Perrine.

Even if the Never Trump activists are able to help oust the President, it’s unclear what will become of a party that’s vastly different from the one they came up in. Trump has transformed today’s GOP into a cult of personality rooted in economic nationalism and racial division. And while the small anti-Trump faction wants to return to the conservative ideology that reigned for decades before Trump, many Republicans believe Trump has changed the party forever.

Sitting in front of a packed book-case, Rick Wilson looked surprised as he peered over hornrimmed spectacles at an overflowing screen: “There’s 10,000 people on here,” the onetime Republican operative marveled of the Zoom audience assembled for the Lincoln Project’s first town hall on July 9.

Grant Lancaster—AM New YorkThe Lincoln Project’s ads criticizing the President’s performance have helped it raise nearly $20 million

Wilson formed the Lincoln Project in December, along with lawyer George Conway, the husband of Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, and veteran political strategists Steve Schmidt and John Weaver, among others. The Republican stalwarts had grown disgusted with the President’s behavior and their party’s acquiescence to it. The launch met little fanfare, but in the months since, the group has demonstrated a knack for quickly producing memorable videos and advertisements that get under Trump’s skin. In early May, with the unemployment rate soaring toward 15%, the group released an ad dubbed “Mourning in America,” a play on the upbeat Ronald Reagan classic, which depicted the woes of sick and unemployed Americans under Trump’s leadership. “If we have another four years like this,” the ad’s narrator intones as dead patients are wheeled out of hospitals on stretchers, “will there even be an America?” The President took notice. “Their so-called Lincoln Project is a disgrace to Honest Abe!” Trump tweeted. “I don’t know what Kellyanne did to her deranged loser of a husband, Moonface, but it must have been really bad.”

Irritating the President is part of the point. “It’s not trolling if you get a fish in the line,” says Reed Galen, a veteran of George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns and one of the project’s co-founders. “We kept dropping a hook in the water, and eventually the President bit.” The attention has been a boon to the group’s finances. The Lincoln Project raised nearly $17 million between April 1 and June 30.

If the Lincoln Project tries to needle the President, other groups in the Never Trump ecosystem have found complementary roles. Instead of using polished editing and ominous music to make a splash online, RVAT has gathered more than 400 testimonials from disheartened Republicans like Spielman. “I did only vote for Donald Trump because I couldn’t believe someone who acted as goofy as he did on TV actually meant it,” Monica, a self-described evangelical Christian from Texas, says in one video. “Since that time, I have been riddled with guilt.”

Longwell, RVAT’s founder, believes hearing from people like Monica will show waffling conservatives that they’re not alone in their dislike of the President, and encourage them to break away. “The thing that people trusted wasn’t elites, it wasn’t Republican elites, it certainly wasn’t the media,” Longwell says of her focus-group research. “But they did trust people like them.” The group says it plans to showcase those voices in an eight-figure ad campaign in five swing states before Election Day.

RVAT identified recalcitrant Republicans through email lists Longwell had built at Defending Democracy Together, its parent organization. Founded in 2019, Defending Democracy Together created online petitions whose signatories often offered clues of their disillusionment with Trump. Petitions supporting Vindman and thanking Utah Senator Mitt Romney for voting to convict Trump of abuse of power during the impeachment trial proved especially fruitful in finding former Trump supporters, according to Tim Miller, RVAT’s political director and a veteran Republican communications strategist.

To test new video messages, Longwell held a Zoom focus group on July 15 with seven Florida voters and allowed TIME to watch. Each participant voted for Trump in 2016 but was now dissatisfied with his leadership. Several mentioned his handling of COVID-19 in the meeting, noting Florida’s dramatic spike in cases. Long-well showed the group a few of RVAT’s testimonials. “It resonates with me,” one woman who works in the travel industry in Orlando said. “It does make me feel less alone.” But while three people on the call said they’d likely vote for Biden, two said they were unsure and two said they would still vote for Trump again. “I don’t think there’s any hope for him,” the Orlando woman said. “But I don’t see Biden doing a good job either.”

Matt Borges of Right Side PAC recognizes that Republican voters’ uncertainty about Biden needs to be addressed. As the former chair of the Ohio Republican Party watched Never Trump groups roll out advertisements, he worried there was too much focus on why Trump was bad and not enough on why Biden was a good alternative. “We need these people who know they are not [going to] vote for Trump but are not sold on Joe Biden to hear some messaging from fellow Republicans that says, ‘No, it’s O.K. to vote for this guy,'” says Borges, a lifelong Republican who disavowed Trump three years ago. In an unrelated development, Borges was arrested on July 21 for allegedly participating in a $60 million bribery scheme involving top political officials that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio decried as the biggest money-laundering effort in the state’s history.

In June, Borges teamed up with former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci to form Right Side PAC, which plans to spend up to $7 million targeting these voters through mailings, digital ads and phone banks. Their first focus is Michigan, where Borges commissioned a pollster to conduct research on Republican voters in swing districts. After spending more than a week in the field, the pollster delivered the results to Borges and Scaramucci on a Zoom call, which TIME observed. Support for Trump among Republican voters in Michigan’s Eighth Congressional District had dropped from 80% in January to 67%, the pollster said. The district had swung for Trump in 2016, then voted for a Democratic Congresswoman, Elissa Slotkin, two years later. Voters who ranked the coronavirus as their top concern were seen as more likely to break for Biden. While the group had planned to target all white Republican women over the age of 50 in Michigan, the pollster said the data suggested those over 65 were immovable in their support for Trump. These insights, Borges says, will form the basis of Right Side PAC’s “final sale” to voters on Biden’s behalf.

As the presidential race heads into its final months, another group of Republicans aims to help Biden in a different way. A group of more than 70 former national-security officials from GOP administrations, led by John Bellinger, the senior National Security Council and State Department lawyer under George W. Bush, and Ken Wainstein, Bush’s Homeland Security Adviser, plans to endorse Biden and publish a mission statement describing the damage they say Trump has done to America’s national security and global reputation. They will also fund-raise for the former Vice President and do media appearances in battleground states when the group launches later this summer. Some of the same people wrote an open letter denouncing Trump in 2016. But, says Wainstein, “our effort this time is going to have some staying power throughout the campaign.”

How much impact these groups will ultimately have on voters remains unclear. As they try to unseat an incumbent with a massive war chest, their first hurdle is money. Right Side PAC raised just over $124,000 in the first two weeks, disclosure filings show. The bulk of that haul came from one person, New York venture capitalist Peter Kellner, a long-time Republican donor who began giving to Democrats in 2018 and who has forked over the maximum amount to Biden’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The group’s prospects were also clouded by Borges’ July 21 arrest. Borges did not respond to requests for comment.

43 Alumni for Biden, the group of former George W. Bush officials, announced its formation on July 1, which means it doesn’t have to file disclosure reports until October; had it announced a day earlier, it would have had to publicize its finances in mid-July. A member of the group declined to provide specific figures but said it had received contributions from more than 500 individuals. The Bravery Project officially launches July 23, and a representative declined to provide any fundraising figures.

Longwell tells TIME that RVAT has raised $13 million this year. As a 501(c)4, or political nonprofit, the group does not need to disclose its donors or exact figures. But the number she provides puts the group on par with the Lincoln Project, whose biggest donors are primarily prominent Democrats. While disclosure filings show that nearly half of the Lincoln Project’s donations were “unitemized” or under $200, it raked in $1 million from billionaire hedge-fund manager Stephen Mandel and $100,000 apiece from business mogul David Geffen and Joshua Bekenstein, the co-chairman of Bain Capital.

This influx of cash has enabled the Lincoln Project to ramp up advertisements against vulnerable Republican Senators like Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Steve Daines of Montana. “We made it very clear that this is not just about Trump but Trumpism and its enablers,” says Galen. “The Republican Senators we have held to account are the President’s greatest enablers.”

The strategy of going after Senators has provoked the ire of many Republicans, who say the group is prioritizing profit over party. “It’s purely grifting and making a name for themselves. It’s not based on principle at all,” says Matt Gorman, a Republican strategist who worked for Jeb Bush’s and Romney’s presidential campaigns. The Lincoln Project, he says, “is essentially meant for raising money off the resistance and lining their own pockets.”

The group’s finances have also raised some eyebrows among government watchdogs. Two consulting firms, one run by Galen and another by co-founder Ron Steslow, received nearly a quarter of the $8.6 million the group spent between January and July. While other committees use similar methods, it is “not at all standard,” says Sheila Krumholz, executive director at the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. “It raises red flags about whether the operation is taking advantage of a situation where donors are giving to what they think is supporting one effort, but there are other patterns at play.”

Krumholz notes that the Lincoln Project does not publicly disclose all of the vendors who have done work for them, which suggests they are funneling money to organizations that then hire subcontractors. This method is not unheard-of, but the lack of transparency makes it difficult to discern who is ultimately profiting. “The public doesn’t know the extent to which Lincoln Project operatives may be profiting, or if they’re profiting at all,” Krumholz says. When asked about the group’s finances, Galen says, “We abide by all reporting requirements laid down by the FEC. No one at the Lincoln Project is buying a Ferrari.”

For now, the Never Trump Republicans say they aren’t looking beyond November. “We’re all in a grand alliance to beat a very big threat,” says Miller of RVAT. “We’ll see how the chips fall after.” But regardless of the election’s outcome, Miller and his cohorts face challenges ahead. They will either be failed rebels, cast out by a party taken over by its two-term President, or facing down a Biden Administration, which would bring unwelcome liberal policies and perhaps Supreme Court vacancies.

If Biden wins, Trumpism won’t disappear with Trump. The President’s rapid rise revealed the extent to which many of the ideological pillars of modern conservatism–its zeal for unfettered free markets, its devotion to deficit reduction, its attachment to global alliances, its faith in a muscular foreign policy–were out of step with actual Republican voters. Many of the ambitious lawmakers rising in the party, like Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, have seen in Trump’s political success an example to emulate. The next generation of Republican leaders may try to replicate his policies without the self-defeating behavior.

It’s led many to wonder whether traditional conservatives will have a home in the GOP after Trump is gone. “There is a growing feeling that we need to burn the whole house down to purify the party of Trump enablers in the Congress,” says a former White House official in George W. Bush’s Administration. Some see the prospect of a rupture, with disaffected Republicans cleaving off and either forming a new party or making a tenuous peace with the moderate wing of the Democratic Party. “There’s a very real possibility … that the party will split,” says Richard Burt, former ambassador to Germany under President Reagan.

The modern Republican Party was always an uneasy alliance in some ways, with fiscal conservatives, religious conservatives and neoconservatives jostling for influence, and a white working-class base voting for policies that often favored the wealthy. Steven Teles, co-author of Never Trump: The Revolt of the Conservative Elites, envisions a Republican Party in which Trumpism dominates but the dissenters make up a vocal resistance faction. “I don’t think anyone is going to have control of the Republican Party the way we’ve seen in the past,” he says.

The irony of the Never Trumper activists is that while they are encouraging Republicans to vote Democratic for the first time in their lives, that is bringing some Republicans back into the party by creating a community of the disaffected. Spielman, the retired Army cybersecurity engineer, had become so disenchanted with Trump that he turned his back on the party altogether, voting for Democrats in Michigan’s 2020 primaries. But the Never Trump groups are “giving me hope that there are still some people out there with some decency that want to go back and save the party,” Spielman says. “It’s allowed me to come back and say, Yeah, I’m a Republican. I’m not leaving the party, but I want to fight for what’s right for the party.”

With reporting by Leslie Dickstein, Mariah Espada, and Josh Rosenberg

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brajeshupadhyay · 4 years ago

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Sure, Voters Think Trump Is Incompetent – But Most Voters Thought That In 2016, Too

WASHINGTON — If Democrats seem worried that Donald Trump will win another term in the White House even though most voters believe he is incompetent, it’s because they’ve seen this exact movie before – four years ago.

That fear has shown up in polls for the past year, with voters indicating their desire to replace the president but their expectation that, somehow, he will win again anyway.

“Political PTSD,” said Steve Schale, the Democratic consultant who ran former President Barack Obama’s successful Florida operation in 2008 and now works for a super PAC supporting Joe Biden.

“Dems are totally snake-bit. Too many are convinced the evil one is going to pull it out again,” said Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman who unsuccessfully ran against Trump for the 2020 nomination. “It’s understandable, but they’re wrong.”

That anxiety was addressed directly in a new poll in Pennsylvania Wednesday that shows that voters generally, but Democrats particularly, now believe there is a “secret” vote for Trump that polls are missing, leading to a 46-45 split among voters asked whether Trump or Biden would win the state. The same poll, meanwhile, finds Biden with a 13-point lead, 53-40.

“The media consistently reports that Biden is in the lead, but voters remember what happened in 2016. The specter of a secret Trump vote looms large in 2020,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Indeed, candidate Trump was every bit as unpopular heading into the 2016 election as President Trump is today. A full 63% of voters casting ballots thought he did not have the temperament to be president; 64% did not think he was honest or trustworthy.

About that same figure, 61%, did not think he was qualified to serve as president – and yet 17% of that group voted for him anyway. The numbers were nearly the same in key swing states where he narrowly won, meaning that Trump’s margin of victory – 77,744 votes across Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan – was provided by Americans who did not think him qualified to do the job.

“There were two choices,” said Anthony Scaramucci, a financier who backed Trump in 2016, briefly worked in his White House, but now opposes him. “I am a Republican. I went with the GOP choice and tried to be supportive.”

In 2016, the matter of Trump’s competence and whether it would impact America was speculative. We have a record now about how it has ― 138,000 dead. Amanda Carpenter, former top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

That Trump benefited from 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s own unpopularity is clear. She was nearly as disliked as Trump, but voters gave Trump the benefit of the doubt when choosing between them.

Nationally, 47% of voters thought she was not qualified. But among those, 88% voted for Trump and only 5% percent for Clinton.

Of the 15% who thought neither was qualified, 66% voted for Trump and only 15% for Clinton. That four-to-one break carried across the key swing states, except in Florida, where it was 81% for Trump and 11% for Clinton.

Amanda Carpenter, a former top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), said while some of that may have been sexism, it was more about Trump being fresh to politics.

“It was a change election and she wasn’t change,” Carpenter said, adding that voters’ views of Trump’s fitness for the job today will be much harder for him to overcome.

“In 2016, the matter of Trump’s competence and whether it would impact America was speculative. We have a record now about how it has ― 138,000 dead,” she said. “Schools shut down across America. Families who can’t see each other. Millions of people forced out of work. All because he incompetently denied the threat, existence, and deadliness of the virus.”

Contributing to Clinton’s unexpected loss may have been that so many Americans expected her to win. A CBS News poll released the day before the 2016 election found that 55% of voters believed Clinton would win, compared to just 31% who thought Trump would.

That general assumption, political strategists believe, likely helped depress turnout among her lukewarm supporters — and led some to cast ballots for third-party candidates or even Trump himself as a protest vote.

That is not going to happen this time around, Trump’s critics, both Democrats and Republicans, agree.

Sarah Longwell, a Republican consultant who publishes the anti-Trump website “The Bulwark,” said Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic is likely to cost him some of his own supporters.

“People are experiencing the personal consequences of his incompetence. It’s not as fun to own the libs when you can’t own a house or car because Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic is killing the economy,” she said.

For months, the Trump campaign has tried to turn the focus away from Trump’s management of the pandemic and onto Biden. “Doubts about Joe Biden’s competency are raised every time he speaks,” top aide Jason Miller said.

Trump himself, meanwhile, is actively selling the notion of a “secret Trump vote,” citing as an example the parades of boaters displaying Trump 2020 flags in Florida. He said his supporters frequently prefer not to take questions from pollsters.

“I think a lot of people don’t want to talk about it. I think they’re not going to say, ‘Hey, I’m for Trump. I’m for Trump.’ They don’t want to go through the process,” he said Tuesday during an hour-long Rose Garden campaign speech. “I think you have a silent majority the likes of which this country has never seen before.”

Democrats, for their part, say they are fine with their voters remaining nervous about the possibility of Trump winning again.

“Of course Democrats are scarred by the 2016 experience. This is a good thing though,” said Josh Schwerin, with the Priorities USA Action super PAC. “Trump might be in a tailspin but we need to ignore the polls and treat this like the close race it very likely will be in November. The best way to lose is by taking the race for granted, so having a fear of unexpected failure is very healthy and productive.”

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baoanhwin · 4 years ago

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Trumpity Trump: Why Betting on Biden is the right strategy

The more I think about the US election, the more I think we’re underweighting the edge scenarios. And of the edge scenarios, I think the one we’re underweighting most is the one where the Democrats have a really good night.

Why?

Well, let’s start with the obvious. President Trump won by the narrowest of margins in 2016. To demonstrate this, let’s play “spin the wheel”. What we’re going to do is run a little simulation with every state in 2016. We’re going to end up with the same final vote shares – 48.2% vs 46.1% – but we’re going to shake things up very slightly in every state. We’re going to apply a random number between -2.5% and +2.5% to the Democrat, and then do the inverse to the Republicans. Our end vote total – for the country as a whole – will remain the same, but we’re just going to randomly change the votes (just a little) in each state. And we’ll run that, say, 10,000 times.

What happens?

Well, the chart shows the frequency of various outcomes in terms of Republican electoral votes (remember kids, 269 to win!).

What’s amazing is that Trump’s 2016 result (304 electoral votes) is on the far right hand side of this probability distribution. Do a little random shaking of the tin, and he loses EVs.

Now, you might think that President Trump’s victory was the result of electoral genius and Brad Parscale. Yeah, that played a role. But so did dumb luck. The votes could hardly have been any more optimally distributed.

The point I’m making is that in 2020, President Trump doesn’t have a lot to play with. Obama could go backwards a bit in 2012, and still be President. Trump doesn’t have that luxury.

His path was narrow before, and is probably narrower now.

So, here’s my three pointer on why I think President Trump might get hammered in 2020.

1. Trump is (significantly) less popular now than in 2016. And one group in particular has really deserted him – white women. According to Pew, Trump won this group by two points in 2016. The opinion polls now show him trailing here by ten points.

Now, some will say “hey, Trump’s unpopular, but so’s Biden”. Well, that’s partly true. But on forced choice between those people who say they dislike both candidates, 49% to 17% say they’ll chose Biden. Ouch.

2. Many Democrats didn’t come out to vote in 2016. There was a general sense of inevitability about Trump losing, and a lot of people didn’t particularly like Ms Clinton. That depressed Democratic turnout. And this feeds through into the 2020 polls: there is strict turnout weighting in the US, and this means lots of 2012 Obama backers, who didn’t vote in 2016, are not being counted.

3. President Trump is now suffering from a bit of an enthusiasm gap himself. Evangelicals used to give Mr Trump 81% favourability ratings, that’s now 61%, a 20 point drop. His drop among religious Catholics is even larger: a 27 point fall between March and May of this year. Now, I’m not suggesting that the deeply conservative and religious suddenly come out and vote Biden. I’m suggesting some of them (and it only takes a few) stay at home on election day.

Put these all together, and what do you have? I think you have the potential for Biden to win by eight to ten points this time around. Yes, yes, I know the last five or six Presidential contests have been really close. But I’m wondering if this time we could see a blow out result.

Nothing is certain, of course. Trump could pull this out the bag. But my gut says he had a winning coalition in 2016 because he managed to combine economic nationalism, a terrible opponent, and a bit of good fortune (the FBI discvovering a bunch of emails – which turned out to be nothing – a week before voting). The ultimate issue here is that Trump – to win – cannot allow his voter base to shrink. And he has done nothing to appeal to people beyond his base to win. The same people, all of them, need to come out in 2020 for him to win – and even that may not be enough, if the Democrats are more motivated.

Let me leave you with one statistic. Right track / wrong track questions tend to have pretty good predictive power. When people think the country is on the right track, they tend to re-elect incumbents. When they think it is on the wrong track, they are more likely to roll the dice.

Right track / wrong track is now at -38%. That is the lowest number of Trump’s Presidency. Now, it may be that he is able to feed off that. He’s the man who can put the country on the right track… But I think it more likely that the voters choose to say “Adieu Mr President”.

Robert Smithson

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kyidyl · 7 years ago

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Year in Review

Eh, I’m bored, so I’m stealing this from @md-admissions

2017 in Review

By tradition, it’s time for my annual review!

1 - What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before?

Had heart surgery, lived with my little sister for a bit (not technically never, but I moved out when she was 2.). 2 - Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. If I want to do stuff, I just do it, I tend not to wait for the new year.

3 - Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yeah, weirdly. My sister, about two-ish weeks ago. Different sister than the above. The sister that gave birth is 31, not 18.

4 - Did anyone close to you die?

No, thankfully. My dad has a giant blood clot in his calf tho and confronting his mortality has been unpleasant.

5 - What countries did you visit?

Italy - Venice and Rome.

6 - What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?

More time to do the things I really care about. Hopefully I’ll be able to quit my job soon. 7 - What date from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

12/12/17 - My niece was born.

8 - What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Completing my first real research paper. I spent the whole semester working on it.

9 - What was your biggest failure?

I honestly have no idea. Probably not being able to stick to a low sodium diet as well as I like (My Dr. is worried about my blood pressure.). Everything in the US is preserved and full of salt. If I stuck to it I’d never eat out or have anything besides unflavored chicken. IDK I do pretty good for breakfast and lunch but I just don’t have the knowledge to cook low sodium dinners for myself. 10 - Did you suffer illness or injury?

I haven’t been like...sick with anything or had a cold or whatever, but I did have a heart ablation to correct arrhythmia. 11 - What was the best thing you bought?

I have no idea...all my best purchases were made at the end of last year, lol. And the answer to that is: a canon 80D. I haven’t bought anything major this year. 12 - Whose behavior merited celebration?

Very few people, that’s for damned sure. I’m gonna say Beyonce just because I <3 her and don’t feel like giving a deep answer here. Oh! All of the private citizens who donated to disaster relief funds for the various terrible things that happened this year. 13 - Whose behavior made you appalled or depressed?

Trump. Every elected republican except for that five minutes where McCain was like “fuck you guys”. They’re all a bunch of schysters. And while we’re at it, Kim Jon un is a dick too. All the white people who were like “yeah, the KKK has a point”. Can I say Trump again? Cause he really is that bad.

14 - Where did most of your money go?

Living expenses, same as usual, the rent is too damned high.

15 - What did you get really, really, really excited about?

I can’t think of much. Going to faire with @wut4 was pretty great. My sister’s baby, too. Oh, and Game of Thrones because that’s the kind of sad fan that I am, lol. 16 - What song(s) will always remind you of 2017?

*sighs in @existing-oddball’s direction* Despacito. 17 - Compared to this time last year, are you: I. Happier or sadder?

Sadder. Definitely, sadder. II. Thinner or fatter?

Same. Maybe a little fatter? My weight doesn’t fluctuate that much.

III. Richer or poorer?

Poorer, but I received an inheritance last year and I’ve spent a decent chunk of it. Tuition and heart surgery are expensive ya’ll.

18 - What do you wish you’d done more of?

Literally anything but my job. It’s really been grinding me down. I don’t get a new one because I get a lot of vacation time, they work around my class schedule, and my boss is great. My company is not bad either, I just dislike the actual work. And I wish I’d been more involved with various protesting things. Wish I’d gone to the women’s march. 19 - What do you wish you’d done less of?

Work. I don’t like my job. Procrastinate, cause it stresses me out, but I seem unable to help myself. 20 - How will you be spending/spent christmas?

Went up to DC to see my family and it didn’t suck. :)

21 - Did you fall in love in 2017?

Nah, not romantically. My niece is pretty great tho even though all she does is poop and sleep and cry occasionally. 22 - How many one-night stands?

Nada. 23 - What was your favorite tv program?

Game of Thrones.

24 - Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Yes. Fuck Roy Moore. And I hate Trump more than I knew I could hate another person. 25 - What was the best book you read?

Lord, IDK. I just finished the Dunk and Egg novels and read the Princess and the Queen before that, but IDK if that’s the best. I read a lot of good Zombie fiction this year, and Jenny Trout put out another book this year. I <3 her. 26 - What was your greatest musical discovery?

IDK, Music isn’t really my thing. I wouldn’t call it a discovery, but P!nk put out a really excellent album a few months ago. 27 - What did you want and get?

Whatever I want. Hahahaha... 28 - What was your favorite film of this year?

Wonder Woman, or Kingman. I see a LOT of movies.

29 - What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Ok actually I had a really shitty birthday this year. My BFF’s brother got married on 7/1 (my bday is 7/2), and we were in TX. It should have been fun but my BFF was getting run around town and she has a hard time saying no to family so basically I spent the whole day by myself farting around on the internet. Then the next day I had the worst migraine of the whole year, or maybe ever. So yeah, turning 37 blew. 30 - What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Trump getting impeached and thrown in jail where that stupid motherfucker belongs.

31 - How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017?

Same as usual, whatever I feel like. Usually jeans and whatever shirt is clean.

32 - What kept you sane?

Am I sane? lol. Probably my sister while she was here. Having someone around and not being alone all the time was a nice relief from usual. 33 - Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I’m gonna copy MD-A’s answer: Jason Mamoa. That man is fine AF.

34 - What political/social issue stirred you the most?

#metoo and the lack of response from the fed for PR. 35 - Who did you miss?

I miss Wut4 a lot, and most of my other friends. I don’t see them very often. I miss the people from my major at school that I’d made friends with who all graduated ahead of me. I’m the last one. 36 - Who was the best new person you met?

I didn’t meet anyone new that I’d say had a meaningful impact on my personal life, I think. But I didn’t know who Robert Mueller was before this and he’s got a lot of potential.

37 - Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017:

IDK, 2017 has felt like the year I’ve been stalled in place and can’t I just be done already and move on to the next stage of my life. It’s been full of frustrating monotony and I’m seriously chafing at the boredom. I have a hard time enjoying the moment in front of me, always have, so I guess what I’ve learned is that I’ve got to try and be better at appreciating things as they are.

#personal

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pieces-falling-from-me · 7 years ago

Note

all of them

Woman!• 1. List 5 things you want to do before the year ends. --- Get another piercing, successfully bake banana bread, read three more books...ummm and I’m not sure what else. The year is almost up!• • 2. What color are your pants? --- Dark destroyed jeans• • 3. Favorite motivational quote. --- “Have some fire. Be unstoppable. Be better than everyone else here and don’t give a damn what anybody else thinks.” (Cristina Yang)• • 4. When was the last time you drank coffee? --- Around 3pm today• • 5. What was the last thing you ate? -- A maple pumpkin muffin!• • 6. Favorite animal. --- Polar bears• • 7. Favorite song. -- Vienna, by Billy Joel or Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper• • 8. Last movie you watched? --- Wonder Woman• • 9. Any turn ons? --- Lots ;)...soft hair, people who smell good, ear kisses, nice collarbones, creative talent, brown eyes• • 10. Any turn offs? --- Also lots. Rudeness, cockiness, patriarchal bullshit, men who have chest hair• • 11. List 4 big words off of the top of your head. --- triskaidekophobia, ubiquitous, penultimate, pamplemousse • • 12. What are some meaningful movies? --- Music of the Heart, The Freedom Writers, Kedi• • 13. 2 most important people in your life right now? -- My wife and daughter :)• • 14. What are 3 things you want to do before the month ends? --- Start Christmas shopping, go hiking before it snows, pay bills lol• • 15. When was the last time you read a good book? --- Just finished one! I’m always reading.• • 16. How long do you study for usually, if you study? --- I was the worst at studying. Always super last minute.• • 17. Do you have any nicknames? -- A couple• • 18. Favorite kind of perfume? (fruity, alluring, etc.) --- Slightly sweet, slightly vanilla-y, slightly smoky• • 19. Do you have any international friends / friends who live out of state? --- Lots!• • 20. What is something unique that you do every single day? --- Umm...I honestly have no idea. • • 21. If there was a movie based on your life, what would it be called? --- “Gay Chaos”• • 22. When was the last time you bought a gift for someone? --- Just this weekend! I bought my wife a necklace. I mean, she picked it out, but it still counts.• • 23. Are you a shopaholic? --- I don’t think so. I do love shopping though when the mood strikes.• • 24. What are some songs that always make you feel better? -- Vienna, by Billy Joel, Time After Time, by Cyndi Lauper, and anything by the Barenaked Ladies• • 25. List 3 activities that you can only enjoy by yourself. --- I really can’t think of any. I pretty much like doing anything with my wife or kid :)• • 26. If you could live in any biome (and survive) which biome would you live in? --- Forest, or Tundra• • 27. How do you like being roused in the morning? --- ...let’s just say my FAVOURITE way is rated R ;)• • 28. How was your day? What did you do? --- It was ok! I went grocery shopping, baked some muffins, and did some casual job hunting while my daughter was at preschool• • 29. What did your last text message say? --- “I’ll eat your muffin.”• • 30. Do you respond to texts quickly? --- Usually right away, unless I literally can’t• • 31. Who was the last person you called? --- My wife• • 32. List 5 things that are on your wish list. --- Like, anything?? World peace, the end of climate change, gun control in America, a food processor, and a private jet• • 33. If you were famous, what do you think you would be famous for? --- Something music-related• • 34. Winter or summer? -- AUTUMN• • 35. What is a quality that all people should have? --- Kindness• • 36. If you could have a large collection of one item, what would that item be? --- Hmm....seaglass• • 37. What have you been thinking about lately? --- Whether or not I want to go back to work.• • 38. What is the secret to a happy life? --- Loving yourself• • 39. What are some phrases you say often? --- “That’s the worst.”, “For real.”• • 40. Favorite food? --- IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE! Lasagna and pie are right up there, though.• • 41. List 3 wishes. -- Didn’t I already do this?• • 42. What are some of your greatest fears? --- My loved ones getting sick or dying, fire, President Trump• • 43. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? --- Season 2 of Wynonna Earp• • 44. Most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen (in real life)? --- She’s sitting right beside me.• • 45. Spicy food:Like or dislike? --- LOVE• • 46. Scary movies:Like or dislike? --- If I’m in the right mood.• • 47. Do you like to travel? --- Love it.• • 48. Any regrets? --- Not really, no. There’s no point in regrets.• • 49. Do you like rain? --- One of my fave things ever.• • 50. What do you spend most of your money on? --- Eating out, probably• • 51. Would you rather visit the past or the future? --- Hmmm. Past.• • 52. Favorite clothing store? --- Simon’s, Anthropologie, Old Navy/Gap, and a local store called Belle et Rebelle• • 53. What is the best advice you can give to those who are feeling down? --- It gets better. Truly.• • 54. How often do you think about your future? Does it scare you? --- All the time. It’s terrifying.• • 55. What angers you the most? --- Currently? The lack of gun control in America. And I’m not even American.• • 56. When was the last time you got majorly angry? --- See above.• • 57. When was the last time you got really sad? --- Also see above.• • 58. Are you good at lying? --- Haha no• • 59. What foreign language would you like to learn? --- I’m trying to learn Italian, currently! I’d also love to learn Spanish.• • 60. How many languages can you speak and what are they? --- English, French, and VERY basic Italian.• • 61. How often do you go to parties? If you don’t, what do you do instead? --- Not too much anymore, but usually once a month some friend has a gathering. Otherwise I mostly stay home, or go out with the wife or with the wife and kid.• • 62. What books do you plan to read this year? --- I never really plan ahead, I just pick up whatever seems interesting at the time.• • 63. Do you have breakfast every morning? --- Most mornings• • 64. Tell us a secret. --- Calzona will rise. Shh.• • 65. How many concerts have you been to? --- Too many to count• • 66. Last hug? --- Earlier this afternoon• • 67. Who knows you better than anyone else? --- My wife, hands down. Also my twin.• • 68. Baths or showers? --- Both! Showers for actual cleaning, baths for just...soaking.• • 69. Do you think you’re ambitious? --- Somewhat.• • 70. What song is stuck in your head? --- Taylor Swift’s new song, which I actually hate.• • 71. Countries you’ve visited? --- A lot• • 72. What do you most value in your friends? --- Their kindness and sense of humour• • 73. What helps you to sleep better? --- Valerian tea.• • 74. What is the most money you have ever held in your hand? --- Uhhh in my hand?? About 5 grand, I think.• • 75. What makes you nervous? --- Sharing my writing, making new friends• • 76. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given? --- “Being nervous is the same physical reaction as being excited. So you’re not nervous -- you’re excited.”• • 77. Is it easier to forgive or forget? --- Forgive• • 78. First mobile phone? --- First I ever bought myself that was truly mine? A little Motorola candy bar phone. It had a colour screen!• • 79. Strangest dream? --- I usually don’t remember them, actually!• • 80. Best dream? --- Probably something sexy...haha• • 81. Who is the smartest person you know? --- My wife• • 82. Who is the prettiest person on tumblr? --- @myfaerytale ;)• • 83. Do you miss anyone right now? --- Yeah• • 84. Who do you love? Why? --- I love my wife and daughter more than anything in this world.• • 85. Do you like sharing? --- Depends what I’m sharing ;)• • 86. What was the last picture you took with your phone? --- My daughter this afternoon with her hands full of pumpkin muffin dough• • 87. Is there a reason behind everything that happens? --- Yes, I think so• • 88. Favorite genre of music? --- Pretty much everything, honestly• • 89. If you had one word to describe yourself, what would it be? --- Laid-back• • 90. Describe your life in 5 words. --- Laid-back, loving, exciting, fun, happy• • 91. Describe the world in 4 words. --- Chaotic. That’s really the only word.• • 92. Craziest thing you’ve ever done? --- Ummm….a naked polar bear dip?• • 93. First three songs in your favorite playlist? --- I don’t have any premade playlists!• • 94. Are you more creative or logical? --- Creative• • 95. Would you rather lie or hurt someone with the truth? --- Truth• • 96. What are you most proud of? --- I’m raising a pretty great kid• • 97. What personality trait do you admire in other people? --- Kindness, laughter• • 98. When you imagine yourself as really, really relaxed and happy, what are you doing? --- Laying in the sun reading• • 99. How do you usually start a conversation? --- Hi?• • 100. What is the best news you could hear right now? --- That Trump and the entire Republican Party are gone.

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platonic-bellarke · 7 years ago

Note

Do all of the number asks

Wow ok 1: Full nameSarah Abigail Large 2: Age163: 3 FearsDrowning, being considered an annoying friend, being ignored 4: 3 things I loveMusic Frank iero Art5: 4 turns onTattoos Dark hair (on guys on girls anything)Blue eyes Being able to listen to me rant and talk about things I love 6: 4 turns offRepublicans Homophobic people Ignoring me Hypocrisy 7: My best friendShe goes to my school 8: Sexual orientationBisexual9: My best first dateI have never dated anyone lmao10: How tall am I5’4 and a half11: What do I missMy Chemical Romance and my best friend in elementary school and middle school 12: What time was I bornI think around 12:35 in the afternoon 13: Favourite colorAnything blue tbh (pretty much cool colors)14: Do I have a crushYes, I actually have 2 lmao here’s this girl and my school and this guy at this other school 15: Favourite quote“Sometimes you have to kind of die inside in order to rise from your own ashes and believe in yourself and love yourself and become a better person” or “All your quirks, all your problems-even your depressions and your failures-it what makes you, you” both by Gerard Way (or just “keep running” from danger days) 16: Favourite placeMy bed with my dog and cat listening to music 17: Favourite foodI love banana and grapes 18: Do I use sarcasmOccasionally 19: What am I listening to right nowThe white album by Weezer (specially the song L.A. girlz)20: First thing I notice in new personEither hair and facial features or, if I talk to them, their personality 21: Shoe sizeLike 8-9 (in US women’s)22: Eye colorLike blue, green, grayish 23: Hair colorbrown with some natural blonde highlights 24: Favourite style of clothingI love flannels and black jeans and beanies and hoodies (idk just like that aesthetic)25: Ever done a prank call?Yep27: Meaning behind my URLThe joke of bellarke being platonic and “platonic bellarke” being an oxymoron 28: Favourite moviePretty much any marvel movie (mcu) especially winter soldier or Ragnarok 29: Favourite songFamous last words, mama, the ghost of you, bulletproof heart, literally any thing by My Chemical Romance A Rush of Blood to the Head and Clocks by Coldplay Knights of Cydonia by Muse Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day Say it ain’t so and My Name is Jonas by Weezer Ode to sleep by Twenty One Pilots (I couldn’t narrow it down to one sorry)30: Favourite bandMy Chemical Romance (coldplay and Muse and close seconds)31: How I feel right nowAnxious (over nothing) tired, a little sad32: Someone I loveFrank iero, my best friend, my family 33: My current relationship statusSingle (hmu)34: My relationship with my parentsReally good 35: Favourite holidayHALLOWEEN 36: Tattoos and piercing i haveNone :(37: Tattoos and piercing i wantI want my ears and nose pierced. I want a My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, and muse tattoo (and many more)38: The reason I joined TumblrI made my first account in 2013 because my friends had tumblr and I want to blog about bands and tv shows. I made this one in 2016 because I want my tv shows and movie posts to be separated from my band blog. My band blog is less active now and has less followers lmao39: Do I and my last ex hate each other?Don’t have an ex. Never dated anyone 40: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts?Nope :/41: Have I ever kissed the last person you texted?No42: When did I last hold hands?My sister will grab my hands randomly haha43: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning?For school like 10 minutes but like if I’m going out and actually care about my appearance like an hour to an hour and a half 44: Have You shaved your legs in the past three days?Nope45: Where am I right now?The bath46: If I were drunk & can’t stand, who’s taking care of me?I have never drank (and tbh don’t plan on it) but probably my friends (?)47: Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level?In my headphones: loud. In a public area: reasonable bc I don’t want to bother anyone 48: Do I live with my Mom and Dad?Yep I’m only 1649: Am I excited for anything?YES I AM MEETING AND SEEING AWOLNATION, JUDAH AND THE LION, AND DAN AND PHIL 50: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?nope. I have 0 guys friends bc I go to an all girls school 51: How often do I wear a fake smile?Lmao when ever I talk to someone who talks for too long or when I’m talking to teachers 52: When was the last time I hugged someone?Like 2 weeks ago not sure 53: What if the last person I kissed was kissing someone else right in front of me?I never kissed anyone lmao54: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not?Haha yep55: What is something I disliked about today?My body 56: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?Frank iero (or Gerard Way or Chris Martin) 57: What do I think about most?How much i hate my body and how much I miss my Chemical Romance 58: What’s my strangest talent?I don’t really have any talents (I can whistle really well) 59: Do I have any strange phobias?Ladybugs60: Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?Either (I want to become a film maker or an actor so)61: What was the last lie I told?Told my friend I was busy the other day when really I just wanted to be alone and watch Lucifer and runaways 62: Do I perfer talking on the phone or video chatting online?Depends on the person but usually phone 63: Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens?No for ghost yes for aliens 64: Do I believe in magic?Nope65: Do I believe in luck?Nope66: What’s the weather like right now?Super cold but I like lt (like 33 degrees and sunny) (0 degrees if your a Celsius person)67: What was the last book I’ve read?I am reading the umbrella academy comic by Gerard Way currently but for a book... I don’t really like to read books (for school I just read summary’s lmao) so the last full book I read was probably the hobbit in middle school (I love that book)68: Do I like the smell of gasoline?Yes 69: Do I have any nicknames?Abea, Dabby, anby70: What was the worst injury I’ve ever had?I got a cut on the top of the head when I was little and my dad had to stick it back 71: Do I spend money or save it?I try to save it but it usually doesn’t happen 72: Can I touch my nose with a tounge?No 73: Is there anything pink in 10 feets from me?Yes, a shampoo bottle 74: Favourite animal?CATS75: What was I doing last night at 12 AM?Watching Stephen Colbert 76: What do I think is Satan’s last name is?Either trump or Morningstar (I have been watching too much Lucifer Help)77: What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it?Vampire money, famous last words by My Chemical Romance Mr. Brightside by the Killers 78: How can you win my heart?Liking the same music or shows and movies as me/Being able to listen to me rant about things I either love or hate 79: What would I want to be written on my tombstone?Idk something meaningful not sure yet 80: What is my favorite word?Idk I like the word nonchalant81: My top 5 blogs on tumblrI refuse to narrow it down to 5 82: If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say?Listen to conventional weapons by My Chemical Romance 83: Do I have any relatives in jail?Nope84: I accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow me with the super-power of my choice! What is that power?Either teleportation/Shrink and grow at will/or change my appearance and look like whoever I want 85: What would be a question I’d be afraid to tell the truth on?Why I am sad86: What is my current desktop picture?I have like 10 back grounds but my main ones are my meet and greet with 30STM, a pic of frank iero I took at his show, and a pic of Matt Bellamy I took at a muse show 87: Had sex?No but I would like to 88: Bought condoms?Nope89: Gotten pregnant?Nope and hopefully I never will90: Failed a class?Nope91: Kissed a boy?Nope, but I would like to 92: Kissed a girl?No, but I would like to93: Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain?Nope94: Had job?Nope95: Left the house without my wallet?Yep96: Bullied someone on the internet?No97: Had sex in public?Nope98: Played on a sports team?Yep, I swam and played soccer when I was younger 99: Smoked weed?Nope but I would like to100: Did drugs?No101: Smoked cigarettes?No and I don’t want to102: Drank alcohol?Yes, my parents will let me try their drinks. I have never liked them 103: Am I a vegetarian/vegan?I don’t eat any meat besides occasionally chicken 104: Been overweight?Yep105: Been underweight?Nope106: Been to a wedding?Yep107: Been on the computer for 5 hours straight?Yep108: Watched TV for 5 hours straight?Yep 109: Been outside my home country?Yep110: Gotten my heart broken?Kinda, one of my friends told me some pretty awful shit that made me hate myself and convince my self I have no friends so I hate her now and we used to be very close but whatever 111: Been to a professional sports game?Yep112: Broken a bone?I broke my finger once113: Cut myself?No but I have tried 114: Been to prom?No but I will this year !115: Been in airplane?Yep (was actually on one yesterday haha)116: Fly by helicopter?Nope117: What concerts have I been to?Boi so many. I have been to over 15Including Fall Out Boy Three Times Panic! At the Disco 3 times Twenty one pilots 3 timesWeezer 3 times (a 4th this summer)PVRIS 3 timesMuse30 Seconds to Mars Coldplay Frank iero and the Patience Bastille twice Judah and the lionBlink-182Green DayMaroon 5 118: Had a crush on someone of the same sex?Yep, I currently do119: Learned another language?Nope 120: Wore make up?Yes, I love makeup 121: Lost my virginity before I was 18?Nope, I’m only 16 though 122: Had oral sex?Nope123: Dyed my hair?Yep124: Voted in a presidential election?Nope125: Rode in an ambulance?Nope126: Had a surgery?I got my wisdom teeth removed does that count (?)127: Met someone famous?Yep, 30stm(Jared Leto), Tyler Joseph of twenty one pilots, panic! At the Disco, misha and Jared and Jensen from Supernatural, and Victoria justice 128: Stalked someone on a social network?Yep129: Peed outside?Yep130: Been fishing?Yes I hated it 131: Helped with charity?Yep 132: Been rejected by a crush?I have never asked anyone out 133: Broken a mirror?Nope 134: What do I want for birthday?Concert tickets, a s.o.135: How many kids do I want and what will be their names?I never want kids omfg 136: Was I named after anyone?I don’t think so 137: Do I like my handwriting?Hahah no 138: What was my favourite toy as a child?I loved Thomas the train shit139: Favourite Tv Show?Either the 100, sherlock, or Gotham 140: Where do I want to live when older?I would like to live in Europe for some time in my life but I’ll probably stay in Tennessee for most of my life but I would love to travel everywhere 141: Play any musical instrument?No but I am trying to learn bass 142: One of my scars, how did I get it?There’s a scar on my knee from when i was climbing rocks to get to a rope swing and I scraped my leg on a rock 143: Favourite pizza toping?Extra cheesy haha (also cold pizza is better)144: Am I afraid of the dark?No I love the dark145: Am I afraid of heights?No I LOVE heights omg 146: Have I ever got caught sneaking out or doing anything bad?No bc I don’t really like doing bad things 147: Have I ever tried my hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end?Yep haha148: What I’m really bad atTalking about my feelings 149: What my greatest achievments arePassing some hard classes, swimming a 50 freestyle in under 30 Seconds 150: The meanest thing somebody has ever said to meOh boy that “friend” to me that:-no one cares about me-I have no close friends -I’m selfish -I take what I want from others -I pride myself on being nice 151: What I’d do if I won in a lotteryUse most of it to have a safe future but some for concert tickets and band stuff 152: What do I like about myselfTbh nothing, maybe the fact that I am ok at makeup (?)153: My closest Tumblr friendDon’t really have any close Tumblr friends. MESSAGE ME IF YOU WANT TO 154: Something I fantasise abouta My Chemical Romance reunion, what it would be like to be in a relationship 155: Any question you’d like??

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dynamic-asteroids · 7 years ago

Text

2017 Year in Review meme

1. What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before?

I had a whopping four surgeries to break up kidney stones. Having that many surgeries in one year was certainly...an experience, though obviously not a fun one.

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I kept one! My resolutions were to lose 10 pounds and decide if I wanted to transition. I didn’t lose the weight but I did start testosterone about four months ago, and no longer go by my birth name.

The resolutions I made for this year are to be kinder to myself, continue working on my mental health, and to become more comfortable in my identity as a nonbinary person.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Nope!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My grandma died in October.

5. What countries did you visit?

A big old zero on that one. I unfortunately spent the entire year in the US, but I’m planning on getting my passport in 2018 so hopefully next year I can travel.

6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?

Holy fuck I NEED to be healthier. I’m going back to school for another degree and I don’t want to keep having to put my life on hold to tend to my health any more.

7. What date from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I don’t remember the exact date, but Trump taking office in January was certainly a dark stain upon my country’s history.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Starting testosterone, which was also the best part of the year by far.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I don’t know. I feel like I tried really hard. I did my best even though my year didn’t turn out like I wanted it to.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

/bitter kidney stone related laughter

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A very comfortable thermal onesie that I would never take off if I didn’t have to.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My two best friends were both there for me 110% this year every time I needed them and I’m endlessly grateful for both of them.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Every Republican who supports Trump can fucking choke.

14. Where did most of your money go?

I honestly was very good about saving my money this year. I didn’t buy many frivolous things at all. The biggest chunk of money I spent at once was just for Christmas presents.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

There are a couple funko pop lines coming out that I am ridiculously excited about. I feel like 2018 is going to include buying a lot of funkos lmao.

16. What song will always remind you of 2016?

Basically Taylor Swift’s whole Reputation album because it’s pretty much the only new music I listened to the whole year.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? the same

ii. thinner or fatter? fatter by a tiny bit

iii. richer or poorer? the same

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Things with friends, gone to clubs, gone to concerts, just gotten out of the house in general to have fun.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Be depressed. Though that’s like...a work in progress and obviously not something I could’ve just snapped right out of.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

I spent Christmas with my mom as usual. After unwrapping gifts, we watched movies, and then I took a nap in the afternoon. It was a fun, mellow Christmas.

21. How will you be spending New Year’s?

Got high and chatted to friends online.

22. Did you fall in love in 2017?

Nah, barely even had any crushes.

23. How many one-night stands?

Still holding a lifetime total of zero.

24. What was your favorite TV program(s)?

Peaky Blinders!! And hockey, when my team does well.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Not really. I dislike people who I didn’t used to dislike, but I don’t hate them.

26. What was the best book you read?

Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I basically sucked at discovering new music, but Taylor Swift’s album was good.

28. What did you want and get?

To only have friendships with people I genuinely enjoy, and to cut those out of my life who I felt were just using me.

29. What did you want and not get?

A relationship. (3rd year in a row, same answer)

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

ATOMIC BLONDE!!!!

31. What did you do on your birthday?

My birthday was literally two days after my last surgery, so I spent a lot of it just watching movies and sleeping.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Meeting my soulmate would’ve been super. Maybe next year! (Another answer I’ve had for 3 years now)

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017?

hipster professor (mainly fandom tees, cardigans, and skinny jeans)

34. What kept you sane?

My two best friends, fictional worlds for me to escape into.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Sofia Boutella

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

Hating the shit out of Trump, does that count?

37. Who did you miss?

My old self who used to write a lot more.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

I didn’t really meet a lot of new people but I did strengthen some friendships with people I’d grown apart from.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017:

That I need to validate myself instead of expecting other people to validate me. (This is still a work in progress)

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

“I’m going to make it through this year if it kills me” – The Mountain Goats, ‘This Year’. (keeping this answer from last year)

#my rambles #new years

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