#wisconsin state fair

[nogendermoretrees]

While I'm riding the train to my next adventure, please enjoy this account of August's Great State Fair Road Trip.

[enchantingpaperwasteland]

[tanagause]

👩🏾‍💻

[ollimio]

Blueberry Raspberry Pie Recipe Try making this pie, which won a blue ribbon, the next time you want to impress someone with your pie-baking abilities.

[digitallunatik]

Mediterranean Chicken and Orzo Salad In Red Pepper Cups Recipe An orzo pasta salad with chicken, feta cheese, olives, and grape tomatoes is served in pretty red bell pepper cups and garnished with leaves of fresh oregano. It won a blue ribbon at the fair! 4 sprigs fresh oregano, 1 grilled chicken breast half diced, 1/2 cup grape tomatoes cut in half, 1/2 pound uncooked orzo pasta, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 cup black olives cut in half lengthwise, 3/4 teaspoon onion powder, 1/3 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, 3/4 teaspoon dried basil, 2 red bell peppers cut in half lengthwise and seeded, 1/4 cup olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 2 ounces crumbled feta cheese

[reasonsforhope]

"In a 4-3 decision released on Friday afternoon December 22, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Wisconsin’s voting maps as currently drawn violate the state constitution and must be redrawn in time for the 2024 election.

Under the Wisconsin Constitution, state legislative districts must consist of “contiguous territory.” [Meaning: continuous] Yet, the majority opinion states, “the number of state legislative districts containing territory completely disconnected from the rest of the district is striking.”

“At least fifty of ninety-nine assembly districts and at least twenty of thirty-three senate districts include separate, detached territory,” states the majority opinion, written by Justice Jill Karofsky.

Contiguous districts are a safeguard against gerrymandering and help keep together groups of voters who live in the same areas and have the same interests, explains the decision, which includes maps highlighting the islands of noncontiguous voting areas in the state’s current districts.

The voters who brought the lawsuit, Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, argued that the current districts violate the constitution and asked the court to  order the adoption of remedial maps. They also asked the court to declare the November 2022 state senate elections unlawful, and to order special elections for state senate seats that would otherwise not be on the ballot until November 2026.

The court’s ruling agrees with the petitioners that “Wisconsin’s state legislative districts must be composed of physically adjoining territory,” and enjoins the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the current legislative maps in future elections. But it declined to invalidate the results of the 2022 state senate elections.

Acknowledging that it is the legislature’s role to draw voting maps, the majority opinion urges the legislature to draw new maps that comport with the constitution. However, it also states, since the legislature might not draw such maps or the governor might veto them, the court will plan to adopt remedial maps that can be used in time for the 2024 elections and unless and until new, constitutional maps are enacted through the legislative process...

Wisconsin’s voting maps are widely considered among the most politically gerrymandered in the country. This was reflected in 2018 when Democrats swept every statewide election and earned 53 percent of assembly votes cast statewide but only 36 percent of Assembly seats went to Democrats. Voters in Wisconsin are evenly split along partisan lines, and statewide races are often decided by slim margins. Currently, however, Republicans hold a 22-11 supermajority in the state senate and a 64-35 near-supermajority in the state assembly."

-via The Progressive Magazine

Note: Article is a bit wordy but this is a Big Deal. We're going to get fair election maps in an important swing state. The maps thrown out by this decision were deliberately designed to give Republicans a massive advantage in the election.

This WILL make a huge difference in who's elected in 2024.

[puppycharmz]

zooble is from wisconsin guys trust me gooseworx told me herself

[doueverwonder]

back to thinking about Gov making the regions intermingle, the Midwest and South was somehow the worst and best of all of them. What started off as Country Folk Shenanigans(TM) and a worrying amount of jello and/or cool whip based salads ended with a stand-off to see who was going to be impolite and leave first. They ended up having to send other states in to break it up.

[documentingthegibbs]

Andy Gibb at the Wisconsin State Fair

[a-ginger-from]

Guys look what I found at my state fair!!!!

[nogendermoretrees]

Day 1 of my Midwest State Fair Road Trip. Itinerary: Wisconson State Fair, Illinois State Fair, rest day, Missouri State Fair, Iowa State Fair.

[dusty-metaphors]

ya girl is homesick today

[den-gamle-kartograf]

It's worth noting that this maps almost *perfectly* onto partisan control of state governments.

No state with a Democratic trifecta (House/Assembly + Senate + Governor) is red.

No state with a Republican trifecta is blue.

State elections fucking matter.

2024 RISK map for transgender people in the us

[tanagause]

🎪

[welcometoqueer]

Just to be clear, Kamala conceded with grace and dignity but it is still well within everyone’s right to demand an investigation and even a recount with due cause despite a winner being declared. U.S.Americans have the right to demand free and fair elections (we don’t have a right to, say, start an insurrection like certain people did after the 2020 election).

Many, including major swing states, (Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and more) have already admitted to data and ballots not being recognized or lost and are recounting or calling for a recount. It usually takes days to count and record votes, a day after a bunch of election tampering is not enough.

If you used a mail-in ballot and haven’t yet, check if it was actually counted and “recognized.” A lot of mail-in voters from swing states found out that their ballots were uncounted today.

[xeyesofstardust]

I just realized that when I said I was concerned about going down to Texas because of the whole birth control thing that I never actually updated on how my holidays went.

Well, as it turns out I ended up not going because my Dad's time off got canceled. So stayed home for the holidays.

I was a little irritated that the money got wasted.

Also, I have a question for internationally travelers... Why do you guys like to take trips to Texas? Like why?

I hate the south on principal. But that's because of the experiences I've had down there.

The reason I'm asking is because there's not really anything there worth going to.

I live in Minnesota and we have the Mall of America and the best state fair in the whole country.

It's true. We've won the blue ribbon. I've been to others in other states and they just don't match ours in quality and in space. We've got the best food.

If you ever come up here from everywhere I highly suggest the Cheese Curds and fried Australian Potatos.

Also, don't listen to Wisconsin. They did NOT invent the deep fried cheese curds. It's a Minnesota staple.