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CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#186477: May 3rd 2017 at 8:54:56 AM

Ossoff on Handel Twitter flub: ‘Sometimes social media can be dangerous’

The husband of Republican congressional candidate Karen Handel shared an image on his Twitter timeline Tuesday that urged voters to support his wife in order to “free the black slaves from the Democratic plantation.”

“Like many of us, he (Steve) made a mistake and retweeted something he didn’t pay a lot of attention to, thinking it was just an absentee vote message. It clearly was not appropriate and has been deleted,” a campaign spokesperson said.

Ossoff on Wednesday declined to make hay out of it, saying that he largely avoids Twitter. “Sometimes, social media can be dangerous,” he said.


A few more details have trickled out about the internal poll conducted for Jon Ossoff’s campaign that shows him in a dead heat with Karen Handel in the June 20 runoff.

The Ossoff campaign released another memo from Anzalone Liszt Grove Research – the pollster who also worked for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton – that delved deeper into the nubmers.

A few takeaways:

The 5 percent of undecided voters trend disproportionately female, minority and tend to live in De Kalb, the bluest part of the district. Almost six in 10 Ossoff supporters believe the race is “more important than most elections” while about one-third of Handel backers say the same. An even half of voters in the district give Ossoff a favorable rating, while 44 percent give Handel the same reviews. Read the rest here.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#186478: May 3rd 2017 at 8:55:40 AM

Can't disagree with him there.

i'm tired, my friend
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#186479: May 3rd 2017 at 8:57:41 AM

That's one reason I don't have a Twitter account.

Disgusted, but not surprised
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#186480: May 3rd 2017 at 8:58:15 AM

@megaeliz — Link is working. However, please stop drive-by posting links. Simply dropping a link in a post and saying "what do people think about this?" is actually against the forum rules. Add your own thoughts on it, or at least a summary of the link so people know whether they want to see the whole thing or not.

edited 3rd May '17 8:58:48 AM by NativeJovian

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#186481: May 3rd 2017 at 9:19:22 AM

One More Thing on GA's Elections: Georgia 2018: Abrams files paperwork to run for governor

House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams filed paperwork Tuesday to run for governor, marking the first step toward an expected bid for the state’s highest office.

Abrams would become the highest-profile Democrat in the race to succeed Gov. Nathan Deal and her campaign would seek to capitalize on the same angst over Donald Trump that is propelling Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s 6th District race.

The 43-year-old would instantly become the Democratic frontrunner in a wide-open race to replace Deal. Three Republicans are already in the race, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp, and about a half-dozen others are considering a bid.

A graduate of Yale Law School, Abrams has represented an Atlanta-based district in the Georgia House since her 2006 victory and in 2011 was elected her party’s leader in the House.

She’s built a national profile as a leading voice for the party in the South, and she’s raised millions of dollars for Democratic causes. Should she run, she’s also aiming for the history books: She would be the first African-American governor in Georgia – and the first black female statewide officeholder in the state’s history.

Although she’s given fiery speeches at town halls and last year’s Democratic National Committee, in the Georgia statehouse she has carved out a reputation for working with Republicans rather than outright opposing GOP initiatives.

More recently, she has taken on kinship care as a cause, often talking about the problems her parents had navigating the legal maze after they took in a granddaughter to raise.

Abrams might be best known for the New Georgia Project voter registration group that she founded. It aims to register hundreds of thousands of left-leaning voters within the next decade – and has become a favorite target for state Republicans.

Abrams likely won’t run unopposed in the Democratic primary. State Rep. Stacey Evans and Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson are among the Democrats eyeing a run, and both would bring a vastly different approach to the race.

Abrams has long advocated a strategy to mobilize and energize minority voters and others who are already likely to cast ballots with Democrats. Her campaign would likely try to expand the electorate by taking aim at low-propensity voters who rarely head to the ballot boxes.

Evans and Tomlinson appear likely to side with Democrats who hope to take up the middle ground and craft policies to appeal to white voters – including independents and moderate Republicans – who helped Deal and the GOP sweep every statewide office the last two elections.

But Abrams won’t be easily toppled in a Democratic race. She’s a proven fundraiser who holds an advantage in any primary: Black women make up the biggest bloc in Georgia’s Democratic electorate.

Her campaign-in-waiting is poised to spring when she formally announces, and she has already lined up support from politicians and advocates. Among them is former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who called Abrams a “Southern innovator” who helped build the infrastructure that could eventually flip the state.

“In the Trump era, we need state leaders who understand that a governor must serve every resident and face each challenge head on,” Granholm said in a statement. “Stacey has a model and a track record that cannot be beat.”

     Just For Fun—A Comment Chain 
  • Retired Dude
    • It's wonderful that a smart, ambitious women like Stacey Abrams is running for Governor of the State of Georgia.

  • Royal Dawg
    • @Retired Dude And has zero chance of success, even if your description was accurate (LOL).

  • wikileaks
    • With the highly chauvinist attitudes of some liberals opposing Karen Handel — will Abrams really have a chance getting the nomination?
  • Retired Dude
    • @wikileaks I don't think you know what that words means....chauvinism. It is actually clear you do not know what it means. We on the left and in the center dislike Handel because of her issue positions, especially her opposition to women's equality and reproductive rights, but also her complete lack of intellect and the patronage she has received from the GOP.
  • Naiad
    • @wikileaks It's outright misogyny when it comes to Karen Handel, and I don't think Abrams skin color will protect her from it in her own party.

  • Retired Dude
    • @Naiad I don't think you know what that word means...misogyny. You voted for a guy who sexually assaulted women then bragged about it on television. Your thoughts are wrong...because you do not know the correct definitions of words. It isn't an opinion. This is fact. What is scary is that people like you do not understand the difference nor care.
  • Naiad
    • @Retired Dude @Naiad I'm a woman and know misogyny when I see it. And you can take your own patronizing attitude and shove it!
  • Baron_DeKalb
    • @Naiad @Retired Dude To support an underqualified political hack like Karen Handel just because she's a woman would be the height of patronage. I do agree that it was disgusting the way Hillary Clinton was treated by the Republicans—but in contrast to Handel, she was much more qualified than her opponent.
  • Retired Dude
    • @Naiad You need a good patronizing.. Leaving you to learn things on your own didn't work. Misogyny means a hatred, or extreme disliking, of women. I don't like you... it has nothing to do with your gender, but everything to do with your political beliefs and lack of intellectual curiosity.
  • Alt AJC
  • Royal Dawg
    • @Retired Dude Retired dude seems to have plenty of time to read the dictionary and bask in his own self-declared intelligence. As John Prine sings, I think the little fellow just needs to have someone stop and say "hello in there".
  • Baron_DeKalb
    • @Royal Dawg @Retired Dude He's probably just blown away by the sickening depth of hypocrisy and cynicism on display from the Conservatives here... after all, it takes a lot of nerve to complain about misogyny and sexism after helping a sleazeball like Trump get elected.
  • Retired/Soldier
    • @Retired Dude @Naiad You really are a first class jerk. Climb back under your rock.
Very catharctic in the context of Trump supporters' sudden concern about misogyny, but I'm not advocating trying to convince people this way...

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#186482: May 3rd 2017 at 9:32:48 AM

The 5 percent of undecided voters trend disproportionately female, minority and tend to live in De Kalb, the bluest part of the district.

This surprises me- the numbers we saw before, 48-47-5, suggested to me that Ossoff was exactly where he was in the first round, and Handel hadn't quite managed to rally all the Republican voters to her yet. But if the undecideds are people you'd expect to by dems voters, judging by demographic... I struggle to make sense of those numbers. who did all these women of colour living in the district's bluest part vote for in first round, if they're the lion's share of the undecideds now?

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#186483: May 3rd 2017 at 10:39:56 AM

[up][up]I think I like that candidate. Also, oh, god, that fucking comment chain 🙄.

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
FluffyMcChicken My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare from where the floating lights gleam Since: Jun, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
#186484: May 3rd 2017 at 10:55:02 AM

'Trump Slump': President's rhetoric and travel ban repel millions of tourists to USA

US President Donald Trump's rhetoric about building a wall along the Mexico-US border, repeated attempts to ban immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries and a loud "America First" stance is putting off international tourists from planning holidays to the country.

Projections by Pennsylvania, US-based Tourism Economics (TE), an affiliate of UK research and analysis outfit Oxford Economics, suggest the US could see 4.3m fewer international tourists equating to a revenue loss of $7.4bn (£5.73bn).

Furthermore, with the decline in projected numbers tipped to accelerate to 6.3m tourists in 2018, the resulting revenue losses could be as high as $10.8bn.

Much of the decline (38%) in bookings so far into 2017 – or "Trump Slump" as TE coins it – stems from the Middle East, with travellers from the region subject to additional security checks and having to check-in their laptops.

Although both of Trump's attempts to ban travellers from predominantly Muslim countries were slapped down by US courts, the president has vowed to take the matter all the way up to the country's Supreme Court, which has a Conservative majority likely to be supportive of his stance.

Violence against foreigners stateside could also be a factor. On 22 February, two men from India were shot at a bar in a Kansas City suburb. The two victims – Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani who were employees of GPS-maker Garmin – were set upon by Adam Purinton who opened fire, allegedly saying "get out of my country," according to witnesses.

TE said travel bookings from western Europe were also down 14%. However, despite escalating tensions with Moscow in the wake of Syrian airstrikes, bookings from Russia were up 66%.

According to the US Commerce Department, international tourism is a $250bn per year business. If TE's projections are reflected in real data, 2017 and 2018 could mark the first declines in US tourism numbers since the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

According to the US Travel Association, international visitors to the country rose to 77m in 2016, up from 54m in 2009. The slump could spell bad news in particular for tourism hotspots of New York and Los Angeles.

Tourism lobby groups for both cities confirmed to IB Times UK they have already launched counter charm offensives and fearing the worst.

NYC & Co – New York's Marketing Office – says it plans to spend $3m to advertise the city as a "welcoming place for everybody". It fears 300,000 fewer visitors would visit the Big Apple, resulting in a loss of $1.5m in direct spending and ripple economic effects. The UK, Germany, Spain and Mexico are among the countries NYC & Co is looking to target.

Meanwhile, Discover Los Angeles says it could see as high as 800,000 fewer visitors and a loss of $736m in direct spending. A spokesperson for Discover Los Angeles said the city "invites and welcomes visitors from all corners of the globe" and an international campaign to woo tourists was "already underway."

The worst part of it is that the areas affected most drastically are the coastal urban ones - which is perfectly acceptable to many of Trump's rural base. sad

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#186485: May 3rd 2017 at 11:00:14 AM

[up] Eh, I'm pretty sure Trump's actual policies will end up hurting them worse than his...everything...is hurting "coastal elite's" tourism.

His attempts at immigration crackdowns are gonna fuck up farmers but good, and his half-assed trade war with Canada (if he doesn't wimp out again) may screw the coal industry.

And if the Wall ever gets underway...the border states — especially Texas — are gonna be shafted.

To say nothing of his disastrous replacement for the ACA. That will hurt everyone, but it will really hurt the people in Red states.

Ironically, his proposed corporate tax cut if he ever gets to implementing it might prove to be a boon to said rich coastal urban areas. It won't do much to help the rural voters.

edited 3rd May '17 11:05:19 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#186486: May 3rd 2017 at 11:06:46 AM

Trump is pretty bad for everyone, just in different ways.

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#186488: May 3rd 2017 at 11:09:14 AM

[up]x6 Yeah, the data breakdown doesn't give much more data about them. All I'd be able to offer was speculation, but its entirely possible they're waiting out the campaign to see if either hits (or misses) some hot button issue, voted for a Dem/GOP candidate that was eliminated and may only back the other with reservations, might have cast donkey votes in the initial race, which would've subjected the district to enormous pressure to participate.

[up]x 5 The AJC comment section is an experience in and of itself. Though this is actually a (comparatively) mild exchange...

edited 3rd May '17 11:11:05 AM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#186489: May 3rd 2017 at 11:10:01 AM

[up][up] Technically it's not bankruptcy, since Puerto Rico can't legally file for Chapter 9.

In other words, it's gonna be a lot messier and Puerto Rico will probably be worse off than if it could file for Chapter 9.

edited 3rd May '17 11:10:12 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#186490: May 3rd 2017 at 11:27:44 AM

How will the us likely respond?

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#186491: May 3rd 2017 at 11:29:21 AM

538: What Will Democrats Demand Of Their 2020 Nominee? The 538 staff discusses what may be the big points on choosing the 2020 candidate: the consensus seems to be pro-choice, pro-healthcare, anti-banks.

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#186492: May 3rd 2017 at 11:33:15 AM

[up][up] It probably won't. Trump doesn't even know Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.

...I wonder if he's going to try and buy it.

edited 3rd May '17 11:33:54 AM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
rmctagg09 The Wanderer from Brooklyn, NY (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
The Wanderer
#186493: May 3rd 2017 at 11:35:25 AM

Key GOP lawmakers flip on health care after Trump meeting:

GOP Reps. Fred Upton and Billy Long announced Wednesday after meeting with President Donald Trump that they will now support the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, key endorsements for a legislation that has been teetering on the brink of collapse this week.

The two new "yes" votes mark an incremental but symbolically important victory for the White House and Republican leaders, who have been trying without success for weeks to revive a health care bill that was pulled from the House floor in March.

Upton and Long proposed a last-minute amendment to the GOP bill that would beef up the funding for so-called "high risk pools." Upton said at the White House that the House Rules Committee may consider the bill and key amendments on Thursday.

edited 3rd May '17 11:35:48 AM by rmctagg09

Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#186494: May 3rd 2017 at 11:37:42 AM

"We're gonna buy it, we're gonna rename it Trumpsylvania, we're gonna make it bigger and better than it's ever been. I'll put a prison there. It'll be the best prison. We'll call it New Guantanamo. It'll be way better than the other one. Much bigger. Much better security. Gonna get all the best people on it. It'll be the best terrorist prison you've ever seen, folks. You've ever seen.

Then we're going to shut down the regular Guantanamo. Obama couldn't shut it down. He said he would. He didn't. He was weak. But I'm gonna shut it down. We'll put everyone in New Guantanamo. It'll be great, folks."

edited 3rd May '17 11:38:47 AM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#186495: May 3rd 2017 at 11:39:38 AM

[up][up] Wonder if that new "additional funding" amendment might put off some other GOP reps.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#186496: May 3rd 2017 at 11:57:33 AM

The 538 article also had some speculation about racial justice.

Basically, there's a consensus that the candidate should be generally pro BLM, but some are wondering just how openly supportive of the issue they can be. Someone speculated that the candidate might focus on racial economic injustice moreso.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#186497: May 3rd 2017 at 12:05:24 PM

They should remember though that economic policy alone even if successful cannot fix all race issues. Going by this study the various subconscious biases are still a problem (and apparently gun laws tie into them as well).

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#186498: May 3rd 2017 at 12:13:13 PM

AOL: Hillary Clinton to launch PAC aiding 2018 candidates, resistance organizations. Great of her to help! I just hope this doesn't become another conspiracy theory/purity test (as in people using "[x] is a paid puppet for corrupt Clinton" as a talking point to attack candidates benefiting from this).

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#186499: May 3rd 2017 at 12:18:16 PM

New York City is planning to give trump "mother of all snubs,” when he visits next week to the meet the Australian Prime Minister. There is going to be no Fanfare or formal welcome, and even have designated formal protest areas for people who are demonstrating.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/03/trump-returns-to-manhattan-which-plans-protests-237878

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#186500: May 3rd 2017 at 12:19:09 PM

[up] What a delicious irony. [lol][lol][lol][lol]

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.

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