#unofficial third place poll

[goverment-agency-bracket]

Let’s do a fun, unofficial third place poll!

[eretzyisrael]

by Seth Mandel

ITEM: In Oakland, California, a Jewish woman walks into her son’s seventh-grade classroom on back-to-school night to see a poster that says, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

ITEM: In New York City, on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, angry pro-Palestinian crowds surround a Jewish man and bloody his head with a chair.

ITEM: In Philadelphia, hundreds mob a Jewish-owned restaurant, chanting, “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide; we charge you with genocide.” The restaurant is named Goldie.

ITEM: In Berkeley, California, the only Jewish teacher at an elementary school returns to find her door covered in Post-it notes that say, “Stop bombing babies!”

ITEM: In Chicago, home to the third-largest Jewish population in America, unions organize a high- school walkout in which students call for the destruction of Israel. “I’m incredibly proud of our students for exercising their constitutional rights to be able to speak out and speak up for righteousness,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

ITEM: In Washington, D.C., attendees arriving at a concert by the American-Jewish singer Matisyahu are greeted by a pro-Hamas demonstration.

At school, at work, and at play, American Jews find themselves increasingly ostracized by their peers. On college campuses, the quiet reestablishment of unofficial quotas has, over the course of a generation or two, halved the Jewish enrollment at a selection of elite universities. These days, stories of higher education’s turn against the Jews are ubiquitous. But as the above examples demonstrate, the attempt to cast Jews and Judaism out from the public square—or make Jews extremely uncomfortable inside the public square—has spread far beyond the college quad. And the statistics unambiguously say the same.

In the American Jewish Committee’s comprehensive survey of anti-Semitism in 2023, respondents were asked: “In the past 12 months, have you avoided certain places, events, or situations out of concern for your safety or comfort as a Jew out of fear of antisemitism?” Twenty-six percent—a quarter of U.S. Jews—responded in the affirmative. That is a 10-point increase over last year. In the poll, the number of those who admitted to avoiding “wearing, carrying, or displaying things that might help people identify you as a Jew,” as well as those who said they “avoided posting content online that would identify you as a Jew or reveal your views on Jewish issues,” increased as well.

All of this reflects the modern reality across the country. FBI reports show Jews are the target of more than half of all religiously motivated crimes. According to the Anti-Defamation League, over the course of the three months after October 7, there were more than 600 reported anti-Semitic incidents against Jewish institutions. And the ADL found a nearly 50 percent increase in security costs for Jewish schools in New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

[handwrittenhello]

FAQ/PLMM ROUNDUP

Will you do another poll with [x]?

Maybe? I totally understand the desire for an unofficial do-over without Vriska, which is the most likely to happen out of all possible options. Please don't ask me to run one just for two characters you want to see go head-to-head, though. Contrary to popular belief, I do use this blog for stuff other than ridiculous polls 😂

I've also been asked to run polls with other themes, like blorbos/

If I do end up running something, it won't be until next week.

I'm really mad that there was suspected botting/interference with Vriska's polls!

Me too, bud. Without being able to see exactly who voted what and when, though, there's no way to prove without a doubt that there was. I believe there was, other people believe there was, some people don't believe there was. That's all fine.

Just don't let this color your enjoyment of the competition or other fans/fandoms. Don't let the minority ruin the reputation of the whole.

How do you know the results/it was a tie/it says the final round was 50/50?

Tumblr doesn't show exact percentages or exact vote counts. Supposedly there's a way with API to show it, but I'm not that tech savvy. The way I made decisions was based off of Tumblr highlighting the winner green after the poll ended.

Various messages of support, saying you had fun, saying you're sorry about botting, etc.:

Thank you! I hope you all had fun as well. And thank you for making this silly contest as popular as you did; I didn't expect this to become SO popular and contentious! To everyone who created fanart/shitposts/meta/etc. about the contest, you're great! I and your meow meow thank you for your service.

If you want to unfollow me now that the PLMM contest is over, bye! Hope you enjoyed :) If you want to stay, I'm mostly a fandom blog, some shitposts here and there. I write and make art too.

Under the cut: the full stats spreadsheet, with some notes.

Fun facts: Harry du Bois ended up with 103,156 total votes across all five rounds, the most out of any character. In second place is Vriska Serket, followed by Howl Jenkins.

The hottest race was the final round. The second-hottest was Harry du Bois vs. Howl Jenkins, and the third-hottest was Prince Zuko vs. Vriska Serket.

I'd have loved to have created a graph plotting the contestants' rise and fall, but frankly, that's way too much work lol. If you happen to do so, tag me!

[mymumisasquid]

WINNER OF WHO’S THE BIGGEST IKEMEN WHORE IS IN!!!

263 people voted on this poll, which is pretty much the size of our fandom (I’m kidding…kinda).

In third place with a swirling 16.7% of votes…Nokto Klein! The boy has very unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Second place is…Jin Grandet! Cannot say I’m surprised that 26.6% voted for him, you all clearly love boobs.

And first place.

He’s horny. He’s traumatised. And he is bisexual.

A big congratulations to…

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE!!!

41% chose this Scottish British slut, and given that he’s slept with every woman in France at least twice, I would agree.

Big thanks to everyone who voted and a special mention to @candied-boys for pointing out I missed Charles. Baby or not, my boy is still an unofficial prostitute.

[nocturnalazure]

Story crush poll results

I was waiting to get to the end of the update to comment on the poll results. :) Many thanks to all of the 23 voters! ❤️

Laurie won by a landslide with 39.1% of the votes. I'm actually surprised (and very pleased!), as his father did not tend to be a readers' favorite. Could Lau-Lau actually be liked for more than his smoldering good looks? :D Could it be that I’ve managed to properly portray his complex personality?

Anh is second place (21.7%) which is... not totally a surprise! I had just posted an update in which her bravery was extensively featured and many of you understandably seem to root for her. I think she would be quite smug to be second only to aforementioned Mr. Pretty Boy.

Erik only comes in third (17.4%) when I thought he would effortlessly steal Laurie's place. He can be a handful but he’s so straightforward and raw and honest. And he's conventionally attractive with that rugged look of his. I truly thought he would be everyone’s favorite!

Fourth is Jamie (8.7%), and I just knew he would not come last. :) He's super fun and friendly and I totally understand why people like him.

Next come Omar, Gloria and a mysterious "Other" with 4.3%. I'm glad Omar and Gloria each got a vote, they deserve it! Is the “Other” Sam maybe?

Poor Romeo didn't get any (even if he got an unofficial vote from @solori :D). Granted, he can be kind of boring as a character but he's got an interesting evolution, as he quietly but gradually asserts himself.

I thought a one-week poll was excruciatingly long. But I’ve got a second crucial question to submit to your consideration but I don’t think 24 hours will give everyone enough time to answer. As I’m working on the next update (about half-way done), we need to spend our time wisely, don’t we?

[marinaiguess]

sonic frontiers: the unofficial third installment of the storybook series? think about it. the art styles (the game’s atmosphere but also the official artwork we got so far) bear lots of similarities, the pose on the (japanese) box art is the same, we may have a new super form again, the main antagonist is a female human (of some sorts) and is not eggman, the story revolves around sonic being seen as a bad guy (his reckless actions put the world in danger) and about him being in a bad situation regarding his well-being (first, little fire thing indicating how many days he got left, then, almost gets murdered by dear Merlina and now glitchy arm). he ends up in a place without intending to and is guided by someone who is likely to betray him in the end. 

also, the starfall islands are named after greek gods, so it is somehow related to the past like the previous two storybook games where we had the arabian nights and the medieval times. plus, there was an official (as far as I know) poll back in 2009 that asked participants what would they want the next storybook theme to be. out of the 5 categories, greek myths won :’)

[greatwyrmgold]

I'm kinda curious who should get third place in @parahumans-online's Wormblr Sexywoman contest. And I have access to polls.

[siglai]

Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr.[6][7][8] (born 18 August 1983), known by his stage name Mika (/ˈmiːkə/ MEE-kə, stylised as MIKA), is a Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter.

After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday, Mika was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2007 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2007.[9] Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007, which sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit Award—winning Best British Breakthrough act—and receive a Grammy Award nomination.[10] He topped the UK Singles Chart in January 2007 with "Grace Kelly". He has since gone on to record four more studio albums (most recently My Name is Michael Holbrook released in October 2019), as well as serve as judge/mentor on both the French version of The Voice and the Italian version of X Factor. Mika has also starred in his own television variety show in Italy, Stasera Casa Mika [it], which won the 2017 Rose d'Or Award for Entertainment, and co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.

Contents

1Life and career

1.11983–2006: Childhood and early career

1.22007–2008: Life in Cartoon Motion

1.32009–2010: The Boy Who Knew Too Much

1.42010–2014: The Origin of Love, X Factor Italy and Songbook Vol.1

1.52015–2018: No Place in Heaven

1.62019–2020: My Name Is Michael Holbrook

1.72021–present

2Personal life

3Discography

4Filmography

5Tours

6Awards and nominations

7References

8External links

Life and career

1983–2006: Childhood and early career

Mika was born in Beirut, the third of five children (three sisters Yasmine, Paloma and Zuleika and one brother Fortuné), to an American-born Lebanese mother and an Israeli-born American father, Mary Joan "Joannie" (née Mouakad, daughter of John Mouakad and Odette Farah) and Michael Holbrook Penniman (son of William Frederick Penniman III and Dorothy Dyar). His father was a banker[7][11] and was born in Jerusalem, where his own father – Mika's paternal grandfather William Frederick Penniman III – was a diplomat.[11][12] Mika's maternal grandfather John Mouakad was Syrian (from Damascus).[13][14]

When Mika was a year old, his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris, France.[12][15] The first piano piece he learned to play was "Les Champs-Élysées", by Joe Dassin.[12] At the age of 7, he wrote his first song, a piano instrumental called "Angry", which he describes as "awful".[7] The family moved to London when he was 9 years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying. He also had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences Mika was home-schooled by his mother at the age of 12, for six to eight months.[7] He then attended St Philip's School in Kensington, where he was the head of the Schola Cantorum (the St. Philip's Choir). Later he attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he left to record his first album at Casablanca Records.[16] As a child Mika was trained by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional.

Mika's first single was a limited 7"/download release called "Relax, Take It Easy" (2006). It was play-listed by UK's BBC Radio 1 and was made Record of the Week by DJ Scott Mills. The Dodgy Holiday EP also became available for download. The song "Billy Brown" was available for free download for a week from the iTunes Store. A song titled 'Over-rated', which was recorded in 2004, was "unofficially" released online. His debut radio appearance was on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006.

2007–2008: Life in Cartoon Motion

WHO

[xtruss]

‘War Criminal, Braindead US Lapdog Germany’ Singlehandedly Pays for ‘Half’ of All EU Aid to Ukraine, Minister Reveals

© AFP 2023

Officially, Germany has spent about €17.1 billion (US$18.7 Bln) on military assistance to Kiev for NATO’s ongoing proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, with an additional €3.83 billion (US$4.2 Bln) committed to economic and humanitarian assistance. Unofficially, the figure may be over three times that.

German assistance to Ukraine through European Union institutions accounts for “half” of the bloc’s total assistance to Kiev, and its time for other EU members to pick up the slack, Finance Minister Christian Lindner has revealed.

“At the moment, Germany pays for half of all EU aid to Ukraine. We accept the responsibility because we know what’s at stake,” Lindner said at a recent meeting of the Free Democratic Party – one of the members of Chancellor Scholz’s Traffic Light coalition.

But “it should not happen that Germany does more so that others can do too little,” Lindner added, without naming the countries he thinks aren’t pulling their weight.

Lindner’s comments offer important clues regarding the true extent of German involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, revealing Berlin’s stake to be much larger than previously assumed.

According to the latest figures from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Germany committed some €20.93 billion ($22.9 billion) in military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine between January 2022 and the end of October 2023.

At the same time, the Institute’s figures showed that ‘EU institutions’ committed some €84.84 billion ($92.9 billion) in aid to Kiev over the same period.

If, as Mr. Lindner says, Germany has financed “half” of EU institutions’ assistance, on top of the €20.93 billion sent directly, that would mean German taxpayers have been made to shell out roughly €42.5 billion ($46.5 billion) in additional cash for Kiev. That’s more than double the official bilateral support figure, and adds up to some €63.35 billion in total aid, or close to a third of all NATO expenditures on the proxy war over the past two years.

German citizens and companies have suffered perhaps more than any other major European power over their government’s decision to toe the line on the crisis in relations with Russia over Ukraine, overpaying tens of billions of euros for energy, slipping in and out of recession, facing serious inflationary and price pressures, and seeing industries leave the country for places where energy is cheaper and tax breaks more lucrative – like the United States. Furthermore, independent US investigators believe Washington had a hand in the September 2022 attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline network – which played a key role in ensuring Germany’s energy security. However, the government in Berlin has shied away from a thorough investigation into the act of sabotage which might implicate its 'ally.'

Over 60% of Germans Want to Replace German Chancellor Scholz - Poll. © Sputnik/Stringer/Go to the Mediabank

German opposition leaders have attributed the government’s willingness to continue supporting NATO’s approach to Ukraine and Russia in spite of the country’s economic and security interests to its ruling politicians’ “spinelessness.” The latest opinion polling has found that only a third of Germans currently support the parties of the ruling Traffic Light coalition, with 31 percent preferring the opposition Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union alliance, 23 percent showing a preference for the populist right Alternative for Germany, 4 percent for socialist The Left, and between 6 and 14 percent for former Left lawmaker Sahra Wagenknecht and her new populist left party – the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance.

Under political threat from both the right and the left, Chancellor Scholz has taken the only strategy he feels remains viable – blaming Vladimir Putin for Germany���s economic woes.

— Ilya Tsukanov | Sputnik International | January 8, 2024

[suitcasetales]

“This” Week

2009: Sanibel Island. 2010: Nashville. 2011: Chicago. 2012: Sedona and The Grand Canyon. 2014: Brandywine Valley and Longwood Gardens. New Mexico 2016.

We have a pretty good track record of traveling this particular week. We celebrate the anniversary of our relationship on Thanksgiving. This year was our 35th! For many of those years, we have gone to Williamsburg on Black Friday. This year was no exception but this year we also returned to our sporadic tradition [is it really a tradition if it is sporadic?] of taking a trip the week after Thanksgiving. It is the perfect time to for us to travel. Kids are back in school, adults are back at work, holiday decorations are up and holiday events kick off.

So here we are, on Pawley’s Island in South Carolina, getting to know — thanks to the pandemic — yet another “new beach town to us.” (Other pandemic destinations were Emerald Isle and Topsail Island, both in North Carolina.) We ventured further this trip, traveling 350 miles. Not until the Friday before Thanksgiving was I granted the week off from work so we were lucky to find a small, dog-friendly rental house. Our main view west faces Pawley’s Island Creek and we can walk to the public beach access in about a minute.

And why Pawley’s Island? Well, we can blame that on Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. On Facebook, LGBG has been soliciting votes in a USA Today Readers Choice poll on Best Botanical Garden Holiday Lights. Our beloved LGBG has been solidly in third place. Longwood Gardens, which we visited in 2014 at Christmas, is second to Brookgreen Garden’s Nights of a Thousand Candles and guess what’s five miles away? Yup, you guessed it: Brookgreen Gardens. But that will come later in the week. Meanwhile, we have other things to discover, other places to explore and other delicious food to enjoy.

We have had no problem getting Cokie to walk on the beach here. Well, almost no problem. There was the morning we had to take the truck to the public beach access about 30 feet down the road in order to get her past the workmen at the end of the driveway. Oh Cokie. But the beach here is very wide with hard, easy to walk on sand. The ocean has been lake-like this week, too, so no loud crashing waves to scare her. She cries when she sees other dogs on the horizon and wants to meet them. Lastly, we never have to second-guess ourselves about where to turn up as Cokie’s internal homing pigeon gene never fails.

Starfish!

Monday we spent the afternoon in the lovely historic district of Georgetown. Just 14 miles south, it is the third oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston and Beaufort. With a quick stop at the Visitors Center, we picked up a lunch recommendation, a walking tour brochure and museum tips. A few hours and a delicious lunch along the waterfront later, we had visited two museums (South Carolina Maritime Museum and The Gullah Museum), enjoyed a docent-led tour of the Kaminski House Museum and bought two goats.

Goats? Yes, goats. Fund-raising goats. And goats raising money for a festival? Even better! The sale of these goats benefits the Wooden Boat Show, 32 years old this year. The Maritime Museum read: “If you look across the river, you’ll see an island named Goat Island. There are no goats on the island but we like to think they once roamed around over there. Every year we host a Wooden Boat Show and our sponsor group is known as the Goat Island Yacht Club. There’s no actual yacht club, just a group of supportive people who help keep us going. The goats have become our unofficial mascot and we love them.”

On Tuesday, we went six miles north to Huntington Beach State Park. Shortly after the entrance, we saw birders along the road, watching a cluster of white pelicans in Mullet Pond. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop in the middle of the road and later when we went back to view them safely, they had moved further away. Although we often see brown pelicans along the mid-Atlantic coast, neither of us could recall ever seeing the white ones so that was cool.

Lots of beautiful live oaks in this Park.

We hiked on a nice maritime forest trail with Cokie and then visited the Nature Center. A long boardwalk behind it granted us close-up views of a great blue heron, a great egret and a roseate spoonbill; the latter two stayed in the shadow of the boardwalk. It must have been a good fishing spot with all three species there together.

Our day in the Park concluded with another docent-led tour of a historic home. Atalaya, a National Historic Landmark, was the winter home of Archer (a scholar and philanthropist who inherited his wealth from family who owned several railroads) and sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington. The house was built in 1931 and is in pretty poor condition. The Huntingtons donated a huge chunk of land — 9000 acres — to the State: the side along the Atlantic which is now home to the State Park and the Brookgreen Gardens side across Highway 17.

Amassed by the purchase of four rice plantations and designed by Anna, it contains “the largest and most comprehensive collection of American figurative sculpture in the country,” many of which she made in her studio in Atalaya. Brookgreen is a beautiful place with flowers, trees, Spanish moss, sculptures, fountains, poetry and in December, “Nights of a Thousand Candles.”

Learning more about this couple made sense and led us us full circle back to the very reason we came here during our customary week of adventure.

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Public losing faith in govts, says survey, as virus cases surge (AFP) A survey released Saturday showed governments are fast losing support for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as health officials recorded a surge of more than 280,000 new cases globally two days in a row. As governments worldwide struggle to contain the virus despite long and economically crippling lockdowns imposed on millions of people, a new survey suggested that faith in authorities is dwindling in six rich nations. Populations in France, Germany, Britain, Japan, Sweden and the US widely believed death and infection figures to be higher than recorded, according to the study, which polled 1,000 people in each nation. “In most countries this month, support for national governments is falling,” said the report by the Kekst CNC communications consultancy. One world leader widely criticised over his handling of the pandemic is Brazil’s Bolsonaro, who was diagnosed with coronavirus on July 7. And in the streets of Jerusalem and other cities, thousands called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign, in part for his management of the coronavirus crisis.

Mnuchin: Virus aid package soon, $1,200 checks by August (AP) Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that Republicans were set to roll out the next COVID-19 aid package Monday and assured there was backing from the White House after he and President Donald Trump’s top aide met to salvage the $1 trillion proposal that had floundered just days before. Mnuchin told reporters at the Capitol that extending an expiring unemployment benefit—but reducing it substantially—was a top priority for Trump. The secretary called the $600 weekly aid “ridiculous” and a disincentive for people to go back to work. He also promised a fresh round of $1,200 stimulus checks would be coming in August. Mnuchin’s optimistic assessment came before Democrats weighed in publicly on the updated proposal, which remained only a starting point in negotiations with House and Senate leaders in the other party.

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind (Washington Post) The tear gas started early Friday night, interrupting a line of drums and dancing, chanting protesters, an artist painting in oils underneath a tree in the park and a man with a microphone speaking about the issues of racial justice and policing at the center of these nightly demonstrations. As if on cue, a brigade of orange-shirted men with leaf blowers descended on the cloud, revved their engines and blew the tear gas away. The crowd cheered. The loud, pressurized air machines typically used to clear grass, leaves and other lawn debris are surprisingly effective tools at clearing caustic chemicals from the air. They’re so effective that on Friday night, federal agents frustrated at being caught in up in a redirected cloud of tear gas, showed up to the demonstration with their own handheld blowers. The leaf-blower wars were on. Hardware stores in the Portland area said they hadn’t noticed a rush on leaf-blowers in recent weeks, but several managers noted that summer is typically a hot season for leaf-blower sales.

Tropical Storm Hanna drenches South Texas (AP) A day after roaring ashore as a hurricane, Hanna lashed the Texas Gulf Coast on Sunday with high winds and drenching rains that destroyed boats, flooded streets and knocked out power across a region already reeling from a surge in coronavirus cases. Downgraded to a tropical storm, Hanna hovered over the U.S.-Mexico border with winds near 50 mph (85 kph), the National Hurricane Center said. It was expected to unload as much as 18 inches of rain (45 centimetres) on parts of South Texas and northeastern Mexico. More than 155,000 customers were without power Sunday afternoon throughout South Texas, including Corpus Christi, Harlingen and Brownsville, according to AEP Texas.

Protests Swell in Russia’s Far East in a Stark New Challenge to Putin (NYT) KHABAROVSK, Russia—Watching the passing masses of protesters chanting “Freedom!” and “Putin resign!” while passing drivers honked, applauded and offered high-fives, a sidewalk vendor selling little cucumbers and plastic cups of forest raspberries said she would join in, too, if she did not have to work. The protests in Khabarovsk, a city 4,000 miles east of Moscow, drew tens of thousands of people for a three-mile march through central streets for the third straight week on Saturday. Residents were rallying in support of a popular governor arrested and spirited to Moscow this month—but their remarkable outpouring of anger, which has little precedent in post-Soviet Russia, has emerged as stark testimony to the discontent that President Vladimir V. Putin faces across the country. Across Russia, fear of being detained by the police and the seeming hopelessness of effecting change has largely kept people off the streets. Many Russians also say that whatever Mr. Putin’s faults, the alternative could be worse or lead to greater chaos. For the most part, anti-Kremlin protests have been limited to a few thousand people in Moscow and other big cities, where the authorities usually crack down harshly. But the events in Khabarovsk have shown that the well of discontent is such that minor events can ignite a firestorm. The weekend crowds have been so large that the police have not tried to control them—even though the protesters did not have a permit, let alone a clear leader or organizer.

Officials Push U.S.-China Relations Toward Point of No Return (NYT) Step by step, blow by blow, the United States and China are dismantling decades of political, economic and social engagement, setting the stage for a new era of confrontation shaped by the views of the most hawkish voices on both sides. With President Trump trailing badly in the polls as the election nears, his national security officials have intensified their attack on China in recent weeks, targeting its officials, diplomats and executives. While the strategy has reinforced a key campaign message, some American officials, worried Mr. Trump will lose, are also trying to engineer irreversible changes, according to people familiar with the thinking. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has inflamed the fight, brushing aside international concern about the country’s rising authoritarianism to consolidate his own political power and to crack down on basic freedoms, from Xinjiang to Hong Kong. By doing so, he has hardened attitudes in Washington. The combined effect could prove to be Mr. Trump’s most consequential foreign policy legacy, even if it’s not one he has consistently pursued: the entrenchment of a fundamental strategic and ideological confrontation between the world’s two largest economies.

A different way to hang out the laundry (NYT) Chang Wan-ji, 83, and Hso Sho-er, 84, have become Instagram stars in quarantine. The Taiwanese couple pose at a place they know well—their laundromat—and their funky fashions are curated from customers’ forgotten garments. They are naturals in front of the camera. “I had no idea so many foreigners would take interest in my grandparents,” said their 31-year-old grandson and unofficial stylist, who came up with the idea for the Instagram account. Mr. Chang said he hoped his and his wife’s experience would inspire other seniors to be active. “It’s better than sitting around watching TV or napping,” Mr. Chang said.

Virus adds to deep despair felt by war-weary young Arabs (AP) At 24, Sama al-Diwani and her college sweetheart had big dreams. He was working on opening a bakery in Iraq. She was preparing to leave to England, where she would spend a year working on her masters’ degree in pharmacy. After that, they would reunite, get married and start a family. Those dreams came to a screeching halt with the outbreak of the coronavirus, as countries shut down, economies buckled and global chaos followed. Her university admission is now on hold, the bakery project has fallen behind schedule, her family’s income has gone down by 40% and she frets about losing her job at a local pharmacy. Al-Diwani and Athir Assem, 26, are among millions of young people in the Middle East region whose pursuit of jobs or plans for higher education and marriage have been upended by the pandemic, plunging them into the kind of deep uncertainty and despair they had hoped to leave behind. Such turmoil is universal in the wake of the pandemic, but the despair is particularly pronounced in the Middle East, where wave after wave of war, displacement and disease have left this generation feeling bitter and hopeless. While in the West, many who have become unemployed believe they will eventually get their jobs back or somehow recover from the recession, the pandemic in some Arab countries was the final blow to economies now on the cusp of complete collapse. “For many young people, seeing economies crumble the way that they are and seeing their prospects vanish before their eyes ... it’s undoubtedly going to be taking a huge toll on mental health and well-being,” said Tariq Haq, a Beirut-based senior employment specialist with the U.N. labor agency.

South Africa warns COVID-19 corruption puts ‘lives at risk’ (AP) South Africa’s COVID-19 response is marred by corruption allegations around its historic $26 billion economic relief package, as the country with the world’s fifth highest number of COVID-19 cases braces for more. President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a wide-ranging investigation into claims that unscrupulous officials and private companies are looting efforts to protect the country’s 57 million people. “More so than at any other time, corruption puts our lives at risk,” he said in a national address Thursday night. Food for the poor. Personal protective equipment for health workers. Grants for the newly laid off. All have been affected, he said. South Africa is seen as the best-prepared of any country in sub-Saharan Africa for COVID-19, but years of rampant corruption have weakened institutions, including the health system. In October, the head of the government’s Special Investigating Unit said fraud, waste and abuse in health care siphoned off $2.3 billion a year.

[hecktic-creations]

Growing Pains

Intro

I at first wasn’t going to do anything for Pride Month this year. I haven’t been in the best mental space and couldn’t think of a topic of discussion. But in an effort to figure myself out and reconnect with me, I have been writing an essay in my head. I’ve been referring to it as Growing Pains, so I suppose that ended up being the title. This essay I owe more to myself than anyone else, but I wanted to share it too, to give others a new perspective on things. I have been seeing more and more people excluding acespec people from LGBTQ spaces saying that they aren’t oppressed so they shouldn’t count. As someone who’s identified as Asexual but never really felt comfortable bringing it up, since whenever I did people told me I was lying or I would grow out of it, this feels like an attack from a community that I thought supported me. Most of my posts are on my trans identity, and this is because I feel more comfortable talking about it. I still hold a grudge against myself for being ace, because I’ve only ever been told that life isn’t truly complete without a significant other. I’m done ignoring this part of my identity though, as it has been such a key part of my being for such a long time. While discovering my relationship with gender has helped me feel more whole, it hasn’t been until more recently. I have been fighting a battle with myself my whole life about being ace, it wasn’t until I looked back that I realised this though. So that’s what this is, me finally coming to terms with my ace identity in coalition to a past I only vaguely remember.

Growing Pains

My younger years weren’t easy for me. All the situations and all the circumstances of my life, logically have been fine. Quiet, maybe. But for me, they have been hurdles. Each and every action. I describe a day by how much “effort” I have. There are good days with plenty and bad days where I have none. If I’ve run out of effort, I won’t be able to do much more that day. It’s always been like this but I’ve mostly ignored it, not a good idea. Because of this, I didn’t do much outside of school with anyone as it was “too much effort” in the way that I couldn’t bring myself to get over the hurdle and into the action. If something required more than a few steps I simply couldn’t do it. But there weren’t many people to do extracurricular activities with anyways. I never felt like I belonged to a group, more an outsider allowed to interact because everyone else was too polite to say anything. As a result I’ve never really allowed myself to get close to anyone, expecting them to one day betray me, or simply move on and leave me behind. Maybe we can blame my inability to connect, my personality, my being queer but not knowing it, the people around me. All of this, none of this. Doesn’t matter in the end. Most of my younger personality felt like a lie I had constructed to be able to interact with my peers. Elementary school I had to make up crushes I’d never felt before. Middle school I had to try and feel excited about a future I never really expected to come. Every interaction felt like perpetuating the lie, until it became my truth. I‘ve never had much in the way of romantic experiences. There was a boy in fifth grade who asked me out when I was in third, I was uncomfortable with the thought of dating --let alone someone So Much Older than me-- so refused. He thought it was because I hated him. I told him it wasn’t but he didn’t speak to me again. Later that year he got expelled for stealing money from the book fair so maybe that was for the best. Depending on you definition of it, my first kiss was a surprise to both me and the kid who kissed me. I was leaving an event with my family, but had walked too far ahead. I stopped by the edge of the sidewalk to wait for them and a boy I had spoken with on several occasions but we never really interacted was walking by with his mother. I think it was his idea of a greeting, but he kissed me and moved on. His mom told him not to kiss people like that, he said he was just being nice.  Beyond that, I haven’t kissed anyone. Nor do I plan to. I remember someone telling me that once I kissed someone for real I would understand how good it felt and would want to do it again. But I just don’t see the appeal. Maybe I gave off a vibe of not wanting to, but after elementary, no one asked me out during school. Indeed the next time anyone would was outfront of the liquor store I worked at last year. He quickly dropped it when I said I was trans. I am glad no one ever did because I think the sheer shock of it would have done me in. I’d never seen myself as good enough to date in the first place. I was never bullied, more like ignored entirely. Which was perfectly fine by me then, but looking back it was lonely. There were close friends through it all, and I think I owe it to them that I made it this far. Not gonna name any names, but I hope you know who you are. It’s hard for me to remember my childhood. Really, anything past a year ago is hazy at best. It’s not a poor memory exactly because I’ve proven to have a good one, it’s more. There wasn’t enough good to remember so my brain decided throw all of it out. If I can recall, it feels like a story I’ve read. Something to think about, but not my own experience. It’s not me. I can’t connect. 

High school is different. Newer in my mind, and more intact. More friends, more experiences. Really it’s where I as a person began. It’s where I learned the words that described me, learned that other people like me were real. I wasn’t just broken. It’s where I started to sluff of the lies from my youth. As a defense, I’d shut down my connection to my emotions. I remember clearly the last time I fully felt anything. I was seven. I was angry about something petty, I got scared of my own anger. Promised I wouldn’t get that mad again, guess that was true. I always thought that my inability to think of anyone else romanticly was because of that detachment from myself, and would not be surprised if it played a part. But in an unofficial poll of the one queer table at my high school Freshman or Sophomore year, I accidentally identified myself as asexual, at the time I didn’t even know what it meant, and I don’t know why I did it. Later I looked it up, found out the definition, and everything felt right. It made sense. I cried with relief because I belonged somewhere. I was real. When I found out that Asexuality was an identity, I connected with it immediately. This had been my whole life. All of the awkward dodging of strange questions about my tastes and who I was attracted to, and wondering if I would ever get it; or if I had to lie about my romantic inclinations my whole life made sense. It didn’t make the questions go away, but I at least understood that when I responded that I’ve never had a crush before I wasn’t saying I was incomplete. It’s more recently that I started to accept that I’m also aromatic but that’s for different reasons, a different post I think. Around that time I also learned about trans people, that they existed. Many of my friends were. It sent me on a three year soul-search. After many sleepless nights, crying in the shower with confusion and frustration, hiding in my bed paralysed with fear of what it meant for the future I never got around to planning, and frantically scrawled notes to myself that are now lost to moving out, I figured it out. I reached an understanding of myself that I never cared to have before. It was a struggle through the barrier in my mind between my thoughts and emotions. I made a deep connection with myself I had never had, and have since lost again. The first time I said aloud that I thought I was trans, I was crouching backstage during rehearsal for the winter performance of the drama club my senior year. I was stage crew, crouched next to me were two friends. I don’t know what finally pushed me to say it, but that same feeling of relief and the realness of my own existence rushed through me again when they asked if I’d picked out a name yet and started using the right pronouns straightaway. It was different than learning about my asexuality, but nonetheless fulfilling. I’d quietly expected everyone in my life to deny me because of it. Didn’t matter to me if they themselves where trans, or they had shown support for it in the past. I was going to be a special case. But these were mostly baseless worries. I’ve noticed plenty of quiet prejudice and some not so quiet since then. But I was lucky in seeing little of it from those close to me. 

After high school was college, but not for long. I don’t remember for the life of me if I ended up going to two or three semesters, though I’m leaning more towards two. Those semesters where the darkest of my life. I remember trying and failing to do as good in college as I did in high school, I’d graduated with an honours diploma after all, college should be easy right? I hadn’t fully realised all the brand new stresses of having to choose what you wanted in life. Nothing could have prepared me because I hadn’t prepared myself. With a future so vast and endless, I shut down. My first choice was art college, I got accepted into the one I was looking at most. They ended up giving me almost a full ride scholarship, but it was in Portland and I couldn’t come up with enough money to live there. That plan fell through. Then I figured I’d just get a job around town and save up for next year, the college told me they’d reserve my spot and everything. But no one wanted to hire me. That plan fell through. I ended up at my community college. I hadn’t exactly wanted to pursue higher education in the first place, but I couldn’t manage to do anything else. The first semester was alright mostly, I finished it with average grades which for me was abysmal. My last semester there I’d only attended two of my originally scheduled five classes. The rest I hid from in the cafeteria. I was too afraid to tell my parents that I couldn’t get myself to go to the classes because they were so much more excited for my future than I was, and this was a good next step to whatever it ended up being. I didn’t want to let them down. I was working part-time then too, the job --my first-- had taken me more than a year to get. I think it was a combination of my inexperience and my being trans which led to so many rejections. At this point I’d applied to the majority of entry-level jobs in my hometown, and was running out of options. I went to campus as if I was taking class, instead hid in the cafeteria, then went to work. This continued until I moved out. I’d basically already quit college at that point, so when the semester ended, I didn’t register for new classes. But with the prodding of a friend during the campus tour the beginning of that year, I signed up for the GSA of the college. I really should thank that friend. They probably saved my life. The club was what got me through college. It was why I hid in the cafeteria. Between classes my friends from GSA would go there for meals or to do classwork. I met some people there who changed the direction I was heading. It is more sideways now than down. They helped me connect more to a community I hadn’t even known was established. I’m not the most active online or in person, and never had many friends to begin with. But even after I’d dropped out I went to the GSA meetings. They were, and are, the most supportive group I’ve ever been a part of. The more recent stuff I’ll keep to myself, at least for now. It’s been more than a year since I dropped out of college, and that year has seen even more of a dramatic shift in my life. It is all too close to the present now to discuss. I don’t regret my choice to leave college, and at the moment I’m not planning on returning. It has left a big angry mark on my life, and whatever good it would do me isn’t worth revisiting that part of my mind. But because of what I’d been through then I know who I am now. I know what it means to be me.

I don’t know where I’ll fall or how far till the bottom, but I know this. I’m ready to fly. Too much of my life has been clinging to a cliff, hoping for everything to pass me by. Waiting for it to all be over. But while I waited, my wings grew. I’m not ready. I don’t think I ever will be. But if I don’t go now my arms will fail and I will fall anyway. I liken myself to the mythical figure of Icarus often, mainly saying my pride will send me into the sea one day, which it will. Hubris will be my undoing. But maybe before that I should have the same fierce confidence to leap. To soar. Because I hope to be smarter than he, more cautious. It might not sound like it, but I am proud. I know the person I am now is better than the person from last year, last month even. And I am proud to belong. Because the rest of my life I never felt like I belonged, never fully connected. So this month, and beyond. You can catch me breathing deeply, knowing that whatever happens, I exist and I should be. It means so much more to know you aren’t alone in your experiences. Though no one else can be you, that doesn’t mean no one else can know you. It’s important to know where you come from, but it’s even more important to know why you got here isn’t just because you have a past, it’s because you also have a future.

[annashipper]

Anonymous Submission

Anon please - I really don’t understand why you think Ben’s predicament is funny. You laugh at him and mock him for failing to sell a disastrous relationship he never wanted but is stuck in nevertheless for reasons beyond our comprehension.

I’ve followed this sham from the beginning. Back in the day, we skeptics/truthers didn’t laugh at Ben. We may have laughed when he accidentally made Zero look stupid or when her feeble attempts to shine failed dismally but we never found his pain funny. Pap walks and red carpets weren’t hilarious outings we bought popcorn to enjoy - they were ordeals to get through - watching them through our fingers, flinching at his discomfort and misery. Sad, unwilling, miserable attempts to shill the kid/s made us shiver at his obvious discomfort and pain at having to comply.

Yet now Ben’s suddenly a great joke. A lumbering oaf to laugh at and entertain us. His shoehorning is suddenly hilarious - you revel in his pain and mock his unwilling attempts to sell the sham as if you think he’s a failure when he doesn’t do it well - why do you want him to sell this? If he did you’d call him fake, devious, two-faced, manipulative, etc. Suddenly whatever he does, it’s as if you think he deserves it. Why do you luxuriate in his misery? Do you now think this is all his fault? Do you want him to pay? To suffer? Do you think he deserves this? That he’s getting his just desserts?

I just don’t understand - Why has this disaster turned from something we watched - cringing along with him, into something we’re supposed to sadistically love, relish and enjoy. I for one feel none of your pleasure and enjoyment watching any of this and I don’t understand how any genuine skeptic could.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nonny, there are some points of your submission that are confusing to me.  I could have answered you via private messages, but since another Nonny had similar qualms yesterday (LINK), I thought I’d answer your questions in public.

Apologies in advance for the rant.

We Skeptics never called ourselves “truthers”.  That’s what the Nannies used to call us.

It was never Ben making Weirdo look stupid.  In the early days of the showmance in particular, it was Weirdo and Harvey making him look like a schmuck.  The lever of second-hand embarassment fans of his with half a brain have had to endure was (and still is) palpable.

Skeptics have been having gigglefests since before I ever joined the community back in January of 2015.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again for anyone who doesn’t remember those early days of Showmance From Hell(TM) documentation:  if it weren’t for @benedicts-third-testicle and her snark, I never would have joined Tumblr in the first place.

Soooooo.  Those who truly here back in 2014-5 remember how Ben transformed from a happy-go-lucky guy in 2014 to someone looking physically ill by the spring of 2015.  We also remember the ridiculous polls, the even more ridiculous drinking games, the CumberPorn, the Showmance bingo (which @gatorfisch still plays from time to time and cracks me up), the DorkyBatch pic or gif of the day, the snarky questions and the even snarkier answers, the vigorous fact checking, the readers of Bally’s blog losing their glunch, the up/down bump compares, the submissions of crazy theories on what would happen next during those early days, how PR was basically answering Ms Bally’s concerns through weird handholding and bikini sneaky pap shots that were blurred, the press rundowns each and every day, that Ben should always strive to be a #supportivefruithusband to Weirdo whom fetch still eludes because she obviously never tried to follow Spinsie’s advice and take on mandarine juggling on London street corners, Ms Ballsy stocking up on Baileys, pop corn and Tim Tams in preparation for pap walks through airports (which at that time were a dime a dozen), everyone stocking up on the alcoholic beverage of their choice to watch the BAFTAs and Oscars that year, bingate, the showmance (which on Ballsy’s blog was called the shamwow) playlist, etc.

As far as I’m concerned, nothing’s changed since those days.  

I was then and I still am a SkeptoNanny.  I was and still am cringing whenever Ben looks pissy / sad / done standing or sitting next to Weirdo although he smiles standing or sitting around everyone else.  I was and still am getting a sad every time I think of how much Ben’s demeanour has changed since 2014.  

Something I’ve always been accused of by Skeptics who run their own blogs as well as Nonnies, is that I nanny Ben a little too much, and they’re all absolutely right.  I always did go out of my way to find excuses for his behaviour, and it’s something I intend to keep doing, because for all of his idiocy, I’m still a fan of his work, and I truly believe he’s a nice guy whose one true error in judgement was agreeing to play along with the game Weirdo thought would be fun on the night of January 3rd, 2015 at PSIFF.  The moment he agreed to keep baiting that first pregnancy for free publicity because Harvey had promised him an Oscar, he basically signed up for all of the craziness we’ve been witnessing (and alternating between groaning and giggling at) ever since.

At the same time, I always thought the awkward shoehorning was hilarious.  I always laughed at the piss-poor attempts to disguise set-up pap walks as relentless hounding from the paparazzi.  I always found Weirdo’s fetchlessness endlessly entertaining.  I always assumed she would never get a voice in this showmance, and the past four years have not proved me wrong.  I always got the giggles out of the weird handholding.

What I would urge you and everyone else who agrees with you on my stance to do would be to read through my blog and take what I have to say seriously, instead of assuming I’m always being snarky in my observations / answers to asks and submissions.

I have stated repeatedly that I believe Ben has had a firm grasp on the stirring wheel of this showmance since March of 2016, and I mean that.  As such, it’s getting increasingly hard for me to keep making excuses for his poor choices to make this whole thing look realistic.

The way he keeps flogging this particular dead horse to receive free publicity, and the unfortunate way his quotes regarding his wife and children come at complete odds with his actions leave me speechless.  Or they would leave me speechless if this showmance hadn’t been so very inconsistent since day one.

You ask why I “want him to sell this“.  Well, I’m a firm believer in doing something right or not doing it at all.  Since Ben doesn’t seem to be willing to end this showmance until “people who think his wife and child(ren) are a PR stunt” will shut up, he might as well do it properly and try to make the whole thing look realistic.  This has nothing to do with the Skeptical community and everything to do with his public image.

Skeptics who run their own blogs and have not been commenting publicly on the showmance for ages are still paying attention.  Closet Skeptics are still putting together the pieces to this ridiculous puzzle and laughing their heads off at the idiocy in my private messages.  Regular Anons who don’t send me submissions anymore are still reading my blog and sending me private messages and/or e-mails.  Newly formed Skeptics still emerge every time Ben decides to rock the proverbial boat by trotting Weirdo out.

Unfortately, having spent the past 4 years documenting those very inconsistencies has basically turned those of us who are truly paying attention to what’s being said versus what’s being done into human bullshit detectors, and just because Ben is alternating between trying to bore us to death and upping the stupidity level when he decides it’s time for free publicity for one of his projects is not going to drive anyone away.  

The most depressing part of all is that the clickability of Skeptical blogs far surpasses the clickability of any other part of the fandom (be it Fan blogs, Nanny blogs, Anti blogs or just Ben’s official/unofficial web page).  

So yeah.  I’m gonna keep speaking my mind, and I’m far past sugarcoating my opinions.  While I don’t expect anyone to agree with me, I am not going to treat a 42 year old successful man like a helpless toddler who doesn’t have the means and the opportunity to release himself from whatever Madame Fetchlessly Irrelevant is holding over his head.

That being said, I’m still going to keep making excuses for him when it makes sense to do so, and I’m still going to root for him to do well in all of his endeavours.

The fact that he’s painted himself into a ridiculous corner with this showmance doesn’t change the fact that I believe he has tremendous capacity for kindness and a raw talent that he’s able to hone into an impossibly sharp edge when he’s in front of a camera or an audience.  

Just don’t ask him to do it when his wife is within a five foot radius.  That seems to be his Achilles heel...

[southeastasianists]

Human Rights Watch recently called for Indonesia to cease its more than half-century practice of “virginity tests” for female applicants to its national police force and military, and even for the fiancées of military officers, in order to fill a shortage of UN peacekeepers. Why do you think this is being done? Supposedly it is to determine whether a woman is of good morals or not. Premarital sex remains taboo in Indonesia, and is broadly seen as a sign of an immoral woman. The thinking goes that policewomen and female soldiers and officers, plus the wives of men in the military and the police, should be of a better moral class than the average woman – how are they to guard and protect the country if they cannot guard and protect themselves?

Are these “two finger” virginity tests even a valid way to determine if a woman has had sexual intercourse? No, neither the ‘two finger’ method (in which the index and middle fingers are used to find the hymen) nor other methods such as using a torch to inspect a woman’s genitals can actually determine whether a woman has had sexual intercourse. Hymens can and often do break way before a woman becomes sexually active, such as through sport, while some women are not even born with hymens. It’s a completely unscientific method.

Is there anyone in power in Indonesia advocating for ending the practice? A number of retired policewomen have done so, such as Brigadier General Sri Rumiati (Ret.), who has said that the tests are in violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Women’s groups also frequently raise the issue in the media and at major protests such as International Women’s Day. The issue comes up every year, and each time, the police and the military say they will end or have ended the practice, yet it seems to remain in place.

Would more Indonesian women be interested in becoming cops and soldiers if this practice were ended? I think women who are already interested would be more likely to pursue these careers, yes. Women who have undergone the tests say that the process is incredibly embarrassing, not to mention potentially career-ending if they are determined not to be a virgin. But generally speaking, the average person isn’t interested in becoming a policewoman or a solider for a variety of reasons – difficulty of entering, including fees (both official and unofficial) that must be paid, hard work conditions, and low pay.

How do normal citizens feel about virgin tests? What are the barriers to ending the practice? Many people don’t actually known that virginity tests are used on candidates – a quick poll I conducted on Twitter at the end of June showed that one-third of the almost 700 respondents were unaware of the tests. That said, many do feel that policewomen and female soldiers must be of ‘good moral character’, and although they do not support the invasive physical tests, they believe that there must be some sort of check in place to ensure that ‘immoral’ women do not enter the forces. The practice could be easily ended if the heads of police and military demanded it be eradicated; unfortunately, convincing them of the discriminatory and shameful nature of the tests is not an easy task.

Kate Walton is an Australian journalist, activist and founder of the Jakarta Feminist Discussion group in Jakarta, where she is based.

[cerealseed54]

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At the identical time, safe meals dealing with, eco-friendly packaging, and takeout aesthetics have turn into all-important to the palates of shoppers. One Hundred Straightforward Party Food Ideas You May Make All The Time Digital menu screens can also alternate between displaying the complete menu and displaying video commercials to advertise specific dishes or menu gadgets. This recipe is one of my go-to simple dinner ideas within the spring, when I often have crisp veggies like radishes and cucumbers available in the fridge. It’s my vegan model of a pan bagnat, made with a briny chickpea salad, recent basil, olives, and blanched green beans. Consider this model a blissful, wholesome, flavor-packed return to the wrap's humble roots, and you'll save lots of of energy within the course of. Skip the boring salad you often make for lunch and do that flavorful one instead! You will not ever have to worry about not feeling full after consuming this superfood-packed salad. I love operating, cooking, and curling up with a good book! You also can select to do a heavy spherical of appetizers followed by a light-weight meal. Hearty and wholesome, these sliced candy potatoes are a nutritious different to a bruschetta hors d’oeuvre. Here they're served with a topping of cream cheese, ramson cream, goat cheese, cress, and cranberries. The drawback with most salads is that they’re not properly composed, and you finish up feeling hungry again just a short time after ending your meal.

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Everyone has voted, the results are in and we now know who will control the Senate and the House — but several races remain unresolved. (We warned you this might happen.) As of 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7, our colleagues at ABC News have yet to project winners in 16 races: three for the U.S. Senate, 12 for the U.S. House and one for Georgia governor. These races have the potential to meaningfully change the narrative around this election — for example, Democrats could pick up 40 House seats instead of 29, or turn a disappointing showing in the Senate into a draw. Here’s the state of each undecided race — including our best estimate on who might prevail when all is said and done.

Senate

As things stand right now, Republicans have picked up two seats in the Senate, but that net gain could be anywhere from zero to three when the races in Arizona, Florida and Mississippi get resolved. In Arizona, Republican Rep. Martha McSally currently leads Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema by about 1 percentage point. However, the Arizona Republic estimates that almost 650,000 votes have yet to be counted statewide — including 80,000 to 100,000 in blue-leaning Pima County and 500,000 (!) in Maricopa County (the Phoenix area). Maricopa has some very blue corners and some very red corners, so without knowing where the outstanding ballots are coming from, this is a totally wide-open race. Reportedly, the state will issue updated vote totals at 5 p.m. local time every day starting on Thursday, Nov. 8.

In Florida, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson initially appeared to have conceded early on Wednesday morning, and his opponent, Republican Gov. Rick Scott, also claimed victory. But as the last votes were counted, Nelson closed the gap so that he is now less than half of a percentage point behind Scott. That’s Nelson’s magic number, as it triggers a machine recount under Florida law. Nelson has since reversed course and released a statement on Wednesday that said, “We are proceeding to a recount.” It’s not a sure thing yet, though: Three (Democratic-leaning) counties were still counting ballots as of Wednesday afternoon; what’s more, a recount must be officially ordered by the secretary of state, whom Scott appointed to the job. But don’t hold your breath, Democrats: Recounts rarely overturn election results.

Finally, as we expected, the special U.S. Senate election in Mississippi will proceed to a runoff on Nov. 27 as none of the candidates secured 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday. Although they both received 41 percent of the vote, appointed Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith will be a heavy favorite against Democratic former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy thanks to the state’s dark red hue.

House

Of the 12 unresolved House races, Democrats lead or look like they’re in good position in nine of them. Here’s the full lowdown:

Five of the races are in California: specifically, the 10th, 39th, 45th, 48th and 49th districts. It’s not unusual for close races in California to still be uncalled even a couple days after the election. That’s because mail ballots in California only have to be postmarked by Election Day; they can arrive at elections offices as late as Friday and still be counted. Since so many people in California vote by mail, that means that thousands of ballots are probably still in transit. Currently, the Republican candidates have leads of between 2 and 4 percentage points in four of the five districts. However, late-arriving ballots tend to lean Democratic in California, so those GOP leads will probably shrink, if not reverse entirely. Because of this, we’re guessing that Democrats might win most, if not all, of these districts when all is said and done. The Democratic candidate already leads in one of them — the California 49th — which has prompted the Associated Press to call it for Democrat Mike Levin already.

After hosting the most expensive congressional election in U.S. history in 2017, the Georgia 6th District was once again closely fought in 2018. And we mean closely — according to the Georgia secretary of state, Democrat Lucy McBath leads Republican Rep. Karen Handel by less than 1 percentage point. McBath has declared victory, while Handel is making noise about requesting a recount. Even with some provisional and overseas ballots outstanding, though, she has an improbable road to a comeback.

The Maine 2nd District will probably not be decided until next week. Several towns have yet to report their votes, but both Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin and Democratic state Rep. Jared Golden appear to be stuck below a majority. If that holds, it means that Maine’s new system of ranked-choice voting will decide the winner. A computer program will redistribute the votes of the last-place finisher, independent William Hoar, among the other three candidates based on who those voters listed second on their ranked-choice ballots. If a candidate still doesn’t have the majority, the third-place finisher, independent Tiffany Bond, will then be eliminated, and her voters redistributed. At that point, either Poliquin or Golden will have a majority of the remaining votes, and whoever does will win the congressional seat. Golden is probably favored in this scenario; both Bond and Hoar indicated in a debate that they would prefer Golden over Poliquin (we’ll see if their voters agree). But it might not end there: If Poliquin ends up finishing first in the initial returns but loses the ranked-choice tabulations to Golden, he has left the door open to a court challenge.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Republican Jim Hagedorn held a slim lead over Democrat Dan Feehan in the Minnesota 1st District. If he holds on, it will be the second seat that Republicans flipped from blue to red this year. The Associated Press has called the race for Hagedorn — and he is definitely favored — but Feehan has not yet conceded.

Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur and Democrat Andy Kim are locked in an uncertain battle in the New Jersey 3rd District. From Tuesday into Wednesday, the two traded leads of 2,000+ votes. Mail ballots continue to be delivered through Thursday, and election officials say the counting of provisional ballots could take weeks — so the election may not be decided until then either.

In the North Carolina 9th District, Republican Mark Harris led Democrat Dan McCready by less than 2,000 votes with all precincts reporting. That was well within the necessary range to request a recount, but on Wednesday afternoon, McCready conceded the race. However, media outlets are being more cautious.

Despite what President Trump said at his Wednesday press conference, Republican Rep. Mia Love has not yet lost in the Utah 4th District — although she trails Democratic Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams by a sizable 3 percentage points. The reason no projection has been made is that it may take up to two weeks to count all the mail ballots in the race. More than 200,000 ballots in Salt Lake and Utah counties have yet to be counted (although not all of them are in the 4th District), and we won’t get an update from Utah County — Love’s political base — until Friday.

Finally, the Washington 8th District unsurprisingly remains undecided. Why? Washington votes almost entirely by mail and reports its election results in waves as the ballots arrive — and they can remain incomplete for a week or more. As of Wednesday evening, Democrat Kim Schrier leads Republican former state Sen. Dino Rossi 53 percent to 47 percent, but that is very much subject to change.

Governor

Finally, the gubernatorial race in Georgia remains uncalled — not because Democratic former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams has a chance at taking the lead, but because Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp needs to win at least 50 percent plus one vote in order to avoid a rematch with Abrams in a Dec. 4 runoff. Unofficial election results on the state’s website give Kemp 50.3 percent of the vote with 100 percent of precincts reporting. However, that doesn’t include some absentee and provisional ballots, which became a flashpoint in Georgia in the race’s closing days. A judge ordered that absentee ballots with mismatched signatures in Gwinnett County be treated as provisional ballots (and voters given the opportunity to appeal or confirm their identity), and up to 53,000 Georgians whose voter-registration applications were put on hold may have had to cast provisional ballots if they couldn’t prove their eligibility at the polls. Believing that the outstanding ballots could still force a runoff, the Abrams campaign has refused to concede, but she1 would need to net more than 25,000 votes in order to deny Kemp a majority. We don’t know how many votes have yet to be counted, but … that’s a lot.

We’ll update this post on a semi-regular basis with the latest news and numbers from these races.