batboyblog:

Well it’s 2018, if you’re an American you’ve lived a year with Trump as President. Sick of it? me too. Good news though! it’s 2018! which means…. ELECTIONS!  Democrats ended 2017 winning two governor’s races, a Senate seat in Alabama(!) and many state level special elections. In 2018 all 435 US House seats are up, as are 36 governorships, State governments etc.

But lets focus for a moment on the 34 US Senate Seats up this year!

there are 33 regular elections and one special election. As you can see there are 24 Democrats and 2 Independents who sit with the Democrats up for re-election, and just 8 Republican seats up. 

Most seats are safe and unlikely to flip so lets get them out of the way. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Minnesota (special), New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin seem very likely to stay Blue, while Mississippi, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming seem likely to stay Republican. SO NOW to the states in play! 

Arizona:

Facing a tough primary Republican Senator Jeff Flake declared on October 24, 2017 he wouldn’t run for re-election. This leaves far right Kelli Ward as basically the only person running for the Republican nomination. Ward is a wing nut who’s all in on Trump’s wall and deporting everyone who tans. Ward is also famous for believing in the chemtrail conspiracy theory. One the Democratic side, Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema is running. Sinema is 41 years old, the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress, if elected to the Senate she’d be the first bi Senator and the second LGBT senator. Sinema has been a big supporter of the DREAM act 

Her Website give her some money, or volunteer if you live in Arizona

Florida:

Florida is represented by Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. Nelson is the only former astronaut in Congress, and the only member who’s been in space. Nelson has been a strong supporter of NASA and other government science programs. In the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub shooting Nelson was a leaning voice supporting a new gun control bill. Sadly Nelson is running in a state that Trump won, a state who’s other Senator is a Republican who won re-election overwhelmingly last year. While he’s not yet officially running Republican Governor Rick Scott is the most likely Republican to run against Nelson and is polling strongly. Scott has blocked Florida’s Medicaid expansion 3 times leaving thousands without health care, Scott doesn’t believe in climate change, his reaction to the Pulse Nightclub shooting was “thoughts and prayers” and he signed an expanded version of Florida’s stand-your-ground law in 2017 this was the same law that got Trayvon Martin killed. So lets not elect him and re-election the astronaut?

His Website give him some money, or volunteer if you live in Florida

Indiana:

Indiana is represented by Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly. Donnelly voted for Obamacare way back when he was in the House in 2010 and has supported it over and over again ever since. Donnelly was a key part of expanding CHIP in 2010 to cover 4 million more children. While a supporter of the Second Amendment Donnelly took part in Chris Murphy gun control filibuster in 2017. Indiana however is a deep red state, Trump won there by 18 points, former US Senator Evan Bayh lost his run for senate in 2016 by 10 points, Indiana is the home of Mike Pence. Tons of Republicans are planning on running against Donnelly so far two of the State’s Republican Congressmen are already running, with two more thinking about it, the Speaker of the State House and the State’s Attorney General are also thinking about it. 

His Website give him some money, or volunteer if you live in Indiana

Missouri:

Missouri is represented by Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill. McCaskill has long been one of the leading protectors of the Planned Parenthood in the Senate. McCaskill has worked hard to reform how sexual assault/harassment is dealt with in the US Military. She’s been one of the leading woman Senators speaking out in the #MeToo movement. McCaskill also was one of the co-sponsors for a bump stock ban bill. Missouri is a deep red state, Trump won the state by 19 points, Democrat Jason Kander lost his bid to become a senator in 2016. The most likely Republican to face her is Missouri’s Attorney General Josh Hawley. Hawley is best known as one of the lawyer in the Hobby Lobby case in fact arguing that businesses should be able to discriminate is basically the center of Hawley’s legal career. So let’s re-elect the feminist grandma not the guy who says craft stores should be allowed to not hire the gays

Her Website give her some money, or volunteer if you live in Missouri

Montana:

Montana is represented by Democratic Senator Jon Tester. Tester is a populist Senator well known for criticizing money in politics and the power of K Street lobbyists. Tester became a leading voice against the Republican Tax bill. Sadly Montana is a deep red state, Trump won it by 21 points, Greg Gianforte won his special election to be Montana’s sole Congressman even though he bodyslamed a reporter. A number of Republicans are either running against Tester already, or are being talked about. Including Trump’s Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. It’s not clear right now who will be the candidate against Tester but if you want someone who will fight to keep money out of politics and Wall Street in line, lets re-elect Tester.

His Website give him some money, or volunteer if you live in Montana

Nevada:

Nevada is represented by Republican Senator Dean Heller. Heller was a key vote for the GOP Tax plan, unlike other Republican “swing votes” Heller didn’t ask for any chances and just voted for it. Heller also voted repeatedly to kill Obamacare even after the Republican governor of his state begged him not to because of how many Nevadans it would hurt. Heller is likely one of the most unpopular Senator up for re-election. He’s running in a state Hillary Clinton won while he’s tied himself closely to Trump. Heller is also unpopular with his own party and is being primaried by a far right candidate endorsed by Sarah Palin and Steve Bannon, This candidate Danny Tarkanian has run for 6 offices in Nevada since 2004 and is 0-6 heading into his 7th run but looks likely to unseat Heller in the Primary. Now the Democrat who will face Heller or Tarkanian in November is Congresswoman Jacky Rosen. Rosen won a Republican leaning district in 2016 and is a newcomer to politics. Rosen has been a strong support for the DREAM act and fought against the Republican Tax Cut bill. In a twist if Tarkanian is the Republican nominee it’ll be the second time Rosen and Tarkanian will run against each other, Rosen beat him in 2016 for her Congressional seat. So let’s boot out Dirty Dean Heller and beat Tarkanian (again) and elect Rosen (which would mean Nevada would have two Democratic women Senators)

Her Website give her some money, or volunteer if you live in Nevada 

North Dakota:

North Dakota is Represented by Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp. Heitkamp is personally popular in her state representing the great plains populism. Heitkamp has vocally supported the Buffett Rule sponsoring a bill to ensure that people making more than a million dollars a year pay at least 30% in taxes. North Dakota is a deep red state, Trump won by 36 points and maybe one of the few states were he’s still has a net positive approval rating. in 2016 North Dakota’s other Senator a Republican sailed to re-election with 78% of the vote. So Heitkamp is a Democrat running in one of the reddest states in America. Right now no major Republican is running against her but that could change soon and against any Republican she’ll be running into the headwinds. So lets re-elect her

Her Website give her some money, or volunteer if you live in North Dakota

Ohio:

Ohio is represented by Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. Brown is one of the most progressive and left wing members of the Senate. Honestly only Bernie Sanders and MAYBE Elizabeth Warren are to his left. Not only is Brown signed onto the Medicare for All bill he has introduced a single payer health care bill every year since he was first elected to Congress in 1993. He’s also supports the return of the Glass-Steagall Act. Sadly for Brown (and really all of us) had drifted to the right in the years since his first election. Trump won the state by 8 points, Republican Senator Rob Portman walked to re-election in 2016 with a 21 point victory. The Republican most likely to face off with Brown is Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel. Mandel is for the full repeal of Obamacare and doesn’t believe Climate Change is real. Lucky for us Sherrod Brown beat Josh Mandel like a drum in 2012 and lets help him do it a second time. 

His Website give him some money, or volunteer if you live in Ohio

Tennessee:

Tennessee’s incumbent Republican Senator Bob Corker announced in September 2017 he wasn’t running for re-election. Tennessee is not the kind of state that Democrats are suppose to have a shot, but 2018 is gonna special. The last Democrat to win statewide office, former Governor (2003-2011) Phil Bredesen is coming out of retirement to run for the seat. A former Mayor (Nashville 1991-1999) as well as former Governor Bredesen aggressively addressed the meth crisis in his state and balanced Tennessee’s budget after years of Republican mismanagement. The most likely Republican candidate is Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn. Blackburn is maybe Trump’s favorite Congressperson. She supported his Muslim ban, sponsored a bill to ban abortion after 22 weeks, claimed Obamacare had death panels, is against net neutrality (also municipal broadband even though Chattanooga has it). So lets elect the common sense Democrat not the wing nut Trump Congresswoman.

His Website give him some money, or volunteer if you live in Tennessee

Texas:

Texas is represented by Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Cruz is… wildly unpopular both inside his own party and state. For Democrats he’s fighting for the title of second most hated Republican behind Trump. Of course Cruz is also one of the most right wing members of the Senate, someone who supports a full repeal of Obamacare with no replacement at all, some one who voted against disaster relief for Hurricane Sandy, called net neutrality the “Obamacare for the internet”, we can go on for days Cruz sucks. Normally we’d just have to write off a state like Texas, it’s so Republican right? well maybe not, Hillary Clinton did better there than Obama did in 2012. The factors that turned Alabama blue, large numbers of minority voters and college educated white suburban voters are in Texas in a big way. The Democrat most likely to be facing Cruz is Congressman Beto O’Rourke (the man with the best name in politics) O’Rourke supports legalizing cannabis, he’s been on the front lines in the fight against Trump immigration policy, he was part of 2016 sit-in for gun control on the floor of the US House. Cruz is a literal human monster, Beto O’Rourke is a cool dude, lets make him a senator and Cruz not. Oh also in the first and only poll of the race O’Rourke was tied with Cruz.

His Website give him some money, or volunteer if you live in Texas

West Virginia:

West Virginia is represented by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. This is maybe one of the oddest races of 2018. If West Virginia isn’t the most Republican states in America it’s close, Trump won the state by an earth shaking 42 points in 2016, it’s governor, other senator, and all 3 of it’s congresspeople are Republicans, every state wide office is Republican, Republicans hold large majorities in both State Houses. However former Governor and now Senator Joe Manchin is a Democrat and maybe the most popular person running for re-election in 2018. However Manchin is a Democrat offering key votes on health care and tax reform and standing against Betsy DeVos’ nomination. A lot of Republicans have jumped in to try and unseat Manchin, like a coal billionaire who was convicted of safety violations that got people killed, the Republican Attorney General, and one of the State’s Congressmen. 

His Website give him some money, or volunteer if you live in West Virginia 

Honorable mentions:

right now these Republican held seats look super safe but if you’d told me a year ago that a Democrat was about to be sworn in as Senator for Alabama I’d have laughed in your face. First up is Utah Republican Orin Hatch has been Senator for Utah since 1976 and Utah is an ultra-red state so he’s fine right? Not so much, a poll found 75% of Utahans don’t want Hatch to run again. Indeed Hatch as been promising not to run for re-election every 6 years since the early 1990s, he’s been string people along with “will he won’t he” re-election stories for most 2017 but it seems pretty locked in that he’s running. Hatch almost has closely tied himself to Trump who isn’t popular in the state, he famously said we just don’t have the money for CHIP after voting to give big business and rich people a tax cut. The likely Democrat in the race Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson is raising tons of money and even beat Hatch in an early poll (when people weren’t told she was a Democrat) it’s a long shot but check out her website if you’re in Utah. Next is Mississippi this should be a lock down for Republicans, an incumbent Republican up in Mississippi should walk away with it. And maybe Senator Roger Wicker will. However there’s a lot of buzz that far-right radical, State Senator Chris McDaniel will get into the race with Steve Bannon’s backing. in 2014 McDaniel came with-in less than one point of unseating Mississippi’s other Senator, Thad Cochran, in a primary. Cochran only beat McDaniel thanks to the support of black voters scared of an even more racist Republican. If McDaniel runs and unseats Wicker we could end up in a place like we were in Alabama. Mississippi and Alabama are twins in many was only there are even more black voters in Mississippi. There isn’t a strong Democrat in the race yet but there’s buzz around Brandon Presley. If you recognize the name, yes he is related to Elvis, they’re cousins. Brandon Presley is a popular elected official representing northern Mississippi, normally the most Republican part of the state. Maybe stop by his Facebook or Twitter and tell him to run. Next is Nebraska again not a state we should even be looking at. Republican Senator Deb Fischer won election with nearly 60% of the vote she’s running in a deep red state, should be a shoe in. However the first and only poll of the race showed her 42% to 31% against her main Democratic rival Lincoln City Councilwoman Jane Raybould. That’s not great numbers for an early re-election poll for a sitting Senator running in a state that should be easy for her. Maybe it’s nothing, but check out Raybould’s website. Next up is Wyoming which being totally real here I see no path to a Democrat winning there. Steve Bannon is hoping to push out Republican Senator John Barrasso in favor of the founder of Blackwater (and Besty DeVos’ brother) Erik Prince. Even if Prince runs and beats Barrasso there’s not much in the way of Democrats to stop him in the general election.

Well that’s it, that’s what 2018 looks like in the US Senate, if you got even an extra 5 bucks (and you’re an American, sorry guys) pick a candidate you like, one who speaks to you and hand them your 5 dollars. Don’t have money volunteer, and if you don’t live in or near a state where you can volunteer, well just reblog this and help it find someone who can help. 

thorduna:

rifa:

cecaeliawitch:

sari-y-fawr:

cisnowflake:

cecaeliawitch:

I firmly believe that unless the couple has discussed and agreed to marriage ahead of time, nobody has any business making a surprise public proposal.

Okay except some people want a surprise public proposal. 

Girl my husband took me to Spain and gave me a kinder egg on the beach, the ring was inside the capsule (Lord knows how he did that) if any feminist tried to take that away from me I may cut a bitch. Best surprise of my life.

I wish people were capable of analyzing larger social trends and figuring that a significant number of women end up getting pressured into engagements or marriages they don’t want bc the audience that comes along with a public proposal will think she’s a bitch if she says no – instead of thinking “i liked it when it happened to me, therefore it could never turn out badly for anyone, not ever!!!!”

I think what people are misunderstanding here is that agreeing to marriage ahead of time doesn’t need to be like, asking permission to propose? I surprised my now spouse with a proposal in Disneyland but before that we had several conversations about the future of our relationship, future plans for our retirements and how we’d have to get married eventually for immigration purposes. I didn’t go to her and say “so would you say yeah if I proposed?” or hash out deets ahead of time, but we had enough of a mutual understanding and communicated desire to get married that, although it was a surprise for when and how I proposed, it wasn’t out of left field at all.

This is exactly like conversations about consent, people get up in arms thinking that it means you have to have contracts and serious sit down conversations before doing anything when its REALLY EASY to simply COMMUNICATE with your partner so things like this are done properly, yeesh

“proposal can be a surprise, engagement shouldn’t be“ – saw that somewhere, thought it was the most accurate

Also, maybe figure our their thoughts on public proposals first. Like, it doesn’t have to be flat out ‘would you be cool if I proposed in a crowd’ but maybe if you watch a movie with a public proposal you can say you thought it was cute and ask what they think about public proposals. If they say they’ find them horribly embarrassing or pressuring you can know that ahead of time. 

hashtagsupernova:

girllookitthatbody-ahh:

I REALLY fucking hate the stereotype that Canadians are so nice and passive and apologetic about everything. The stereotype is more than just irksome to me; it’s damaging. It disregards the ugly realities of racism throughout the country, particularly towards Aboriginal people. 

I have witnessed way too much racism in this country to find the “nice Canadian” stereotype cute. The number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in my city alone is horrifying. The abuse and flat-out hatred is grotesque. 

Here in Canada, people are really good at not giving a shit about the well-being of another human being if that person happens to be Aboriginal. Here in Canada, people are so well-armed with their assumptions and stereotypes that they can’t even bother to see Aboriginal people as HUMAN. 

So no. Canada is not a magical land where everyone loves each other and says sorry constantly. That stereotype is insulting to every Aboriginal woman who is assaulted, goes missing, and/or is murdered. It’s insulting to the families of those missing and murdered women who seek justice and answers that they will never receive, simply because non-Aboriginal Canadians don’t give a damn.

Hey guys this is really important. Missing and murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is an actual problem, and it’s a huge problem here in Canada

It really fucking is. 

betterbemeta:

rektyourbismuth:

So when the Crystal Gems are all at the forge, Bismuth calls Amethyst “Deep Cut”. She says “Hey deep cut, what’chu packin’?”

When Amethyst pulls out her whip, Bismuth is genuinely impressed and continues, “Not every Quartz can make a whip like this”

I looked up what a “deep cut” means in gem terminology. 

“When we discuss colored gemstones such as sapphire, ruby and emerald, the main motive of cut is to maximize color to its full potential. In contrast, cutting in diamonds mostly refers to maximizing brilliance.”

“Stones that are too deep will look smaller than expected but they will show off more color than they would if they were cut to normal proportions. Deep-cut stones also preserve weight, increasing the cost of the stone without the expected increase in the size of the crown (top portion of the gem).”

Well, we now know why Amethyst is considered a defect by Homeworld, she came out cut too deep, so she looks smaller. But check out what else it says about deep cut gems; their color is more saturated, vibrant, beautiful. I think that’s why her weapon is special.(Or, if the color has nothing to do with it, then a deeper cut would mean her potential is maxed out. Like maxed IVs!) They also ‘preserve weight’ without having to be physically bigger. That could mean Amethyst has more mass packed in her body than the other gems, which would explain her shapeshifting prowess.

In particular, why Amethyst can shapeshift into someone twice her size like The Purple Puma, or Jasper, without taking damage (when she’s used to the form, Purple Puma vs Jasper, she’s been shown to sustain Puma for much longer without resting).  Even then it took a long time before being Jasper started to be hard for her.

In contrast, remember how tired Steven got, from just stretching his body a few inches??

Her smaller body is ALSO why when she finally accepts herself, it takes her TEN SECONDS to reform after she’s poofed the second time: 

How long did it take Pearl the Perfectionist?

TWO. WEEKS. So in battle, Amethyst’s small size gives her a tremendous advantage; she can literally save herself from being shattered by reforming almost immediately. No other gem has had that ability so far.

Finally, Amethyst is just deep. She’s a very deep person.

Why else do I think this is relevant? Well… 

“Stones that are too shallow will look big for their weight and appear lighter in color than deeper-cut stones.”

Why does that sound familiar?

Oh. 

Shallow has several meanings here. Her weapon is a helmet. Her battle strategy is to run into her foe. 

That’s a shallow strategy. No one will stay with Jasper because she only thinks of things from her perspective; she lacks insight in other’s emotions. She’s, in a way, shallow. 

Or, an allegory for being born with pure talent vs having to work for everything you have, and how shallow pure talent alone really is. 

In Conclusion

Homeworld has a recourse problem, and Amethyst’s deep cut gives her all the abilities of a regular cut Quartz soldier plus more, while taking half the resources to create, and they’d consider her a defect?? Homeworld. You fools. 

I actually really like this theory because even though Peridot says that Jasper is the ‘perfect quartz,’ perfect according to whom?

It’s clear that when matched head-on in a confrontation, Amethyst isn’t as “strong” or big as Jasper is, and even with her strongest attacks can’t faze her. But that’s the kicker– Homeworld maximizes a specific form of performance for each gem that it creates. They don’t care about Amethyst’s own special talents or her unique abilities, or that for her size she’s extremely powerful, an equal teammate to her companions. To Homeworld, those things don’t exist– fighting the way Jasper does exists, being Jasper’s size exists, doing the exact same things to the exact same specs as Jasper does. Every quartz is measured by gems like her as the ruler.

Likewise, Homeworld also doesn’t care about Peridot to the point where they’d outfit her with devices to bring her up to a certain ‘spec’ but ignore any abilities she has, or that she might devise accommodations that could suit her own self instead of what the Diamonds think is her function, to be performed until she can’t work anymore.

I will say that in the fight with Jasper, Amethyst’s momentary ‘glitch’ in reformation indicated to me that she was trying to reform herself bigger than before, but failed. She’s also tried to reform herself before based on anger and how she felt others criticized her. But thinking about the above maybe we have to move away from the idea that she wasn’t ‘powerful’ enough to take a larger form, but that the unique way her gem is cut refracts her energy in other ways than outwardly as a projected massive form. She has the same great power as Jasper, and performs feats all the time that other gems would find dangerous or even impossible. It just doesn’t manifest as a giant physical form, the only vector of worth that Homeworld seems to place on Quartz gems, to perform a specific function.