#so they did it throughout nov/dec 2016

[the-irrelevant-trumpeter]

i often wonder what the cornley drama society were doing during the christmases/decembers we didn’t see a show in

[9w1ft]

Hi 9, can I ask you something DNPy?

I am a baby kaylor so I am still gathering and processing info and lore; my question is, during 2017, do we know for sure kaylor were still together? I mean, is there any lore or coincidences that support this?

🤍 thanks

nothing dnp-y about this ☺️ there’s plenty of lore and coincidences. here are some things for you to consider:

karlie put out a celebratory valentine’s day vlog in 2/2017 where she does obvious visual copying of the vogue best best friend video, and taylor recorded the reputation at&t now promo sometime before rep release in 11/2017 which also copies parts of the vogue best best friends video.

reputation promo photography shows taylor wearing both the evil eye ring and the vsfs angel wing ring, which are both kaylor rings. here is one example but you can look up more, like the ups promo video or other at&t promo photos. because promo would have been done months before release date, this implies she was more than fine wearing kaylor symbols in the middle of 2017.

yes. vsfs angel wing ring is a kaylor ring through and through. go actually read the masterpost if you haven’t. i’ve put a lot of work into it!

taylor wears the vsfs angel wing ring and the evil eye ring when recording several rep songs, which can be seen in the behind the scenes making of a song clips (check youtube) and footage from miss americana

the J necklace made its first public appearance dec 26, 2016, and can be assumed that we’re supposed to assume it was a birthday or christmas present. and she’s wearing it during the filming of the recording of call it what you want, which also references the necklace. so assuming you don’t believe toe is real, her happily recording call it what you want after dec 13 2016, and then performing it with a huge smile on her face on SNL in nov 2017 are both hints

call it what you want is a song that is obviously meant to sound like she says karlie in several different ways. karlie what you want / call it what you want karlie / karlie would you want to?

there’s the whole business of the clip of taylor singing call it what you want acoustic while playing guitar, the idea that she’s debuting the song to karlie in this clip. it makes sense because as i mention above, the song is sung in a way that sneaks in ways for her to sing “karlie” and taylor is wearing the vsfs ring in the clip.

there’s also the point about how a lot of us who really know what karlie’s voice sounds like (since we have watched so much of her content) can hear karlie singing along to the song, when taylor points to the filmer for the line “i did one thing right” as well as the “yes” part

karlie posted from london in december 2016 and december 2017. and in between we also know she was in london throughout 2017 because she went to london fashion week, british fashion awards, several other events. just search the internet for “karlie kloss 2017 london” etc. this pokes holes in any argument that puts taylor running away to london as some sort of kaylor disqualifier. karlie was seen in london too. she was also posting from nice france over the summer in 2017, which is just a chunnel away from london if you think about it. she was plenty close more than several times to where people like to say taylor was.

derek tweeted what is basically an easter egg to call it what you want being about karlie, just about a week before it was released

also another big group of things is just how there’s an obvious reason for taylor and karlie not being seen together throughout 2017:

taylor and karlie disappeared only as the election results came in. they were literally seen together on the eve of the general election in 11/2016. its at this point, literally from this day, that taylor begins wearing the vsfs angel wing ring (read the masterpost linked above). by process of deduction you can prove she’s wearing it in the pic of her and karlie kissing lorde’s cheeks, because she was papped wearing it to the party. i just mean this to say that it makes sense that they stopped being seen for 2017, because they had a reason. the election results.

the glitch 2190 days of our love blackout line represents the amount of time between when they went dark in 2016 til midnights release

in the lavender haze explainer video taylor describe how she and her lover had to combat weird rumors for the past six years. this also neatly fits the time between when they went dark after the election and the release of midnights

miss americana and the heartbreak prince, which is about the 2016 election, includes the line “it’s you and me that’s my whole world”

call it what you want, again, is a song about running away with someone and nobody hearing about you for months, which fits the rep social media hiatus where taylor was not seen

this is more of an opinion i guess but i happen to think that taylor’s “darkest night” was sometime between 2016 and 2017 and i think that call it what you want’s “starry eyes sparking up my darkest night” connects to renegade’s “i tapped on your window on your darkest night” and the lover album prologue and this continued theming of karlie having been there for taylor when taylor was at her lowest.

i could go on and on with the lyric parallels that show the narrative post-election but it’s kind of never ending so anyways.. i’ll keep my list of things to everything right here. hope this all helps!

[likeadevils]

which albums do you think took the shortest amount of time to put together? i think that evermore was very quick (only two or three months?), am i right in thinking that lover and folklore were pretty quick too?

evermore was super quick! there were about five songs written from october-december, but about 12 songs were written in about a month, between mid august and mid september. which is just crazy. like that’s more songs than the standard edition of debut like that’s insane

the bulk of folklore was written in two months, between may and june, though the jack songs were mostly written between march and april, with some pre pandemic songs (my tears in dec 2019 and trying in jan/feb 2020)

midnights was a bit more spread out— high infidelity and would’ve could’ve should’ve were written in march 2021, i believe bigger than the whole sky and snow on the beach were in early 2022– but still the bulk of it came together in november/december 2021, making it a year in total but mostly done in two months.

rep took almost exactly a year— she starts writing it in september 2016 and finishes in september 2017. the bulk of the album was likely finished by july 2017 though, so it goes was just a super last minute addition.

lover was recorded in about four months— the bulk of the album was between november 2018 and february 2019. there are some exceptions, like death by a thousand cuts in late april and likely london boy in early june, and maybe a few jack songs throughout 2018, but we don’t know for sure which. she was also probably stockpiling songs a bit before jumping into the studio, but we don’t know for sure.

1989 was another stockpiling album— she did this love in 2012, a couple songs jan 2013, and then that aforementioned stockpiling period while she’s on tour, and then a big rush in oct/nov 2013, and then another rush in jan/feb 2014. it sounds like now that we don’t talk came fairly late in the process though, possibly as late as fall 2014, which would make it a two year long writing period, but as far as the original album goes, about a year and a half.

red was also about a year and a half— we have all too well being finalized in march 2011 (after being started in dec 2010), and then 22 and i knew you were trouble in june 2012. there are probably some outliers— stay stay stay might’ve been as early as summer 2010, some stuff on the vault might’ve gone up until september 2012– but that’s at most about two years of consistent writing and recording.

if we’re counting sparks fly (halloween 2006) then it took four years to write speak now, but excluding sparks fly georg the earliest song we know for sure was if this was a movie in april 2009, and then it ended with the story of us in june 2010, which is a little over a year. she was likely writing songs for speak now earlier in 2009 though, making it her standard year and a half, but we just don’t know for sure. the recording process was also spread out throughout both years— the first session for the album was in march 2009, and the orchestra sections were the last thing recorded, in july 2010.

fearless had two big recording sessions, in december 2007 and march 2008, so recording wise the album came together super quickly. that being said, if we just take the first and last songs written for the album, fearless has a pretty big stretch— she had stuff from the vault from like 2005, and then come in with the rain in september 2006, and white horse in december 2006. and then the last song is similarly up for interpretation, with forever and always in late september 2008, and mr perfectly fine in march 2009. so even though it came together very quickly once she got in the studio, counting the vault it was four years to write it, making it one of the longest timeframes, but standard edition is still a fairly long two years.

and then debut! i’m a bit more hazy on debut’s timeline, but a perfectly good heart was written sometime in 2003, and should’ve said no was the last thing written and recorded, on august 10, 2006, making it about three years.

so it’s pretty much an exercise in counting— the earlier and album came in her career, the longer it took her to make it, until we get to post pandemic where she’s busting out almost complete albums in two month periods (ts11 looks like it’s bucking that trend though, so let’s see!!)

[nialls-gorgeous-colors]

Shawn Mendes and Niall Horan Timeline

I will be posting it in sections of years. I’ll tag them all “Shiall Timeline” to make it easiest to find them all.

This timeline is a timeline of noteworthy Shiall relevant stuff that’s happened, focusing on 2015-2016. I’ll be adding to it whenever I find/think of something. Please let me know if there’s anything else that should be added.

Years 2015 - 2016

April 13 2015

Shawn starts following Niall on IG

Dec 29 Niall likes Shawn’s cover of History on IG.

This isn’t a completely comprehensive timeline, though it is still quite inclusive.

This doesn’t include the IG photo liking or commenting, even though there’s been MANY of it throughout the years!

NOV 22 2015 ACCORDING TO SHAWN IN LATER INTERVIEWS, HE AND NIALL MEET AT THE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS. (SHAWN PERFORMS PRE-SHOW, NIALL PERFORMS WITH ONE DIRECTION.)

DEC 2015

Dec 1 Niall performs Jingle Ball with One Direction in Dallas. According to Niall in later interviews, he and Shawn meet while they’re both performing in Texas.

Dec 3 Niall starts following Shawn on Twitter (Shawn already follows him).

Dec 4 Niall performs Jingle Ball with One Direction in LA. Shawn has his own set.

JAN 5 2016 NIALL STARTS FOLLOWING SHAWN ON IG

Feb 3 2016 Shawn: I met him in America once and then he actually reached out to me over Twitter and I talked to him a little bit, and he seemed really cool – really genuine.

Interviewer: Did he slide up in your DMs?

Shawn: He did! He just said what’s up, give me a text if you’re ever interested in like writing or whatever. Yeah, he’s a really cool guy.

interviewer asks if they’re going to do that, Shawn says yes, interviewer suggests Niall go to one of Shawn’s shows, and Shawn says “he can get on stage with me.” (this TEASE.)

Sept 28 James Corden asked Shawn about their favorite Irishman. Same old keep missing each other quote as before. It’s definitely going to happen, though. (Spoiler alert: it definitely did not happen.)

SEPT 2016

Sept 19 Shawn talks to KISS FM UK about The Collab: We’ve been talking about writing, but we’re never – I texted him before, I was like, ‘I’m going to London, where are you?!’ and he was like ‘I JUST got to LA.’ So it’s like always, for some reason, we keep missing each other. I will [collab with Niall] for sure, he’s a really sweet guy.

Sept 21 Niall talks about The Collab on Zane Lowe: The fans would love to see myself and Shawn Mendes do something. Love to work with Shawn.

Sept 28 James Corden asked Shawn about their favorite Irishman. Same old keep missing each other quote as before. It’s definitely going to happen, though. (Spoiler alert: it definitely did not happen.)

Sept 29 Niall phones into the Zach Sang show: “I met him towards the end of last year. We were doing some radio shows together, you know the Jingle Ball. I think we were down in San Jose or something like that, and I bumped into him […] I spoke to him when he was coming off stage. We’re like, ‘let’s meet up,’ we exchanged numbers. […] He text me the other day: ‘I’m in London, are you around?’ and I was like ‘dude, I just landed in LA.’ We haven’t been able to cross paths with each other, but I’m sure… Like his album’s coming out, I’m still in the studio. I’m sure he’ll be doing promo and tour and things like that, so. Whenever we get the chance and get in the studio… He’s a talented, talented, talented boy.

Sept 29 Niall facetimes with Roman Kemp who brings up The Collab: Sorry Shawn. Sorry for everyone asking you questions about me on your promo tour… Shawn’s a great guy, we’ve chatted a lot. We haven’t really hung out a lot, but we’ve talked a lot and he’s a great lad. Super talented. He’s crazy, he deserves all the credit he gets. We just keep missing each other, so when we get in the same place at the same time – when he’s finished doing whatever he’s doing and I’m free – I’m sure we’ll get in, sit down with a couple guitars and write something, but there’s no plans – at the moment – of an actual feature.”

Oct 2016

Oct 5 Shawn talks about The Collab and This Town: I’ve been texting back and forth with him, he’s a great guy.

Interviewer: I’ve heard that new song, it’s beautiful.

Shawn: It’s great. I’m so, so proud of him.

Interviewer: It’s stripped down. It reminds me of One Direction in one way, but –

Shawn: It’s totally him. I’m very proud of him, it’s a great song.

Oct 26

Niall does a Twitter Q&A

and says “Treat You Better” is one of his favorite songs at the moment. “Been up there all year.”

Nov 2016

Nov 11 Shawn with Roman Kemp about The Collab: “Yes definitely. It will, eventually, when we get time. I met him for the first time the other day, but it’s funny because we felt like we knew each other because we were like, talking back and forth for a long time, but yeah, when we get the chance I’d love to write with him, I think he’s incredible. He’s got this great, great vibe happening with his whole acoustic thing, so I think I really want to get involved with it if he’s down – which he is, I think.

NOV 20

Shawn and Niall hang out after the AMAs and give us the glorious video of them singing Mercy together (NOT in a dressing, in Niall’s sitting room) which got cross posted all over the place and made us all cry.

Shawn posts the video with the caption: niallhoran is a lad

Niall posts:

Me and the boy ! Top lad . No idea why my sunglasses are on my shirt . shawnmendes​

Mully posts:

That event type. #AMAs

Justin Stirling posts:

when mullingar meets ottawa meets pickering 😂 look at the mug on mully

According to Twitter, they then went to Drake’s AMAs afterparty. 

Nov 30 Niall talks to Ryan Seacrest about the post-AMAs shenanigans: We went to the AMAs, obviously, and afterwards we were all going out, but obviously it was too early to go out. so he came back to my house with a couple of our friends and we just sat and played in some video, and it ended up on Instagram. there it is.

Ryan: How old is he?  

Niall: Shawn’s 18 and a very impressive young man as well.

Ryan: He’s so young!

Co-host: He’s very mature, as well.

Niall: Yeah, he is. He’s also very, very talented. He plays all the instruments, very well. He’s had like 3 or 4 of these top 10s singles. He’s only 18 years old.

Ryan: Do we like him?

Niall: We like him a lot.

December 2016

Dec 1 Niall talks to iHeart about Shawn: I literally just spoke to him on the phone, I think he’s enjoying a little bit of time at home. His mom hasn’t him home in awhile. When mummy puts her foot down, she’s right. Yeah, he’s great. He’s an unbelievable guy. We hung out at the AMAs and he came over to the house, and we did that Instagram thing… Top guy, you know. You should be very proud of him in this country. Unbelievable singer, unbelievable guitar player. Great songwriter. Like, he’s 18 years old, he’s had like 3 or 4 top ten singles on Billboard. It’s unheard of. And he’s also – he lives at home with his parents, in a suburb… How much more humble do you want to get? He’s just a great kid, I really enjoy his company, he’s a good lad.

Niall goes on to say it’s too late to get Shawn to collab on his album, everything’s “done.”

Dec 11

A fan takes a video of Niall and Ellie Goulding watching Shawn’s Jingle Ball set.

Niall snaps Shawn’s set side-stage.

A fan takes a video of Shawn saying hello to Niall after walking off his set.

Ellie Goulding posts:

On this radio tour with some mad talent…. these guys have been killing it. niallhoran shawnmendes 🙏🏼 #fangurl

Dec 16 Niall posts:

Gona miss the jingle ball tour . Was really good fun. great atmosphere amongst the artists backstage and even better atmosphere in the arena. . It was amazing to perform my song for thousands of you in the cities I went to , thank you for being so nice to me . It did feel like a bit of an anticlimax when the song was finished as I would have loved to have just played the whole album to you but it’s not ready yet . . There’s always next year . . On that note , here’s a picture of shawnmendes and i being guitar nerds …. cheers to John , Tom and everyone at iheart

Dec 18 Shawn has a lyric struggle covering This Town and talks about Niall on his IG livestream:  I love Niall, man. He is just the coolest guy. So happy that he digs all the songs, and just a really cool dude. He kills it live too, every single time. He’s just so impressive, so professional. 10 out of 10. He’s a real pro. He’s a true pro.

[abiiors]

to make everyone feel better about the supposed “5 year break”

1. this tour isn’t selling as well as ATVB it’s obvious that they would market it as the last tour for a while to gather hype.

2. the only person to say a “few years” was Jamie once in a group chat with fans, and we know that man isn’t always true to his word. most people on reddit have said it’s just a marketing technique, cause only jamie has said that once. people were going crazy to get ticket for the eras tour cause people on twitter started a rumor on twitter that this would be taylor’s last album/tour before retirement. and she’s just recently confirmed that she’s still working on music at the moment. maybe jamie just wants to build up hype around this being the last tour for a few years and after the tickets sell well they will confirm that they aren’t going anywhere.

3. they’ve already started hinting at the next album with deleting all their post and showing a more green color scheme before archiving everything.

4. they’ve done albums every two years since 2016. so probably another album mid - late 2024.

5. most of notes was made during touring abiior. it’s not impossible for them to already have majority of the album done, specially cause matty has talked about being in studio with george (and jack) multiple time. (first time he mentioned they started their 6th album was in february i believe.)

6. matty has said something to the effect of “your favorite band, throughout every era of your life we will be here, no matter what.” at most shows.

7. after SATVB ends they will probably take some time off maybe releasing their album later 2024 nov - dec. and touring it 2025. (which would be almost two years since SATVB started, kind of boosting the “few years theory” isn’t as long as you think.

8. other possibilities is matty releases a solid album 2024/25 and tours it on his own but i doubt he could sell as well without the 1975 name behind him (no offense obvs.)

9. they’ve been best friends since they were 13, they might take a break from touring (a well deserved one) but their not splitting up entirely. why would they have already started album 6, months ago if they had any intention of breaking off in to a hiatus for 5 years.

10. (just a bonus theory)

it could be their last tour as THE 1975 (for a few years.) matty loves to be cryptic. it’s possible they might tour as drive like i do since it’s been implied heavily that he wants to return to that name one day.

i know some of these are a little delusional but i hope it put a end to some of your anxieties (everyone)

we know matty is insane sometimes, he fully well could announce his solo record or the next 1975 record in the next few months if he wanted to. plus People was released in like 2019 while on tour, it’s possible their next era will start soon or as already started (with them deleting all their post and stuff.)

that's all really well thought out and after my initial panic lol i do think you're right.

yes, they've talked about the sixth album and i'm sure you're right about most of it being done too but then again i won't be surprised if they did take a break longer than 2 years or didn't immediately go on tour for the sixth album?? like adam's kid is still so young and i'm sure he wants to be much more involved. g and charli have talked multiple times about getting married.

their schedule is so insane that sometimes it feels like they have been putting their personal lives on hold for it which is obvs not good.

if matty does decide to release a solo album and tour it, i'd be really excited to see how that goes like even if he does it on a smaller scale it would certainly be an experience <33

[alex-landry-placebos]

Are Placebos a Superpower?: Part 4 (Annotated Bibliography)

Annotated Bibliography

Bryce, Emma, director. The Power of the Placebo Effect. YouTube, Ted-Ed, 4 Apr. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=z03FQGlGgo0. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

This youtube video talks about the general background of placebos, and what they are generally used for today. Emma Bryce goes into detail about how they were discovered, how they work, and what they are used for now. This was published by Ted-Ed so it is reliable since Ted-Ed is a well known organization. I chose this video to use because I wanted to know what placebos were in general, and I find videos much easier to follow. 

Chavarria, Victor, et al. "The Placebo and Nocebo Phenomena: Their Clinical Management and Impact on Treatment Outcomes." Clinical Therapeutics, vol. 39, no. 3, 2017, pp. 477-486. ScienceDirect, doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2017.01.031.

This journal talks about placebos and its counterpart, nocebos. Chavarria et al. did multiple studies in order to find ways to reduce the occurrences of nocebos in placebo based experiments. Overall, it summarized the benefits of placebos versus the cons of nocebos, and what they are. I chose this article because it is peer reviewed and I wanted to learn more about nocebos and how they differ from placebos. 

Eggers, A.C., et al. "Placebo Tests for Causal Inference." American Journal of Political Science, 2023. doi:10.1111/ajps.12818.

This article talks about the validity of placebo tests and how placebo tests should be administered in experiments. It explains what they are and results of various studies using placebo tests. I chose this article because it is peer reviewed and I wanted to learn more about placebo tests; how they are used, how representative they are for good test results, and in general how they work. 

“How The Placebo Effect Tricks Your Brain.” Performance by Joe Hanson, YouTube, Be Smart, 16 Nov. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcPwIQ6GCj8. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

This video by Joe Hanson describes in full detail what placebos are, where they came from, and general knowledge on the topic. The youtube page has 4.9 million followers, Joe Hanson is a Ph.D, and they had multiple credible references so I deduced it was reliable. I chose this video because I wanted to gain a general understanding of what placebos are and how they work. 

Perry, Susan. “The Power of the Placebo.” BrainFacts.Org, 31 May 2012, www.brainfacts.org/archives/2012/the-power-of-the-placebo#:~:text=Henry%20Beecher%20discovered%20the%20placebo,was%20morphine%20to%20calm%20them.

This article speaks mainly about how placebos work, but specifically talks about Henry Beecher and his discovery of placebos during WW2. I found this source to be reliable since the author, Susan Perry, is a well known journalist, and I had also heard and read from other sources about Henry Beecher's story. I chose this article because I wanted to find some cool examples of how placebos have been used throughout history. 

“Placebo Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placebo. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

This website defines what the word placebo is, in two definitions. This website is reliable because Merriam-Webster dictionary is a world renowned dictionary and has very credible references. I chose this sources because I wanted to state a clear definition of what a placebo means. 

“Placebos in Cancer Clinical Trials.” Cancer.Net, 28 Dec. 2022, www.cancer.net/research-and-advocacy/clinical-trials/placebos-cancer-clinical-trials. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

This article focuses on what placebo tests are and their application to cancer clinical trials. It goes into when placebos should be administered into trials and when they should not, and some of the ethical dilemmas that go along with it. This is a reliable source because it is made up and edited by the Cancer.net board members. I chose this source because I wanted to learn more about if placebos could have an effect on cancer, and also placebo tests' role in cancer trials. 

“The Power of the Placebo Effect.” Harvard Health, 13 Dec. 2021, www.health.harvard.edu/mental-health/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

This article talks about placebos in general; what they are, how they are used, and whether they could be influential. This article is reliable because it was published by Harvard University which is a world renowned school. I chose this article because I wanted to build my general knowledge about placebos and also learn if there could be any benefits. 

Shapiro, Arthur K., and Elaine Shapiro. The Powerful Placebo: From Ancient Priest to Modern Physician. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. 

This article digs deep into the history of placebos. It is reliable because it is peer reviewed and has many references. I chose this article because I wanted to know about the history of how placebos were discovered and how they have transitioned into what we know of them today.

[sanjosenewshq]

FBI Sued for Censorship of Hunter Biden Laptop computer

By Invoice Pan Amid mounting questions over an FBI warning that prompted Fb to suppress a narrative about Hunter Biden’s laptop computer, the federal company now faces a lawsuit searching for to compel it to publicize conversations it had with the social media large. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by America First Authorized (AFL) at a Washington D.C. District Court docket. The non-profit group, based by longtime Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller, mentioned Individuals should know what the FBI and the social media large had been as much as because the November elections approached. In accordance with the criticism (pdf), the AFL requested in August that the FBI make public all of its communications with Fb between Oct. 1, 2020, and Nov. 15, 2020. Nonetheless, the FBI turned down that request, claiming that it was so “overly broad” that it couldn’t be carried out “with an affordable quantity of effort.” AFL’s criticism mentioned: “Barely a month earlier than the 2022 midterm election, FBI officers proceed to suppress info of nice curiosity to American voters and stonewall AFL’s request for data regarding the FBI’s collusive scheme with Fb to censor information and details about the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop computer.” Zuckerberg’s Podcast Feedback Fb has drawn a lot scrutiny after Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, instructed widespread podcast host Joe Rogan that the platform did algorithmically suppress a New York Submit story on emails allegedly recovered from a laptop computer owned by then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son. These emails, based on the Submit, confirmed a direct hyperlink Biden had along with his son’s doubtful enterprise dealings in China and Ukraine. File picture of then Vice President Joe Biden strolling out of Air Drive Two along with his granddaughter Finnegan Biden and son Hunter Biden on the airport in Beijing, China on Dec. 4, 2013. (Ng Han Guan-Pool/Getty Photographs) Zuckerberg mentioned this obvious censorship solely occurred after the FBI approached Meta with warnings about “Russian disinformation.” “The background right here is that the FBI got here to us—some of us on our staff—and was like, ‘Hey, simply so you recognize, you need to be on excessive alert. We thought there was a number of Russian propaganda within the 2016 election, we’ve got it on discover that mainly there’s about to be some type of dump that’s much like that,’” he instructed Rogan in the Aug. 25 interview. The FBI didn’t particularly point out the laptop computer story, Zuckerberg mentioned, however Fb thought it “match that sample” the FBI described and determined to restrict its attain. Regardless of Zuckerberg’s claims, the AFL insists that there was a “complete collusion” between the FBI and Massive Tech to censor and management crucial info in an effort to place Joe Biden into the White Home. “The proof is that throughout the 2020 Presidential election marketing campaign, the FBI conspired and mixed with giant firms, together with Fb, to censor and suppress the damning proof of Biden household corruption and affect peddling discovered on Hunter Biden’s laptop computer,” mentioned AFL Senior Counselor Reed Rubinstein. “This was carried out to assist Joe Biden and the Democrats win the 2020 election.” Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Ron Johnson (Wis.) agreed. Of their letters to Zuckerberg and FBI Director Chris Wray, the senators requested for names of the federal government and Fb staff concerned in these conversations about “Russian disinformation.” “The American folks should know whether or not the FBI used Fb as a part of their alleged plan to discredit details about Hunter Biden,” the senators wrote. Originally published at San Jose News HQ

[yaz-the-spaz]

But I want to know your theory. :(

ok ok i guess i’ll spill…i was kinda hesitant to share just cause i’m still not all that solid in my belief in it myself but basically it seems like maybe ziam has made it a tradition to have some kind of couples trip most years (if not every year) in february ever since 2014…

(btw for future reference this ask is a continuation of this ask re ziam both being publicly in vegas earlier this year)

ugh sorry guys! hit enter by accident and posted this wayyyy before i was anywhere near finished lol…this will be updated within the hour (if it doesn’t take me too long to get my thoughts out)

narrator: she did not finish it within the hour.

…

ok so part of the reason i’ve been hesitant to share this is because a good portion of it is VERY speculative and just based on a lot of guesswork and assumptions, but also there’s the fact that it feels like this is something major that more people in the fandom (or at least someone, other than little ass me lol) would have noticed before now and it kind of freaks me out that maybe no one else has?? (unless ofc i just haven’t happened to see any other posts there are about it idk)… 

also fyi a lot of what i propose throughout this is heavily based on info from this post just to make sure i remember to site my sources before we get into it lol

alright now onto the actual theory…

SO. all this started with me scrolling through old posts from late 2013/early 2014 and being reminded of the fuckery that was zayn’s bday that year (with the douche canoe crew and everyone pretending like liam was barely there as seemingly some sort of weird over-the-top cover-up)…the same party that seemed kinda like liam’s possible “introduction” to the malik family as more than just zayn’s friend/as his possible significant other. which was also only a month after that suspicious engagement-looking ring first showed up on zayn’s ring finger in december 2013 from bts midnight memories mv footage (and which stayed around as a necklace throughout january 2014 and early febuary 2014 right before the first appearance/debut of the mandala tat in mid feb). 

bts midnight memories mv with the ring in view - dec 2013:

(suspicious?) malik family outing/celebration with the ring in view - dec (or possibly late nov?) 2013:

[putting the rest under the cut cause as per usual with me this got insanely long]

liam and aunt zileh at zayn’s bday party - jan 2014:

liam and one of the little cousins at zayn’s bday party - jan 2014:

then sometime in between late jan and early feb 2014 liam went on a trip to barbados with his whole family (and supposedly also sophia lol more on that later*) while zayn was SUPPOSEDLY still home and steadily “posting” pics of himself at home with various members of his family (with the ring on a necklace clearly visible in the pics lol), anddd as some have also pointed out his hair was suspiciously unchanged in these pics despite his claim of getting a haircut BEFORE most of the pics were posted lol

zayn in family pics with the ring on a necklace - late jan/early feb 2014 (sorry i’m not the one who cropped his fam out lol):

but yet we’re supposed to believe zayn - who had just gotten awarded the asian ambassadorship for the VERY FIRST time - mysteriously (and willingly) MISSED the ceremony on feb. 5th with absolutely no explanation. which…we all know how big a deal that was to him from the way he talked about it and how honored he was when he went in 2015…which begs the question if he was really just home not doing much of anything at the time in 2014 why in the world would he just pass/bail on that HUGE HONOR with no explanation??? mayhaps because he was actually already an ocean away with liam and fam in barbados celebrating his engagement (and getting his own “introduction” to the payne family) and literally COULD NOT ATTEND?

anyway so then, we have him getting the mandala tat around feb 18th 2014 - or at least this is the day he debuted it on his old ig, so the date may be a few days off from when he actually got it - but this still would’ve been shortly after they got back from the barbados trip when he debuted this particular tat (aka another solidification of the engagement??) 

THEN we get the very first ig ziam likes from the famous and beloved aunt zileh (!!!) in this same month (still feb for reference, but she continues steadily and heavily liking stuff all the way through april when she seems to cool down again). fast forward to the 2014 brits at the end of february where we have the infamous moment with 1) ziam giddy as fucking ever, 2) zayn whispering into and practically mawling liam’s neck in public, 3) liam talking about how it was great to “fill each other in” on what they were up to during their break while zayn’s just steady standing there smiling like a loon and then 4) liam still later being like ‘you don’t wanna know’ when asked what he got up to (and zayn still grinning like a fool)

ziam being gross at brits 2014:

so to sum up so far: 1) one of them possibly proposed around nov/dec 2013 (or that’s my best guess anyway based on the evidence lol), 2) then zayn shows up with a suspiciously-engagement-looking ring in dec 2013, 3) then all the weirdness with liam’s attendance at zayn’s bday party a month later (possibly also liam’s formal intro to the malik family), 4) then liam takes his barbados trip with his fam (and supposedly sophia lol*) just a couple weeks later while “zayn” stays home and posts family pics (but is very likely secretly on the trip with liam lol which is also possibly zayn’s formal intro the payne family and a belated celebration of their engagement), 5) and then we get the beginning of aunt zileh’s likes, 6) the debut of zayn’s mandala tat, 7) and the 2014 brits wildness…all in the space of like 3 months. and most of it happening in FEBRUARY. what a wild fucking journey right?

*side note/fun fact: liam and his fam were posting stuff regularly throughout the duration of the barbados vacay but there were literally zero pics of sophia posted from this trip until like dec 2014 or sometime around then when like ONE random pic suddenly surfaced/was posted and lots of ppl had already speculated that sophia was never there in the first place so once this one pic came up that idea got upgraded to people theorizing that they maybe had some of the fam go back a second time later in the year just to stage take photos to retroactively prove/authenticate the narrative that sophia was there lol

but anyway so back to the actual matter at hand - most of that shit happened in february right? specifically the barbados trip (aka the possible engagement celebration trip)…and when i was talking about all this to a friend we realized ZIAMI WAS ALSO IN FEBRUARY. AND SO WAS THIS YEAR’S VEGAS SHIT. AND THEN. AND THEN. My friend did some research and there was apparently this little known/barely talked about article (or at least barely talked about that i’m aware of) about liam taking a TRIP TO THE MALDIVES IN FEBRUARY 2016… which coincidentally (or not lol considering these shady ass hoes) is also around the same time he got his 4 tattoo (I believe this was the first article, or at least one of the first articles, that mentioned the tat’s debut) 

BUT WAIT. 

THE INSANE SHIT DOES NOT END THERE FOLKS.

GUESS WHICH MONTH THE CARTIER BRACELET FIRST DEBUTED?

FUCKING FEBRUARY 2016.

specifically on liam’s wrist in preparation for the 2016 brits (photo posted to his brits stylist’s ig on feb 23rd). and he didn’t take it off till like june.

so. quick timeline:

february 2016 - maldives trip and debut of liam’s 4 tattoo (around feb 21st); debut of cartier bracelet via liam (feb 23rd); (there was also that valentine’s day roses pic liam posted feb 14th of this year which was quite interesting considering he and c hadn’t even been officially announced as a “thing” yet…ofc we know it still got retroactively attributed to her anyway but whatever, we all know who it was really for lol 😏)

february 2017 - i don’t have anything on this year, partly cause i stopped paying as close attention due to heavy ramping up of stunts, although if anyone has more concrete info on this period that hints at anything please do hit me up and i will add it in, but anyway just based on a little light research there does appear to be a good period of inactivity from both of them during this time (as in both of them had quite a bit of time in february where they were pretty inactive on sm, not being papped, and essentially mia and would have potentially had time to go on a private trip) - UPDATE: HOLY SHIT I CANNOT BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THIS BUT THIS IS THE YEAR LIAM SHOWED UP AT THE BRITS WITH THE MOTHERFUCKING 25 ON HIS JACKET AND FUCKED SIMON ALL THE WAY UP BY SWERVING ON HIS UGLY BITCH ASS SPEECH IN FRONT OF GOD AND ENTIRE WORLD (and i think also thanked zayn in his speech if i’m not mixing that up with another year??) - all on feb 23rd to be specific.

february 2018 - ZIAMI OBVIOUSLY (which specifically started feb 22nd, or at least that’s the day i’m counting it as ‘started’ cause it’s the day liam joined zayn in miami, can’t recall the exact day zayn arrived but pretty sure it was only a couple days before that)

february 2019 - zayn starts wearing this distinctive fishhook earring in all his ig pics, which on the surface seems like a pretty small thing, but quite possibly commemorates their famous august 2014 fishing trip (directly after which he also started wearing a fish hook pendant on a necklace back in 2014); this was also another period they were pretty quiet/mia as far as i can recall, although again if anybody has more concrete info from this time that could point to something please let me know, but anyway point being they again would have had a good chunk of time to possibly go on a private trip together

february 2020 - VEGAS BABY

ofc i’m sure you all will notice one year was left out - february 2015 they were on tour with no breaks coming anytime soon so they obviously weren’t able to go on a trip that year. BUT. february 14th 2015 (aka valentine’s day lol) is also the day liam was famously papped with some small shopping bags that looked suspiciously but precisely like the type that usually come from a jewelry store, and then later that same night they had a performance (for otra tour) where we have zayn pictured wearing a new gold bracelet (as in he hadn’t been seen wearing it ever before on tour or anywhere else) - btw the op of this linked post actually marks this day as the debut of the cartier bracelet but there’s a lot of counter speculation that it’s not and given that it doesn’t quite look like the cartier bracelet looked in later pics (it’s more round and more gold than the cartier bracelet which imo looks more angular and more kind of a two-tone/silvery-gold than this vday bracelet) i’m inclined to lean more towards it just being a regular but still very sweet vday-gifted bracelet. but anyway back to more important stuff. now considering this was literally just a little over a month before zayn left - and one of my theories for zayn leaving was that it was possible he felt it was the only way to save his relationship with liam…i mean if they were still giving each other vday presents they were clearly still VERY in love at this point. like that’s not the kind of thing you’d expect from a couple that was on the rocks and on the verge of breaking up and i know a lot of ppl (myself included for a brief minute) speculated that zayn leaving the band meant he maybe left liam too/or things weren’t working out b/t them or whatever, but given this context of the vday gifts just a few weeks before him leaving that doesn’t really line up…what does line up though is him being so in love and so sick of the bs that he might be driven to just be done with it all (as far as the stress of the band and mgmt bs is concerned at least). and ofc liam did say that zayn is the most emotionally impulsive/emotionally driven out of all them so when you think about it it really shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise…

anyway, in conclusion: 

it appears quite possible ziam has made it a couples tradition (ever since that first honeymoonish vacay in 2014) to go on some sort of trip/getaway together around the end of every february (or at least do something special together/for each other when they can’t) and in further conclusion I AM NOT OKAY AND WILL NEVER BE OVER THIS REALIZATION OKAY THANKS BYE 😭😭😭😭😭🌈🌈🌈 

[unexpectedreylo]

Closing Arguments For Reylo

After it seems like we’ve spent a year anticipating this movie--from the film wrap in February to the teaser trailer in April to the Vanity Fair stuff in June to the D23 trailer at the end of August to the Road To TROS stuff to this final trailer and the onslaught of press for the film--we’re finally in the home stretch.  

Who will live?  Who will die?  Will Reylo ride off into the sunset, a HEA at last for a Star Wars couple, will it end in tragedy or worse yet, will it end in a vague incoherent muddle?  After all, no fairy tale ends with “they lived ambiguously ever after.”

I think we’re all going to be nervous sitting in the theater come Dec. 18-20 because whether we believe “leaks” or not, we’re just not going to know for sure until we see the film.  I’m almost as nervous about their misusing/under-using Adam in this film as I am about the filmmakers blowing Reylo.

Yet of all of the sequel films, I’m the most confident about this one going in.  This is the last film in this story and it’s not going to end with the message that the Skywalker family was somehow a mistake or some curse upon the galaxy that needed to be eliminated, while the few positive aspects about the Skywalkers are handed off to Rey because she’s such a nice girl.  It’s not going to end like Romeo and Juliet.  It’s not going to end without redemption for Kylo Ren/Ben Solo.  The final chapter in the series is not only going to redeem him but everyone else who screwed up before him.  It’s going to end this conflict and a Jedi Order 2.0 is going to arise.  There will be a big party at the end.  It will give you cavities and possibly blood sugar spikes.  

As far as I’m concerned, Rey and Ben being together--in LOVE--is an integral part of that happy ending.  Cinderella gets her prince.  Beauty finds true love with the man who had been the Beast.  Anastasia marries Christian Grey and has a baby.  There’s just no such thing as a heroine who cheerfully ends up without her lover and in spite of what a lot of people think, Star Wars spends far more time utilizing traditional storytelling tropes (though in new ways) than subverting them.  Like I wrote in my piece about gothic romances, the woman gets the man, the manor, and the money.  Rey walks into TROS already with the metaphorical substitutes for the manor (the Falcon) and the money (the objects associated with the Skywalker family).  She’s already in with her potential mother-in-law.  All she needs is for Ben to show up to the metaphorical/literal wedding.

And everything is pointing toward that happening.  I’m not saying TROS will end with Ben and Rey in a wedding or Rey waddling about preggers.  Maybe it will end that way, maybe it won’t.  But it will at minimum pair them together a la Han and Leia at the end of ROTJ.  

First, let’s take on the only legitimate, in-universe obstacles to Rey and Ben being in a romantic relationship.  No, I don’t mean that they could be related.  What I do mean is that there are two things that would prohibit romance:  one is obvious...no Bendemption.  But I’m certain it is going to happen.  The other is the old school Jedi prohibition against forming attachments, including romantic relationships.  Many fans expect this deeply unpopular rule to be cast aside.  But in the name of fairness, it bears pointing out that so far, this deeply unpopular rule hasn’t been cast aside in the movies.  Sure there was a bit in the TLJ novel implying Luke wasn’t fond of this deeply unpopular rule but on the other hand, he lived it.  Generalissima Leia did lots of other things but never became a Jedi herself.  Maybe she was too busy.  Or maybe she’d rather bonk Han to her heart’s content than become a space nun.  There’s been some recent news that Leia was originally set to finally take up the Jedi mantle in the last ST film, something that obviously changed after Carrie’s passing in 2016.  Note that this would have been after Leia had become a widow.  Several months ago I’d listened to a podcast containing an interview with former Lucasfilm employee J.W. Rinzler.  He revealed that while the expanded universe was allowed to go nuts with Jedi romances and marriages, Lucas kept grumbling that “Jedi aren’t supposed to marry!”  He disliked Mara Jade partially for this reason.

Of every argument against Reylo happening that is the one that no one seems to take seriously yet it’s far more likely to be an issue than a sudden revelation of Rey Skywalker-Solo.  The question is were Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams willing to say, “Hey George, your rule sucks so we’re gonna throw it out” to Lucas’s eternal annoyance?  Or, is the coupling of Rey and Ben supposed to have happened all along, even in Lucas’s drafts?  Are Rey and Ben a glaring exception to the rule?

My argument is that they are going to be an exception.  Reylo is not just about hot people hooking up, it’s about mystical forces coming together in a union that will bring the peace and stability that has evaded the galaxy since the Clone Wars.  In other words, it’s a divine marriage.  Ben and Rey are not ordinary Force users.  They are extraordinary among the extraordinary.  We already know Ben’s tremendous raw power comes from being literally the great-grandson of the Force itself.  Rey I’m sure is something very similar, a demigoddess of sorts.  Ben and Rey will demonstrate one can love deeply without it corrupting into selfishness, possessiveness, obsession, and everything else that led Anakin into believing killing his comrades to save Padmé was a really good idea.

Okay, let’s look at some hard evidence.

What’s the one word that keeps coming up over and over again with Rey and Kylo/Ben?

Intimacy.

Or some variation thereof:

“At the premiere I heard somebody in the balcony say, “Yesssss!” You can see Adam was training hardcore throughout the whole process. It’s fun but it also has a specific purpose, which is the increasing feeling of uncomfortable intimacy. That was sticking with the theme of trying to give Rey the hardest thing you could possibly give her, which would be unavoidable intimate conversation with this person that she wants to just hate. This was just one more way of upping that ante.”--Rian Johnson, Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2017

“It’s all about those Force connection scenes. The keyword being intimacy. And the idea that this was a way to just, why not step that up?(...)And so it was just another way of kind of disrobing Kylo literally and figuratively a little bit more, and pushing that sense of these conversations becoming increasingly more intimate.”--Rian Johnson, People magazine Dec. 23, 2017

“They just had this horrific fight, but Rian wanted this incredible intimacy and this cascading, twinkling waterfall of sparks from the fight before.”--Ben Morris, ILM Visual Effects Supervisor, Collider Dec. 25, 2017

“Even to the point where Adam flew to Ireland just to be off camera for Daisy’s stuff, which was essential because they’re such intimate conversations.”--Rian Johnson, People magazine Jan. 6, 2018

“That came about first and foremost from wanting a sense of intimacy”--Rian Johnson, Force of Sound Documentary Feb. 20, 2018

“And have it, you’re in their heads with just that intimacy.”--Matthew Wood, Supervising Sound Editor, Skywalker Sound Feb. 20, 2018

“Having a big sound there just didn’t have the intimacy that the scene demanded. It can be so hard to get the balance right to where the audience is feeling the same thing as the characters.”--Michael Semanic, Re-recording mixer Skywalker Sound, Postperspective Feb. 21, 2018

“But we fall back on romance because it's the best analogue we have. Rey and Kylo's relationship is more intimate than that. They've literally been in each other's minds. Rey's seen his deepest fears; he's seen the past she's buried. None of us have had that experience.”

“My point is romance may not be the endpoint of that. (Though it may be.) The analogue may be misleading, because it's an analogue. Their connection is deeper and stranger and far more complicated. I think TFA/TLJ covers those complications wonderfully, with Ep IX promising more.”--Jason Fry on Twitter Nov. 26, 2018

“At times it’s more intimate, sometimes less intimate.”--Adam Driver, Entertainment Weekly, December 2019

Relationships that are intimate aren’t necessarily romantic or sexual in nature but in modern parlance, it’s often used as a euphemism for a romantic or sexual relationship, or for sex itself i.e. “Tyler and Kaitlyn weren’t intimate until they got married.”  Because of that, it would be hella weird if they described a familial or friendly relationship in this way.  If I didn’t want my audience to believe there’s anything that could possibly be sexual happening between my characters--especially between an eligible attractive man and an eligible attractive woman--I would avoid using the term “intimate.”

If that doesn’t sell it for you, consider these statements:

“It’s the closest thing we’ll ever get to a sex scene in Star Wars”--Rian Johnson re the hand touch in TLJ.  (Who the hell says that about cousins?  Or just friends?)

“it is certainly true there is a romantic drama...”--Rian Johnson, some Japanese interview from 2017.   (By the way this was misquoted into stating there was no romance in TLJ at all.)

“I (Rian) disagreed with John (Williams) twice regarding the score. For example, there's a scene where Kylo Ren and Rey touch hands, before they are interrupted by Luke Skywalker. When John wrote the score (for this scene), he was very protective of Rey's character, exactly as is Luke. Kylo ('s presence) was menacing, musically speaking. It's a valid point of view, but I didn't think of the scene like that. I wanted it to stay on Rey's POV: I wanted that we could believe in this romance.”--Rian Johnson, Classica magazine April 25, 2019 (Note: this is an interview from English to French then translated here and here back to English but the word “romance” is the same in both languages.)

The above statements and various others we’ve all seen over the years are helpful to explain what we’ve seen in the past two films:  they’re building toward something.

On one level, the filmmakers are building toward another alliance between our space children, like what they had in TLJ.  It’s obvious that they will need to team up to defeat Palpatine because who else could?  It’s also obvious that they are key to the Force being in balance.  There has been interesting speculation on Twitter about how those forces will come together and the symbolism of a marriage by uniting mystical objects.

But being Force buddies in a tag team match against Palpatine isn’t quite high enough stakes.  Nor is “might makes right” the message of Star Wars.  These two have to be willing to fight for each other, to the death if necessary.  They have to have something to live for as well.  They have to have the secret sauce that Darth Sidious doesn’t have.  And what I’m talking about is love.  Not just the compassionate love of agape (that’s what Anakin was talking about in AOTC but he meant it differently of course) or the friendship love of philia but also the powerful, creative love of eros.  It’s basically what was happening in the throne room scene in TLJ.  They were fighting for each other and the future they saw when they touched hands.  Come on, nobody is going to do any of that just to find an apprentice or to convince someone to join an insurrection you barely spent any time with yourself.

A divine marriage between the two most powerful Force users will end the war and herald in a new age.   Either they are a new incarnation of the Prime Jedi or they will become the mother and father to this incarnation.

Plus they will kiss and get in a lot of nookie.  The end.

Credits:  r/starwarsspeculation, @reylo-evidence-collection, r/starwarscantina, @reylo5 (Instagram),

[andromeda1023]

Telescope maker Meade files for bankruptcy

On Nov. 26, a jury for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found the company liable in an antitrust suit that Orion Telescopes & Binoculars filed against Meade and its parent company, Chinese-owned Ningbo Sunny Electronic Co. The verdict was initially reported by legal news site Law360.

Orion is a California-based retailer that sells telescopes and related accessories. Its website sells telescopes under its own brand name, as well as products from Meade and other brands. Meade is one of the largest distributors and manufacturers of telescopes for amateur astronomers. (Both companies are Astronomy magazine advertisers.)

Meade is a household name in the astronomy community. The company has been making and selling affordable telescopes and accessories since the 1970s and is known for including convenient GPS and error-correcting features in its telescope mounts.

"They brought numerous likable products and innovations to the market," said Bart Fried, an amateur astronomer and vice president of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York.

Meade says it's not going anywhere. But if Meade were to disappear, customers could lose support for their existing Meade products, Fried said.

It could also be a big blow to the availability and selection of Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes on the market. Meade and fellow telescope manufacturer Celestron are the two main producers of this type of telescope.

Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes squeeze a long focal length — good for high-power observing — into a compact package. It’s a popular type of telescope among amateur observers, Fried said.

“You basically end up with a big telescope in a small package,” Fried said.

In a legal complaint filed back in 2016, Orion accused Meade’s parent company of working with another major Chinese telescope manufacturer to fix prices and monopolize the American telescope market. The other company settled with Orion before the suit was filed and is not named in the complaint.

After the jury’s verdict, a U.S. District Court judge on Dec. 5 ruled that Meade and Ningbo Sunny must pay damages to Orion. According to the jury’s verdict — linked to from Orion’s website — Meade owes the retailer at least $16.8 million. However, the amount owed could triple because of the Sherman Antitrust Act, bringing the total closer to $50 million.

The text of Meade Instruments’ bankruptcy filing claims debts between $10 million and $50 million. And according to reporting by Bloomberg News, Meade now intends to sell itself. When reached by email, the company did not confirm the report. 

Meade is still selling products on its site as usual. In posts on Facebook, Meade Instruments stated, “We will continue to support our products, our customers, and our network of dealers throughout this process. Our customers will remain our highest priority. We thank you for your valued support and look forward to continuing the Meade name.”

The telescope industry is no stranger to such legal fights.

In 2002, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission blocked Meade from acquiring Celestron, saying the merger would potentially lead to a monopoly on Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.

And, according to reporting from Sky & Telescope, Meade and Celestron lobbed a series of lawsuits at one another with accusations of patent infringement about GoTo telescope technology starting in 2001. They mutually resolved the dispute in 2006. That same year, Star Instruments and RC Optical Systems (now Deep Sky Instruments) sued Meade and some of its dealers on claims of false advertising. Meade settled out of court in 2008.

Then, in 2013, Chinese manufacturing company Ningbo Sunny bought Meade Instruments, outbidding Orion and other competitors. That purchase was also part of Orion's complaint, with the company claiming Ningbo Sunny worked with another major telescope manufacturer to purchase Meade. Orion also said it was charged higher prices than another competitor was charged. The Nov. 26 jury verdict for Orion’s antitrust case against Ningbo Sunny found that the company “engaged in anticompetitive conduct” and “had a specific intent to achieve monopoly power in the telescope manufacturing market.”

“Our manufacturers based in China have been conspiring for years to put us out of business so that their own brands can dominate the market and raise prices,” Orion president Peter Moreo said in a press release in April when a federal court ruled that the case could proceed to trial.

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2020/01/telescope-maker-meade-files-for-bankruptcy

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

The first phase of the impeachment process is over, and according to our impeachment tracker, public opinion on impeaching and removing President Trump has remained largely steady through most of November, with roughly 47 percent of Americans supporting impeachment and 44 percent opposed. And in our latest survey with Ipsos, where we check back in with the same group of respondents every two weeks using Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel, we uncovered a similar trend.

A majority of Americans (57 percent) still think Trump committed an impeachable offense, which is essentially identical to the share who said so in mid-November when we first asked the question. There was one relatively small but noteworthy shift between the first and second rounds of our survey. After the first round of hearings, where witnesses testified that Trump and his allies had been involved in the push for investigations into Joe Biden and his son, respondents were more likely to agree that Trump withheld military aid to pressure the Ukrainians into opening an investigation. In our initial survey, 56 percent of respondents said they believed this happened, but in the latest poll, that number rose to 63 percent. Democrats are still, however, much more likely than Republicans to think that Trump conditioned the aid on the investigations.

Overall, though, opinion on impeachment seems to have hardened as a result of the public testimony instead of persuading people to change their position. For instance, a majority of respondents (58 percent) said that the hearings did shift their thinking on whether Trump committed an impeachable offense, but in almost all cases they simply became more convinced of their original opinion. Ninety-five percent of people who said the hearings made them more likely to think Trump committed an impeachable offense already said they thought he committed an impeachable offense in the first wave of our poll. Similarly, 95 percent of those who said the hearings made them less likely to think Trump committed an impeachable offense already thought his behavior wasn’t impeachable.1

Americans are split on whether Congress should decide Trump’s fate

Many Americans appear to have made up their minds about whether Trump committed an impeachable offense, but what do they think should happen to Trump next? This time, we asked respondents how they thought the impeachment process should end for Trump: Should he be impeached by the House and removed from office by the Senate? Or should his fate be decided in the 2020 election? Respondents were slightly more likely to say that the voters should determine what happens to Trump’s presidency (51 percent), while 47 percent said Congress should impeach him and remove him from office.

This means that 12 percent of respondents in our survey believed that Trump committed an impeachable offense, but that he should not be impeached and removed by Congress. Notably, Democrats were more likely than Republicans to occupy this middle ground. Just about 17 percent of Democrats believe that Trump committed an impeachable offense but his fate should be decided by the voters, rather than Congress, compared to only 7 percent of Republicans.

It’s important not to overstate the influence of the people who believe Trump committed an impeachable offense but should not be removed, given that they constitute a relatively small slice of Americans overall. But this group could still be significant for Democrats looking to draw more people into the pro-impeachment camp, since the fact that they’re already convinced of the severity of Trump’s behavior (and mostly identify as Democrats) could mean they remain somewhat persuadable.

Most Americans don’t think Ukraine interfered

Our survey also suggests that one of Trump’s defenders’ key arguments isn’t really landing. Throughout the hearings, Republicans in Congress have repeatedly floated an inaccurate theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election, using the idea as a justification for why Trump would want to ask Ukraine for investigations in the first place. But according to our survey, the idea that Ukraine interfered isn’t gaining much traction with the public. Only 30 percent of Americans believe that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election. By contrast, 71 percent of Americans believe that Russia interfered with the 2016 election. And the theory isn’t even resonating broadly among Trump’s supporters: Republicans aren’t any likelier than Democrats to think that Ukraine meddled in 2016.

There is one group, though, where a substantial chunk of respondents do believe Ukraine interfered in 2016: Fox News viewers. More than 4 in 10 respondents who say they predominantly watch Fox News say that Ukraine did interfere in the 2016 election, a higher share than among respondents who get their news from other networks. Fox News viewers were also less likely than other respondents to believe that Russia interfered with the last presidential election.

Fox viewers are most likely to believe Ukraine interfered

Share of respondents in an Ipsos/FiveThirtyEight poll who said they think Ukraine or Russia interfered in the 2016 election, by the TV news network they predominantly watched

SHARE THAT BELIEVE IN INTERFERENCE BY … TV Network TOTAL Ukraine Russia Fox 332 44.2%

–

56.3%

–

CBS 174 35.3

–

76.0

–

ABC 184 33.1

–

72.9

–

NBC 176 29.4

–

73.2

–

CNN 171 29.2

–

89.1

–

MSNBC 108 10.5

–

90.7

–

Other 100 38.7

–

78.5

–

Don’t watch 476 21.4

–

65.7

–

From a poll with 1,726 respondents, conducted from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2. TV news network information comes from wave 1 of the poll, conducted Nov. 13 to Nov. 18.

It makes sense that Fox News viewers are more likely to believe that Ukraine interfered, since Trump himself recently laid out the debunked theory on “Fox & Friends.” Overall, though, the fact that the narrative hasn’t gained widespread purchase even among rank-and-file Republicans isn’t especially good news for Trump’s defenders. As the impeachment process moves forward, both sides may find it increasingly difficult to change Americans’ minds.

[aeroplaneblues]

2018 I wanted to draw more comics, which I did, from fanart to collab to original! Even tho some were short, I did finished 12 pages of my collab comic Weekend Warrior :D

Tbh, I felt like I didn’t do much this year, specially because I took too much time finishing stuffs. So my improvement throughout the year isn’t apparent, however now I know where I want to take my art to and the areas I want to improve, so that is the valuable thing I got this year.

Next year I want to work more on my technical skills, comics and my style to be more focus for a teen/YA target. Thank you so much for your support here is to a better art year in 2019!💪🏻✨

2018: Jan || Feb || Mar || Apr || May || Jun || Jul || Aug || Sep || Oct || Nov || Dec

Previous: 2014 || 2015 || 2016 || 2017

[kriber]

Aaaand I made an art summary thing! I scoured my computer for art and found at least one pic for every month (2015 not included), so I compiled them all into this masterlist! Read under cut for my further thoughts on each month

2015:

Jan- I saw a youtubers as pokemon thing and did one myself,,, when I had only MS Paint as an art source. So naturally it’s shit

Feb-Apr- Nothing found.

May- Just edits of mlp bases

June- Wow! A catte!! Yes that’s a cat

July- I was just doing base drawings and two drawings in the mlp style (sorta? it’s not good)

Aug- More edits

Sep- Drawing humans/minecraft characters for the first time!

Oct- I know it wasn’t supposed to be scary but holy shit that haunts my dreams

Nov- I both drew on bases and my own. It was left unnoticed by all,,

Dec- Ok yea it fucking sucks so bad but the concept of it is even worse,,,

2016:

Jan- My first drawing of my persona! Still stuck in MS Paint land tho

Feb- Aaand we leave MS Paint land and venture into Alpaca/Medi, with what was once my old ponysona. This was a wip and my first experience with layers and when I got my first tablet!

Mar- We Do Not Discuss This One.

Apr- That was for a school project. It’s a humanization of pinkeye,,,

May- NewScapePro’s Undertale series kicked off and I loved it and drew some,, flattering fanart. Remastered 2 years later

June- I was told to draw my persona cosplaying my fav chara. It’s not,, bad? At least the face isn’t too bad. The body sucks ass fgdjkhbdsjkg

July- Genderbends aren’t bad at all!!1!11!!1 And my art is good too!!1!!1

Aug- This actually isn’t that bad. The shading needs work but it really isn’t bad at all.

Sep- Oh yea I went back to MS Paint land to draw this :/// Never Again

Oct- I Have Entered My Homestuck Phase. (fyi that’s an AU Karkat)

Nov- A troll I made. He’s much better drawn nowadays trust me

Dec- Ok now this is a step into the right direction. Before this point I was using the pixel tool, which was a strict 1-3 pixel brush with no fade at the tips. I didn’t know about turning anti-aliasing off yet and hated when it wasn’t pixely (still do) due to a shitty tablet. This is when I figured it out and life got infinitely better.

2017:

Jan- Now things are better. I turned on anti-aliasing again? for some reason??? and went through a brief Eddsworld phase. I made an au and still kinda like the designs I made for it

Feb- fuckin sexy art there

Mar- Ok anti-aliasing is gone again but HOLY SHIT THOSE ARMS. WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE. Remastered a year later

Apr- Just full of hs sprites but I found some customs and they were.. not good. But we can see progression into my current style

May- what did i do here i feel Dirty

June- A piece I did for DA’s pride month thing that I’m still happy with it. Has some issues but overall not bad!

July- I tried to use multiply layers without having a multiply layer on. But the art style is coming in to my current one slowly but surely!

Aug- I stole images off google and used them for backgrounds. Not the best business practice

Sep- I didn’t find any real digital art tbh :/

Oct- Aaand we enter the Ninjago time of my life! Art is marginally better than before and actually looks presentable.

Nov- Aww my first Bruise fanart!! And me experimenting with backgrounds and art techniques 

Dec- Progression of my talent is visible here,, also of my Gay

2018:

Jan- Still not my style but I was into v3 now so I made some art experimenting with brushes

Feb- Edgy Shit but it’s legit good now

Mar- I have no idea how to proportion here but the style is coming in well!

Apr- This was a diversion from the current style to make smth look pretty but my style is almost there!!

May- Same as above but also profile practice

June- All throughout June art it was almost the same as my style now! Look at that!!!

July- Some great art came from this time, art style is now the current one.

Aug-Dec- The art style is solidified and I actually like this art so much more,,,

Look at how far I’ve come with my art! I know I have like three followers on my main but I’m glad I got to share and compile this! Yea my old art fucking sucks ass

[patriotsnet]

Is Congress Made Up Of Democrats Or Republicans

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/is-congress-made-up-of-democrats-or-republicans/

Is Congress Made Up Of Democrats Or Republicans

How Are The Results Reported

Ryan Grim: The GOP Made A Titanic BLUNDER In Blowing Up Kyrsten Sinemas Vacation

The election results on this page are reported by the Associated Press . AP call the winner in a state when they determine that the trailing candidate has no path to victory. This can happen before 100% of votes in a state have been counted.

Estimates for the total vote in each state are also provided by AP. The numbers update throughout election night, as more data on voter turnout becomes available.

Isan Mix Of The House By State

As of July;30,2021:

State ranked in partisan order Percentage OH-11: Vacant following Congresswoman Fudge‘s resignation Mar. 10, 2021.OH-15: Vacant following Congressman Stivers‘s resignation May 16, 2021. Texas FL-20: Vacant following Congressman Hastings‘s death on Apr. 6, 2021. Georgia State ranked in partisan order Percentage

Annual Congressional Competitiveness Report 2020

Ballotpedia’s Annual Congressional Competitiveness report for 2020 includes information on the number of elections featuring candidates from both major parties, the number of open seats, and more.

HIGHLIGHTS

More U.S. House races were contested by members of both major parties than in any general election since at least 1920, with 95.4% of races featuring major party competition.

Of the U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators who were eligible to run for re-election in 2018, 55 of them did not appear on the general election ballot in 2020.

In the 53 open seats where an incumbent either did not seek re-election or was defeated in a primary, there were 13 races where the incumbent’s district overlapped at least one pivot county in 2008 and 2012, before switching to support President Donald Trump in 2016).

In 20 races, only one major party candidate appeared on the general election ballot, the lowest number compared to the preceding decade.

Four U.S. senators and 36 U.S. representatives did not run for re-election.

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Th Congress 2009 And 2010

White House: Democrat

House: Democrats held 257 seats, Republicans held 178 seats

Senate: Democrats held 57 seats, Republicans held 41 seats; there was one independent and one independent Democrat

*Notes: U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter was reelected in 2004 as a Republican but switched parties to become a Democrat on April 30, 2009. U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut was reelected in 2006 as an independent candidate and became an Independent Democrat. U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont was elected in 2006 as an independent.

Th Congress 2011 And 2012

Members of the 112th Congress were elected in a 2010 midterm election “shellacking” of the Democratic Party. Republicans won back the House two years after voters handed control of the White House and both chambers of Congress to the Democrats.

After the 2010 midterms, Obama said:

“People are frustrated. They’re deeply frustrated with the pace of our economic recovery and the opportunities that they hope for their children and their grandchildren. They want jobs to come back faster.”

White House: Democrat

House: Republicans held 242 seats, Democrats held 193 seats

Senate: Democrats held 51 seats, Republicans held 47 seats; there was one independent and one independent Democrat

Don’t Miss: Who Is Right Republicans Or Democrats

Us Election : Democrats’ Hopes Of Gaining Control Of Senate Fade

Democrats are rapidly losing hope of gaining control of the US Senate after underperforming in key states.

Controlling the Senate would have allowed them to either obstruct or push through the next president’s agenda.

The party had high hopes of gaining the four necessary seats in Congress’s upper chamber, but many Republican incumbents held their seats.

The Democrats are projected to retain their majority in the lower chamber, the House, but with some key losses.

With many votes still to be counted, the final outcome for both houses may not be known for some time.

Why don’t we have a winner yet?

Among the disappointments for the Democrats was the fight for the seat in Maine, where Republican incumbent Susan Collins staved off a fierce challenge from Democrat Sara Gideon.

However, the night did see a number of firsts – including the first black openly LGBTQ people ever elected to Congress and the first openly transgender state senator.

The balance of power in the Senate may also change next January. At least one run-off election is due to be held that month in Georgia, since neither candidate has been able to secure more than 50% of votes.

This year’s congressional election is running alongside the battle for the White House between Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Of the 35 Senate seats up for grabs, 23 were Republican-held and 12 were Democrat.

Senators serve six-year terms, and every two years a third of the seats are up for re-election.

What Does The Republican Party Stand For

The Republican Party was initially created to advocate for a free-market economy that countered the Democratic Partys agrarian leanings and support of slave labour. In recent history, the Republicans have been affiliated with reducing taxes to stimulate the economy, deregulation, and conservative social values.

Read Also: How Many Democratic Presidents Have Republicans Tried To Impeach

Diversity Of The Freshman Class

The demographics of the 116th U.S. Congress freshmen were more diverse than any previous incoming class.

At least 25 new congressional representatives were Hispanic, Native American, or people of color, and the incoming class included the first Native American women, the first Muslim women, and the two youngest women ever elected. The 116th Congress included more women elected to the House than any previous Congress.

Compromise Of : The 1876 Election

Texas Democrats Ramp Up Fight Against New GOP Suppression Attempt

By the 1870s, support was waning for the racially egalitarian policies of Reconstruction, a series of laws put in place after the Civil War to protect the rights of African Americans, especially in the South. Many southern whites had resorted to intimidation and violence to keep blacks from voting and restore white supremacy in the region. Beginning in 1873, a series of Supreme Court decisions limited the scope of Reconstruction-era laws and federal support for the so-called Reconstruction Amendments, particularly the 14th Amendment and 15 Amendment, which gave African Americans the status of citizenship and the protection of the Constitution, including the all-important right to vote.

Did you know? After the most disputed election in American history, the Compromise of 1877 put Rutherford Hayes into office as the nations 19th president; outraged northern Democrats derided Hayes as His Fraudulency.

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Read Also: When Is The Last Time Republicans Controlled Congress

Senate And House Elections : Full Results For Congress

As well as electing the US president, the country has been voting for senators and members of the House of Representatives. Here are full results from all 50 states

Mon 9 Nov 2020 09.44;GMT Last modified on Tue 15 Dec 2020 14.28;GMT

Mon 9 Nov 2020 09.44;GMT Last modified on Tue 15 Dec 2020 14.28;GMT

The US legislature, Congress, has two chambers. The lower chamber, the House of Representatives, has 435 voting seats, each representing a district of roughly similar size. There are elections in each of these seats every two years.

The upper chamber, the Senate, has 100 members, who sit for six-year terms. One-third of the seats come up for election in each two-year cycle. Each state has two senators, regardless of its population; this means that Wyoming, with a population of less than 600,000, carries the same weight as California, with almost 40 million.

Most legislation needs to pass both chambers to become law, but the Senate has some important other functions, notably approving senior presidential appointments, for instance to the supreme court.

In most states, the candidate with the most votes on election day wins the seat. However, Georgia and Louisiana require the winning candidate to garner 50% of votes cast; if no one does, they hold a run-off election between the top two candidates.

The First Hurdle Is The Organizing Resolution

Incoming Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and outgoing Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will have to agree on a set of rules, known as an organizing resolution, which governs how the Senate works. The organizing resolution determines everything from committee membership and staff budgets, to who gets the best office space.

Even with Harriss tie-breaking vote, Schumer will need McConnells support: passing the organizing resolution requires 60 votes. As a result, Republicans will likely end up with much more power than a minority would usually hold.

The last time the Senate was split 50-50, in 2001, lawmakers agreed on an organizing resolution that allowed both parties to share power. Under that deal, the parties agreed to split committee memberships and staff equally and changed the rules, making it so that if a tie vote prevented a measure from moving out of committee, either the majority or the minority leader could bring the bill to the Senate floor.

Schumer and McConnell may take a cue from that 2001 agreement, but Senate observers note that, in these hyper-partisan times, agreeing on even the rules of the road may be tricky. As partisan as it was in 2000, things have become even more partisan, says Sarah Binder, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.

Read Also: When Did Republicans And Democrats Switch Platforms

A Coalition To Protect Its Self

The modern-day 1st District can trace its origins to the 1960s.

As former Congressman Bill Clay explained in his book,13 Black legislators, 57 Republicans and nine white Democrats from rural areas voted to establish a St. Louis-based district that would be highly possible for an African American to win. In the book, Bill Clay: A Political Voice at the Grassroots,he said the unusual coalition held strong to protect its self-interests.

The newly drawn congressional districts provided representation in the cotton-driven, agricultural economy of the Bootheel section of the southeastern part of the state, maintained a substantial number of Republican voters in the suburban area of St. Louis County, and created a Black-majority district located mostly in the city of St. Louis, Clay wrote. Democrats and Governor , a Democrat, opposed the redistricting proposal. They filed a lawsuit supporting a plan to place the Black population in three separate districts. However, the U.S. Supreme Court thwarted the will of the Democrats and ruled that the district drawn by legislators was legal.

Bill Clay was elected to the 1st Congressional District in 1968. No white candidate has even come close to prevailing in that district since that election. And because of the Voting Rights Act, lawmakers cannot draw the 1st District in a way that diminishes the ability of a racial or language minority to elect its candidates of choice.

Important Dates And Deadlines

The table below lists filing deadlines and primary dates in each state for Democratic Party and Republican Party candidates for congressional and state-level office.

Primary dates and filing deadlines, 2020 State Filing deadline for primary candidates Primary date 04/21/2020 & 05/08/2020 08/04/2020 04/24/2020 & 6/12/2020 05/05/2020 & 06/02/2020 09/01/2020 06/24/2020 07/10/2020

The congressional approval rating indicates public satisfaction in the job performance of the members of the United States Congress. It is the percentage of people polled who responded favorably toward the work of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

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Districts That Flipped In 2018

The map below highlights congressional districts that changed party control in the general elections on November 6, 2018.

The following table lists congressional districts that changed party control in the general elections on November 6, 2018. It also includes 2020 general election race ratings from three outlets.

Flipped congressional districts, 2018

Democrats’ House Targets Vanish As Gop Redraws New Maps

Many of the districts Democrats have contested in recent elections will become safer Republican holds under new GOP-drawn congressional maps.

State Sen. Sollie Norwood points out his district on a poster-sized map in the Capitol rotunda in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. |

09/15/2021 04:30 AM EDT

Link Copied

House Democrats spent the past two elections crowing about ousting Republicans from longtime red districts that had suddenly grown competitive. Now, Republicans are about to make many of those targets disappear from the battlefield entirely.

GOP mapmakers are readying to shore up more than a dozen of the most hotly contested House battlegrounds from the past four years, narrowing Democrats path to maintain control of the House, as they prepare for midterm elections that are historically tough for the party in power.

Democrats got their first taste of a shrinking playing field on Tuesday, when Republican state lawmakers in Indiana unveiled a draft congressional plan that would transform the state’s most competitive district into a relatively safe red seat by siphoning off voters in deep-blue Marion County, whichincludes Indianapolis.

Just like that, Indiana’s 5th District, where both parties spent well over $10 million last year, became an easy hold for freshman GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz.

By HEATHER CAYGLE, SARAH FERRIS and ALLY MUTNICK

By ALLY MUTNICK

But new district lines will ease their path to their reelections, at least for the next few elections.

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Senate Republicans Arent Interested In Compromise It May Be Time For Democrats To Use Plan B

No one would think of blaming Sen. Joe ManchinJoe ManchinOvernight Energy & Environment Presented by the League of Conservation Voters Biden, Xi talk climate at UN forumElection reform in the states is not all doom and gloomManchin presses Interior nominee on leasing program reviewMORE for shrinking West Virginias population by 3.5 percent since 2010, one of only three states that lost people over the last decade. There are lots of economic and demographic dynamics that accounted for the drop.

But given that the Mountaineer State will lose a House seat and an electoral vote, one should question whether Manchin should be determining the fate of multiple bills in the U.S. Senate. For the record, I really dont mind that Sen. Manchin says he only wants to make sure that West Virginia has a seat at the table. What I do mind, and what every American concerned about our democracy should mind, is that he now apparently thinks he gets to decide what everyone at the table will eat.

In The Federalist Papers, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wrote that while the Senate was designed in a way to ensure that the majority didnt ride roughshod over the minority , those two Founding Fathers insisted that the majority must eventually always win; that minority rule was antithetical to a democracy. Common sense tells us that this is still the case in 2021, Trump Nation notwithstanding.

Yarmuth represents the 3rd District of Kentucky and is chairman of the Budget Committee.

Since 1: Contemporary Era

GOP lawmaker: Democrats turned impeachment into a big political fiasco

From 1970 to 2009, the House expanded delegates, along with their powers and privileges representing U.S. citizens in non-state areas, beginning with representation on committees for Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner in 1970. In 1971, a delegate for the District of Columbia was authorized, and in 1972 new delegate positions were established for U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. 1978 saw an additional delegate for American Samoa, and another for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands began in 2009. These six members of Congress enjoy floor privileges to introduce bills and resolutions, and in recent Congresses they vote in permanent and select committees, in party caucuses and in joint conferences with the Senate. They have Capitol Hill offices, staff and two annual appointments to each of the four military academies. While their votes are constitutional when Congress authorizes their House Committee of the Whole votes, recent Congresses have not allowed for that, and they cannot vote when the House is meeting as the House of Representatives.

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Can Democrats Reclaim The House

Despite the large Republican majority in the House, a major collapse due to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign could have put the House back in play in 2016. This section highlights what was said by pundits on the possibility of Democrats gaining control of Congress.

John Sides – October 18, 2016: “This model currently predicts that the Democrats will control 204 seats after the 2016 election. That is 16 more than they had after the 2014 election. The margin of error associated with that is plus or minus 8 seats. That forecast implies a very small chance less than 1 percent that the Democrats could win the 218 or more seats needed for a majority.”

Sean Trende – October 8, 2016: “Whats more interesting is the House. When Trump first secured the nomination in March, analysts speculated that he could flip the chamber to Democrats. That speculation subsided over the spring and summer, as Trumps vote share held and Democratic recruiting efforts sputtered. As of today, RealClearPolitics has Republicans favored to lose about 15 House seats a significant loss, but not enough to flip control.”

Jeff Stein – October 8, 2016: “But one political analyst I interviewed earlier this campaign thinks an epic Trump collapse might be enough to overcome that built-in advantage. Geoffrey Skelley, of the University of Virginias Center for Politics, argues that a Clinton victory of 6 points or more might be enough to put the House back in play.”

Incumbents Who Sought Other Offices

U.S. House members who ran for President

1 Democratic member of the U.S. House

Running for president, 2020

U.S. House members who sought a seat in the U.S. Senate

2 Democratic members of the U.S. House

3 Republican members of the U.S. House

Running for Senate, 2020

U.S. House members who ran for governor

1 Republican member of the U.S. House

Running for governor, 2020

U.S. House members who ran for another office

2 Republican members of the U.S. House

1 Democratic member of the U.S. House

Running for another office, 2020 Name No

Also Check: When Did Republicans And Democrats Switch Platforms

[tkmedia]

USWNT has tools to be first to win Olympics after winning World Cup

12:13 PM ETThe countdown is officially on for the Olympic Games and let me tell you: I wasn't entirely convinced we ("we" meaning the world) would make it to Tokyo during a pandemic, but here we are on the threshold. So that was one surprise -- and honestly, it takes a heck of a lot to surprise me these days -- given the year-and-a-half we have lived through. But in this past week, two more pleasant surprises got me as well. They came in the form of Tobin Heath and the International Olympic Committee.Heath seems ready to roar. Yes, she is back. In a race against the clock, the question on everyone's mind heading into the final U.S. women's team roster selection for Tokyo was: Would Heath make it back? And not just back, but fit enough to contribute given the six months she was away from the game due to ankle and knee injuries. Coming into the final two sendoff games for the U.S. against Mexico, Heath had not played for the USWNT since Nov. 20, 2020. Her last competitive match was Dec. 20, 2020 with her club, Manchester United.Heath even admitted to me over the phone recently that "I definitely had a moment in the beginning of my injury where I grieved possibly not making this Olympics. I knew I could give it a try and still not make it. I had to give it everything... really give it everything."2 RelatedAnd give it everything she did."Every day I really, truly had to be checking off all the boxes, doing every possible thing for preparation. I know what is required to play in big tournaments. With that in mind, everything was geared toward not wasting a single second to be where the team needed me to be."That attention to detail became abundantly clear against Mexico. In her first touch off the bench in the 74th minute during the July 1 game, she immediately tracked back to win a ball defensively, spun to get the ball back straight away in transition, and scored (of course) with her second touch of the game, converting from way outside the box.Welcome back, indeed.The USWNT have a strong squad, endless energy and plenty of options heading into the rescheduled Olympics. Now comes the hard part: putting it all together to win gold and make history. Elsa/Getty ImagesIn the second game against Mexico, her first start for the U.S. since Nov. 20, 2020, Heath scored a goal, smacked a shot off the crossbar that Christen Press (with a little help from Mexico) put away off the rebound, drew what I think should have been a penalty, had another assist to Press that was incorrectly called offside, and created chance after chance in her 45 minutes in the first half.And yes, Mexico is not the caliber of team the U.S. will be facing at the Olympics, but the movement, sharpness and confidence you saw in Heath over two games left you wondering how one could be so sharp having not played in six months. Well, national team coach Vlatko Andonovski and Alex Morgan both summed it up perfectly: that is just Tobin being Tobin.My other pleasant surprise? The roster being increased from 18 to 22 players (each team can dress only 18 players per match). I thought the International Olympic Committee would not do that, even given a pandemic, the short schedule of the Olympics -- six games in 17 days to win it all -- and the heat and humidity of Tokyo. I didn't think they would budge off the 18-player roster.Why? My guess is they didn't want to (1) spend more money; and (2) give the more developed women's soccer nations an advantage (to which I say, why should countries who invest in the women's game be held back, as deeper rosters are something everyone should be aiming for?).In the end, the right decision was made.play2:36Carli Lloyd, Tobin Heath lead the United States to a 4-0 victory over Mexico in their final match before the Olympics.Now to the Games and Group G, which I am calling the Group (that everyone) Guessed, with the U.S., Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.Of course, it was going to be the U.S. and Sweden, a matchup seemingly written in the stars. The U.S. has faced Sweden 41 times, but they've been drawn in the group stage at six major World Championships, five of those coming at the World Cup. And if the historical significance is not enough, Sweden knocked the U.S. out of the 2016 Rio Olympics at the quarterfinals stage, marking the first time they'd ever been eliminated before the final four.Of course, it was going to be New Zealand. Tom Sermanni, head coach of New Zealand, was a former head coach of the USWNT, for a short stint in 2013-2014. He also was the head coach of Australia's women's team in the late-1990s and again in the mid-2000s.Of course, it was going to be Australia, whose head coach is now Tony Gustavsson, former longtime assistant coach with the U.S. women's team under both Pia Sundhage and Jill Ellis, winning two World Cups with Jill and an Olympics with Pia. Tony also hails from Sweden (of course he does). He even acknowledged to me recently that this was in fact the exact group he guessed as well.So there you have it: the group that everyone guessed. Tony knows this U.S. team better than most, by the way, and we saw how that worked out at the last Olympics with Sundhage being at the helm for Sweden, fresh off her time with the U.S. team. This Australia game will be a difficult one.In terms of group G, it's a tough one overall. I would argue that each team is the best team of their respective pots from the Olympic draw. The U.S. plays Sweden on July 21, New Zealand on July 24 and Australia on July 27, and I do like that the U.S. plays Sweden first.Heath, second from left, was at her brilliant best in the Send-Off Series after not playing for over six months due to various injuries. It speaks to the remarkable depth this USWNT squad boasts, something that's always been a strong suit. Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesThe U.S. will be fresh, excited, and bursting at the seams to get out there and play. If the USWNT can get three points from that first game, I think for the second game against New Zealand, we'd see a similar rotation pattern as we've seen throughout Andonovski's tenure as coach. Carli Lloyd will start for Alex Morgan in that second game, with one of the midfielders in the Rose Lavelle/Lindsay Horan/Julie Ertz/Sam Mewis bucket slotting into the rotated midfield trifecta. Plus, to add to that midfield mix: Kristie Mewis and/or Catarina Macario.This is indeed the superpower of the U.S. women at this Olympics: the ability to make 4-5 changes without losing much at all. And finally, for that third game vs. Australia, I think you'd see something similar to the first game in terms of starting lineups, if everyone is healthy. And then from there, the experience and depth of the U.S. really plays a role.Knockout tournament soccer is something the U.S. knows better than anyone else. Of the initial 18 players named to the Olympic roster on June 23, they average 111 international caps per player and have a combined total of 77 Olympic appearances. They also have an average age of 30.8 years, though I think the U.S. women have been at the forefront of redefining how long a woman can play internationally and professionally.And most, if not all, of that U.S. front six will not be playing three games of 90 minutes in the group stages.That is where the full depth of squad will assist the USWNT. Fresh legs will be everything in that heat, as well as with the tight turn between games. Every team at the Olympics, unlike World Cups, has the exact same amount of rest (two days) between games, but not the same amount of fatigue if you are able to rotate your rosters. That is also why that first game against Sweden is so crucial, as three points there puts the U.S. in great shape to use that full rotation. And when you add in Heath and Julie Ertz close to returning from her knee injury, the U.S. roster shuffle just got immensely stronger.So there you have it: an Olympics that will be like no other. No family members in the camp, limited local fans and strict protocols keeping teams inside their bubbles will define this Olympics, but it will also be the best chance the U.S. women have had to do what has never been done before by any other women's team: win the Olympics after winning the Women's World Cup.No-one has done the back-to-back double, and this U.S. team has all the tools to do it. And after a week -- let's be honest, a whole year -- of surprises, this one would be no surprise at all. Read the full article