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democratsunited-blog · 7 years ago

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Wisconsin Democrats pick up long-held GOP seat in special elections

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=3538

Wisconsin Democrats pick up long-held GOP seat in special elections

Jon Plumer(Photo: Plumer for Assembly)

MADISON – Voters delivered a split verdict in a pair of special elections Tuesday, handing Democrats a win in one district and Republicans a victory in the other.

Caleb Frostman topped Rep. Andre Jacque in the 1st Senate District and Jon Plumer defeated Ann Groves Lloyd in the 42nd Assembly District.

Frostman will be the first Democrat to represent the northeast Wisconsin district in more than four decades — a win Democrats are hailing as more evidence of a so-called blue wave ready to flip more Republican-held seats in elections later this year.

But Plumer’s victory over Lloyd helps Republicans counter the narrative that Democrats are primed to sweep elections in Wisconsin and around the nation this fall.

While the winners of the contests will hold their seats for only a few months before they must run again in November for a full term, their performance Tuesday will be heavily scrutinized by politicos and voters trying to predict the outcome of the fall elections.

Frostman’s victory further boosted momentum for state Democrats who are seeking to recover from years of losses and have been energized by two victories earlier this year — the most recent in a Supreme Court race in April.

Frostman did not return a phone call seeking comment but said in a statement that he will bring a “respectful, civil, and collaborative approach” to his work as a state senator.

“It’s something we could use more of in our State Capitol,” he said.

Jacque (R-De Pere) said in an interview that he expects his campaign to fare better in the fall election with a different electorate.

“I do think we’re going to get a different result in November when we’re talking to a much larger group of folks,” he said.

Plumer’s win offers a breath of relief for Gov. Scott Walker, who had been warning supporters of the blue wave coming his way ever since a January special election when Democrat Patty Schachtner earned a state Senate seat in western Wisconsin that had been held by a Republican for decades.

That district swung almost 30 points from Donald Trump’s 17-point margin in 2016 to the Democrats’ 10-point victory in January.

Plumer did not return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday. Lloyd said in an interview that she sees Tuesday’s election as “a dry run” for November’s contest.

“It’s a gerrymandered district,” she said about the loss. “It was created to make sure Republicans got elected and it’s worked for eight years now, but we made some significant headway.”

The leaders of the winners’ respective parties each said their new members signaled an electoral shift in their favor.

Senate Majority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) said Frostman’s win “represents a generational shift in Wisconsin politics.”

“The results of this election can’t be ignored. The last time the 1st Senate District was represented by a Democrat, Gerald Ford was president, techies were anxiously waiting for VHS tapes to hit the shelves and the Vikings were in a Super Bowl,” she said.

And Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said in a tweet that Plumer’s victory is evidence that the blue wave is just a “trickle” in the state Assembly.

Jon Plumer wins! In the Wisconsin State Assembly it seems to be a #bluetrickle#redwall

— Robin Vos (@repvos) June 13, 2018

RELATED: Tuesday’s special elections in Wisconsin could offer clues about a possible ‘blue wave’

RELATED: Bice: A Democratic Wisconsin Assembly candidate tried to hide old tweets. Here’s why.

RELATED: More evidence of a skewed GOP map in Wisconsin

RELATED: At heart of landmark Supreme Court case: a gerrymandered map that has helped lock in huge legislative majorities for Wisconsin GOP

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) blamed the loss in the 1st Senate District on the timing of the special elections — which were scheduled after a group headed by former Democratic U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sued Walker over not calling the elections when the seats became vacant.

“With low turnout in the special election tonight, it proved yet again that this was a complete waste of taxpayer money,” Fitzgerald said in a statement.

Republicans will continue to control the state Senate, but by a smaller margin with Frostman’s win: 18-15. Assembly Republicans’ majority stays at 64-35 with Plumer’s victory.

In special elections across the country since Trump became president, 25 legislative and congressional seats have flipped from red to blue, according to Charles Franklin, a pollster and political scientist at Marquette University Law School. Just five have gone the other way.

Assembly District 42 is just north of Madison and includes most of Columbia County and parts of Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake and Marquette counties.

Senate District 1 includes all of Door and Kewaunee counties and parts of Brown, Manitowoc, Calumet and Outagamie counties.

The Senate seat leans strongly Republican. It voted by a margin of 18 points for Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race (56% to 38%). And it voted by 23 points for Gov. Scott Walker over Democrat Mary Burke in the 2014 race for governor (61% to 38%).

In the Assembly district, Trump won by 14 points in 2016 and Walker prevailed by nine points in 2014.

The special elections will fill the seats left vacant after former Sen. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere) and former Rep. Keith Ripp (R-Lodi) stepped down in December to join Walker’s administration.

Walker at first didn’t order special elections but did so in March after losing a lawsuit brought by voters. The lawsuit was paid for and litigated by a group led by Holder and Democrats accused Walker of stalling out of fear that Schactner’s victory would be replicated.

The winners must stand for election again in the fall, so their campaigns will continue. Election observers from both sides leading into the election said Tuesday’s winners would have a leg up in the fall but no guarantee they would hold the seats.

Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

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frenchraisins · 5 years ago

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I decided to write a mid-year blogging recap and life update because I felt like a lot has happened in the past few months that are worth sharing. That is even if we were confined in our homes most of the time because of the quarantine. View of Metro Manila Mid-Year Blogging Recap + Life Lately IN THIS ARTICLE In particular, I would also to share some of my learnings with regard to blogging, my experience (and travails) as a working professional amid the lockdown, reflections during the lockdown, and life in general. It’s my first time to do this type of update, something really personal, so please bear with my if I sound incoherent at times. Anyway, let’s start. Blogging The COVID-19 lockdown has hit the blog hard in terms of traffic. I once shared that I achieved a blogging milestone last year when I hit 10,000 monthly page views starting July. I was able to maintain that until the end of the year. If you are curious to know that’s about 70% to 80% organic traffic and around 30% or 20% social media traffic. All my effort to learn SEO has finally paid off with the page view achievement. Being a non-techie person, I found it quite hard to understand the technical stuff of SEO but I eventually learned it through a lot of research. I was also fortunate to have met some amazing bloggers who were kind enough to share their knowledge when it came to SEO. One of those bloggers that I wanted to give credit to is Mr. Jonathan Espina of the popular Jon To The World Travel Blog who was very generous with his SEO know-how and would not hesitate to provide answers when I would consult him, even if I have not met him in person yet. I would probably treat him to a bottle of beer or a cup of coffee when I get the chance to meet him. On the other hand, the social media traffic, though small, involved a lot of effort and ate up a lot of my time because I was participating in a lot of blog engagement groups. I immediately realized that it would be hard to depend on social media traffic so I put more effort to increase my search engine traffic. However, at the start of the year, the COVID-19 pandemic grew in proportions. It affected mainly travel blogs; since nobody was searching for travel-related articles and destinations, traffic plummeted. My content is mostly food and travel, both industries that were greatly affected by the pandemic. My traffic went down to as low as 3,700++ page views in June, but that’s also because I stopped participating in blog engagement threads because I wanted to really gauge how bad my organic traffic is. I also wanted less time from social media and more time with my kids. Anyway, when I observed the decline in traffic, I again made adjustments with regard to SEO. Probably one of the best SEO lessons I learned during the last few months was to remove zombie pages from the blog. That means looking at and assessing content that are not getting any traffic or are essentially dead. From there, you can consolidate and repurpose content or totally delete those that you think are non- salvageable. The idea is that when Google sees that majority of your content is getting good traffic, the search engine giant would take it to mean that you are providing valuable information to your readers. Therefore, Google will elevate your search engine results rankings. In my case, I removed my old personal entries like poems and rants from almost a decade ago since they do not have any SEO value. I consolidated some of the poems into one personal post, like a collection of stories, that was getting good traffic. I also removed old press releases, optimized old posts with new information, and rewrote some articles to make them evergreen. I made a lot of consolidations because my tendency before was to create daily journal entry types instead of coming up with one whole travel guide about the places that we visited. I also optimized photos which meant reducing file size to make them lighter and adding alternative text (alt text), things that I knew nothing about when I was just casually blogging. It was hard work but it kept me busy during the quarantine. On top of these, I did my best to come up with new content because I wanted to replace the old content that I was removing so that it would not negatively impact my domain authority (DA). Over the three months that I did it, was able to raise my DA from 29 to 31. In terms of traffic, I observed some positive results with regard to organic search although it is still a long way to go before I hit the 10,000 page views again. Speaking of new content, I had the confidence to submit entries in blogging competitions again. The prize money was enticing so I wanted to try my luck again and partly because I want to force myself to create new content for my blog. I joined the RedDoorz blogging content, which I did not win but I received a consolation prize which is a free overnight stay in one of their properties. I also submitted an entry to ComCo Southeast Asia’s Write to Ignite Blogging Project, which aimed to collect positive stories during the pandemic. Fortunately, I placed 7th among 70 participants in the Write to Ignite Blogging Project, which was not bad at all. It was definitely a welcome change after losing in the previous contests that I joined, despite the fact that I knew I had a good fighting stance. No matter, what’s important is the experience that I gained from those competitions and the determination to try again despite failing. In terms of revenue from blogging, it came as a surprise that I had higher income from Google Adsense despite this blog’s low traffic. I also have income from two more ad networks but they have not been meeting the payment threshold during the lockdown as compared to Adsense. But the main revenue stream of this blog is sponsored posts. As such, I can only be thankful to the clients for their trust. Working from home Since April, I had been working from home except two weeks last June when I had to report every day to the office. But all throughout the lockdown, I can only be thankful to our company for continuing to provide us with income despite the work suspension during the early days of the quarantine. Hoping for the day when we can enjoy the simple pleasures Honestly though, I find working from home a lot stressful because our outputs and tasks are more closely monitored as compared to when we were in the office. And since it’s we from home, expect a lot of distractions from the kids as well as from household tasks that need attention. Again, I’m trying to look at the situation positively in the sense that I am with my children and I can take care of them in the morning and immediately after work. Furthermore, because of the pressure to businesses brought about by the pandemic, it’s a natural tendency to have shake-ups within the organization. Sometimes, you would also hear words from your leaders that you may find to be unfavorable. Just think that they are also pressured but they are doing what they can to boost employee morale and keep the business afloat during these trying times. In the end, the hard truth is that we can all lose our jobs and livelihood anytime during the lockdown because of income loss. I pray that it does not happen though because I do not have big savings to support our family in the months to come. Reflections during the lockdown I think my thoughts during the quarantine resonate with most people’s thoughts and that is being appreciative of the things that we have, no matter how small and simple these things are. In a snap, things can change and disappear right before our very eyes. I remember our last date, that was in February. It was our Valentine’s date but we were so busy the days before so we had to postpone it for a week. Even so, we were glad that we pushed through with it because that was our last date in the old normal. I might sound selfish in this statement but I would say it anyway. I probably needed the quarantine, or at least the time off from office work provided by it. Several months ago, I was wishing for more time with my children. In fact, I was considering to shift to a home-based job. That way, I can at least keep watch on my children. But with the lockdown, I suddenly had so much time with my kids. We spent most of it playing out in the yard every morning and afternoon. I can only be grateful that I was able to spend so many happy moments with my babies. In a way, what we get is actually what we prayed for. It may not be in the form that we were expecting (or hoping) it to be but if we look closer, it’s really what we asked for. Life lately Aside from working from home, there’s nothing new with our life lately. We had all plans postponed because of the pandemic such as finding a new condo, finding a house that we could possibly buy, and traveling to Boracay and Nueva Ecija. Hoping things turn out for the better soon so that we could go on with life. One thing that had us concerned was when my son’s therapy had to be postponed. Earlier this year, he was diagnosed with global developmental delay (GDD). With that, the recommendation was to enroll him to play school and undergo occupational therapy sessions so that he could catch up. However, two months into school, all classes had to be suspended because of COVID-19. We were worried that, with the postponement of the therapy, he would not be able to catch up. The school proposed that we do online therapy but we were doubtful of its efficacy. We were offered a trial online session but, admittedly, we did not try it because we had reservations. Our pediatrician also told us that she was skeptical with the online therapy and said that it might be best to postpone it for now since he is still young anyway. Anyway, we can continue with the activities for our son and involve him in chores and a lot of play, of course. So far, we are seeing improvements when it comes to his concentration and eye contact. Our son also remembered some of the letters that we showed him. It’s not just memorizing the ABCs; he would pick up random letter and read it. Nevertheless, it would be best if we get the help of a professional occupational therapist. As for our younger son, we are resigned to the fact that we will hold a quarantine first birthday for him. We wanted to give him a memorable first birthday like his Kuya but that might prove to be a challenge given the current scenario. On a positive note, we can always do the party at home with some friends and family. Epilogue That’s it for now. I know this entry is too long but I do hope that I was able to help you in some way. Keep in mind that we are all struggling and we are all fighting our own personal battles each day. Do not lose hope, reach out to people who can help you, reach out to people whom you think might need help. Tomorrow is a new day Don’t hesitate to tell us your story if that will make your load lighter; the comment section is open as well as our email and social media inboxes. We will do our best to help you to the best of our abilities. These will all pass. For now, take care of yourself and your loved ones. Stay safe at all times! mbtTOC();

http://www.ivankhristravels.com/2020/07/blogging-recap-life-lately.html

#Travel #Family Travel #Lifestyle #Food

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eddiejpoplar · 8 years ago

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Inside the Automotive Extravagance of the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours

Not far from the bustle of Paris is an idyllic, lake-encircled swath of old world opulence. Chantilly, France is home to a sprawling château, painstakingly manicured gardens, and the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours, which descends upon this haven of serenity every September (the 2017 edition runs this weekend), dotting the grounds with an abundance of classic automotive excess, from remarkably preserved turn-of-the-century relics and elegant sleds from the golden age of coach building to 20th century supercars and future concepts.

Chantilly challenges the world’s top Concours d’Elegance— think, Pebble Beach, Villa d’Este, Amelia Island—with an alternate spin on the celebration of classic and vintage automobilia. But does the world really need another high-end car gathering, and can the French newbie compete with the big boys? We embedded into the annual event and rubbed elbows with automotive aristocracy to get the scoop on this historic car gathering and find out.

Posh Proceedings

A world-class concours would be nothing without a strong sense of occasion, and Chantilly is no exception to that unwritten rule. In fact, the guidelines are practically spelled out in the printed program, which includes a rather explicit dress code: “A tight and/or short leather dress won’t make the woman wearing it the most noticeable guest,” the text advises, “neither will a deep cleavage nor nails painted in three different colors.” I witnessed a sloppily dressed fan turned away at the gate, proof that Chantilly’s dress code was not meant to be broken, much in the same way the U.K.’s Goodwood Revival adheres to its mandate of period-correct garb.

That said, Chantilly is closer in mood to Lake Como’s oh-so-Italian Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este than events like The Quail and Pebble Beach, which combine elements of dress-up with a certain sense of California casual. The delta makes sense; Chantilly’s backdrop is Domaine d’Chantilly, a centuries old château that makes Hearst Castle look like a quaint guesthouse.

As the weekend gets underway, cars fill the property by parading past the tranquil waterway and occupying various sections. From rows of natty car club stalwarts like evocative Mercedes-Benz convertibles and midcentury Jaguar sedans to auction offerings that include Bentleys, Porsches, Rolls-Royces and the like, the early arrivals are alluring yet relatively attainable.

However, the main attraction comes Sunday, when a head-turning array of classic exotica makes its way onto the impeccably manicured Le N��tre Lawns for a dozen or so classes, including the Belles Voitures du Monde (“Most Beautiful Cars in the World”) Concours d’élégance. A black tie-clad crowd assembles on Saturday evening, and a quick survey will reveal familiar faces. In 2016, that crowd included Former Scuderia Ferrari and FIA boss Jean Todt and his wife, actress Michele Yeoh, actor John Malkovich, and sprinter Wayde van Niekerk, who had come fresh off his gold medal winning sprint at the summer Olympics. The glitterati is not surprising; after all, this is automotive event formed by a company that makes watches that can cost as much as half a million dollars.

Exceptional Automotive Eclectica

Chantilly draws a remarkably eclectic field of cars, one that reflects a broad swath of collectors and enthusiasts. Random samplings from last year’s lawn: A row of Schumacher-era Ferrari Formula 1 cars offset by a several 1960s-era Prancing Horse F1 examples; a smattering of Group B rally cars; pre-war beauties from Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Osca, and Talbot-Lago; a coven of Citroens including a gorgeous 1965 Citroen Henry Chapron-bodied DS19 Majesty Spécial; a row of Zagato-bodied road cars, which were part of a Zagato retrospective.

Manufacturers also peddled their not-so-ordinary wares: Mercedes-Benz Classic brought out its restored 540K Streamliner while the modern division showed off its outlandish Maybach 6 concept; BMW dusted off their Mille Miglia Concept Coupe and their fired up an evocative Bimmer plane with their logo projected onto the prop; Bugatti, McLaren and Rolls-Royce also showed off their latest and greatest.

Motorcycles were on hand too, including a smattering of classic and modern Beemers, the debut of the Zagato-bodied MV Agusta F4Z concept, and Midual’s imaginatively ambitious Type 1 naked bike.

While the spectrum of participants is varied enough to offer something for every classic motorhead, the serious contenders for the top spot are often the same players you’ll find competing at Villa d’Este, Pebble Beach, and Amelia Island—there are only so many places for these one percent of one percent cars to end up. Case in point: 2016’s winner, Jon Shirley’s stunning 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Berlinetta by Touring, also took the top prize at the Pebble Beach Concours in 2008.

(Very Expensive) Watch Origins

Chantilly was launched in 2014 by watchmaker Richard Mille, whose horological creations have been worn by athletes like Felipe Massa, Bubba Watson, and Rafael Nadal. Mille’s wristwatches are wonders of advanced engineering that were developed using real world R&D: they are put through the ringer by athletes during training and competition until they break, enabling Richard Mille’s team to find the weak spots in the tiny movements and re-engineer the watch until they’re durable enough to sustain extraordinary forces like the swing of a golfer’s club, the violence of a Formula 1 driver’s track battle, or the snap of a tennis player’s racket.

“I love to do extreme watches for extreme conditions,” Richard Mille told Automobile. “Philosophically, my watches are very complex but they can be worn in any condition. They are not pieces to be put in the safe waiting for the next generation, they’re watches you put on the wrist and you live with.”

As such, Mille demands that a sponsored athlete doesn’t just pose with the watch for podium and PR photos; he or she must wear them while training and competing. Michael Schumacher famously wanted to partner with Mille until he was told he must wear the watch while driving. With that stipulation, the notoriously rigorous racer opted out and stuck to his tradition of only wearing gloves on his hands.

Richard Mille’s watch movements are remarkable exercises in form and function. Nadal’s timepiece, for instance, is so seemingly weightless, it can float in water and enjoys its status as the world’s lightest automatic wristwatch. In a business where the average mechanical (i.e. self-winding) watch is accurate to within 4 to 8 seconds per day, Mille managed to engineer a piece that keeps time to a remarkable 1.03 seconds per month. By using nanotechnology, ultra-low friction finishes, and techy materials like titanium and carbon fiber—many of the techniques you’ll find in a Formula 1 engine—Richard Mille’s watches are remarkably accurate while also being able to sustain as many as 5,000 Gs of force. They can also be dizzylingly expensive; prices for a Richard Mille wristwatch can easily reach into six figures, and offerings top out with three sapphire tourbillon models priced at $1.9 million apiece.

Room For More

Even if you’re a globetrotting bon vivant who regularly makes the rounds at the world’s top automotive events, it’s hard not to become intoxicated by the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours experience. Beyond the predictable champagne-sipping, pinkies-out scene, the beauty of being surrounded by exceptional vehicles in this gorgeous setting is seductive for virtually anyone with a pulse, let alone a hankering for automotive extremes. Add Chantilly to your concours bucket list, where you can witness one of the most elegant automotive events the world has to offer. But be sure to pack accordingly; those dress codes aren’t messing around.

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jonathanbelloblog · 8 years ago

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Inside the Automotive Extravagance of the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours

Posh Proceedings

However, the main attraction comes Sunday, when a head-turning array of classic exotica makes its way onto the impeccably manicured Le Nôtre Lawns for a dozen or so classes, including the Belles Voitures du Monde (“Most Beautiful Cars in the World”) Concours d’élégance. A black tie-clad crowd assembles on Saturday evening, and a quick survey will reveal familiar faces. In 2016, that crowd included Former Scuderia Ferrari and FIA boss Jean Todt and his wife, actress Michele Yeoh, actor John Malkovich, and sprinter Wayde van Niekerk, who had come fresh off his gold medal winning sprint at the summer Olympics. The glitterati is not surprising; after all, this is automotive event formed by a company that makes watches that can cost as much as half a million dollars.

Exceptional Automotive Eclectica

Motorcycles were on hand too, including a smattering of classic and modern Beemers, the debut of the Zagato-bodied MV Agusta F4Z concept, and Midual’s imaginatively ambitious Type 1 naked bike.

(Very Expensive) Watch Origins

Room For More

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#IFTTT #Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4

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jesusvasser · 8 years ago

Text

Inside the Automotive Extravagance of the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours

Posh Proceedings

Exceptional Automotive Eclectica

Motorcycles were on hand too, including a smattering of classic and modern Beemers, the debut of the Zagato-bodied MV Agusta F4Z concept, and Midual’s imaginatively ambitious Type 1 naked bike.

(Very Expensive) Watch Origins

Room For More

IFTTT

#IFTTT #Performance Junk WP Feed 4

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