Hubby & i have been in central & south England for nearly 2 weeks now. We are going back to the States early next week. We've visit at least a dozen places, including cities Bath, London, Canterbury, Portsmouth, and a slew of towns. Parking is a chore and the narrow streets are a nightmare, so past couple days we've left the car parked and travelled by train which meant alot of walking at destinations. Today we did over roughly 10 miles in Portsmouth alone. Among the places we visited was a WW2 museum & memorial center called The D-Day Story. I had to stop myself from shedding tears early on during the narration of events & the displays. The Brits know how to do great remembrance of the war and its horrors inflicted upon their nation.
All in all we really enjoyed our travels here and found England beautiful and incredibly lush. Yes they love their gardens, their writers, and their freedom. I was very happy to see great support everywhere for the LGBTQ+ community, starting with lovely murals at the airport. At the town we stayed at in Surrey everywhere we found pride flags flown and rainbow colors, even at the church entrance. We saw tolerance and respect for people, and although they may be more reserved, the Brits are for the most part not Americans-hating.
Best of all, we felt safe in most places we went to. I was slightly more guarded in London, but other than that i wasn't fearful at all, especially of any gun violence.
Awesome was the amazing weather we've had all throughout the past couple weeks. With exception of a few sprinkles one morning here in Surrey, every day weather has been sun with low 50s - low 70s. There is no rush of crowds so i do feel it's the best time to do UK if you do come here. Bring comfortable walking shoes, and i don't recommend renting a car since driving on these tiny roads can be hazardous.
Happy Travels

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/texas-senate-passes-bill-to-seize-control-of-elections-from-local-authorities/?fbclid=IwAR1q7UvzOvD4wVXiNblx5J0d2bOriGIp5GLDe-eQVjzPwu6rHb7XzpKTjgk&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, April 13, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 1933, a bill that would empower the secretary of state to seize election authority from county officials. The bill passed on a party line vote, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats voting against. It now heads to the Republican-controlled House.

S.B. 1933 would allow the secretary of state — in Texas, a position appointed by the governor — to take over election administration and voter registration in Texas counties. The bill would specifically authorize this “administrative oversight” if an election complaint is filed with the secretary of state’s office and the secretary of state has “good cause to believe that a recurring pattern of problems with election administration or voter registration exists in the county.” The broad categories listed as pretext for state oversight include delays in reporting election results, failure to comply with list maintenance procedures, voting equipment malfunctions and more.

If the state imposes oversight on a county, the county election office would be required to submit any voting or policy changes to the state for approval and allow staff from the secretary of state’s office to observe election proceedings. The state would also be empowered to appoint a conservator to take over election duties and recommend that a county suspend or terminate the current election administrator. “[T]he governor is trying to override voters to replace leaders he can’t control,”ACLU Texas tweeted about the legislation.
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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-strikes-ev-deal-with-tesla-others-for-widespread-charging-station-access-100044167.html

Overall, President Biden has pledged that the government will oversee a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030. The goal was set as part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, which put $7.5 billion towards the EV charging efforts.

Biden also aims to have at least 50% of vehicle sales be electric by 2030. Both goals, officials said, remain well within reach.

"We’re well on our way, we got to keep our foot on the accelerator,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said this week.


"A goal of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030"
WHOOOPPPP i'm all in on an EV for my next vehicle now

It was what prompted him to declare "I am not a crook", and prompted every president after him to release their tax returns.

7 years in the making, we now have the Con's tax returns. Tune in to watch folks .Alex is laying it out pretty well.

"The New York Times Editorial Board's Mara Gay weighs in on the outcome of the Georgia Senate runoff, how a multiracial coalition in Georgia is making competitive elections possible and a new Washington Post editorial on Georgia turning purple and why it should be a 2024 early primary state."

Saw her this morning on Morning Joe and i really like her commentaries. The democratization (this multiracial coalition mentioned above) is why Dems have had success in GA last couple years. Alot more work to do but the changing demographics of the Atlanta suburbs is working for Dems

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/us/politics/fetterman-pennsylvania-voters-democrats.html

Did John Fetterman just show Democrats how to solve their white-working-class problem? Mr. Fetterman’s decisive victory in Pennsylvania’s Senate race — arguably Democrats’ biggest win of the midterms, flipping a Republican-held seat — was achieved in no small part because he did significantly better in counties dominated by white working-class voters compared with Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020.

These voters for years have been thought to be all but lost to Democrats, ever since Donald J. Trump turned out explosively high numbers of white voters in rural and exurban counties, especially in Pennsylvania and the northern Midwest. Mr. Biden recaptured Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin two years ago largely by drumming up support in the suburbs, while working-class white voters stuck with Mr. Trump. But Mr. Fetterman, with his tattoos and Carhartt wardrobe, and priorities like marijuana legalization, appears to have regained ground with the white working class — though whether he persuaded many Trump voters to back him, or whether he improved on Mr. Biden with the demographic in other ways, awaits more detailed data...

Mr. Fetterman’s biggest gains were in deep-red counties dominated by white working-class voters. He didn’t win these places outright, but he drove up the margins for a Democrat by 3, 4 or 5 points compared with Mr. Biden.
“Pennsylvania elections are about margins, and he cut into the margins Republicans had across the counties that they usually control,” said Christopher Borick, a political scientist and pollster at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa. “He got a lot of looks from voters who aren’t very open to looking at Democrats right now.”
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Thought-provoking article.

NPR has a couple days ago: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/10/1134206147/oregon-governor-results-drazan-kotek-johnson

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/election-results-congress-senate-house-11-09-2022/h_76f723da4c2c5300c7679d7cb023e7e3

Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan will defeat Republican Colin Schmitt in New York's 18th Congressional District, CNN projects.
Democrats now have 189 of 218 seats needed to control the House, according to CNN's projections.
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Please delete this if already posted but this is HUGE!! He was one of the NY House races listed as vulnerable. CONGRATS TO REP PAT RYAN!!

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/11/09/democrats-hold-governorships-make-state-legislative-gains

Dispelling predictions of a red wave, Democrats seized complete control of the legislatures in Michigan and Minnesota, and held on to governorships in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, maintaining a bulwark against Republican-dominated legislatures in the latter two states.

Democrats also won historic victories in Maryland, where voters elected Wes Moore as the state’s first Black governor, and Massachusetts, where they chose Maura Healey as the state’s first openly gay governor. With those two victories, Democrats increased the number of states where they control the governor’s office and both legislative chambers to 18. Republicans had unified control of 23 states heading into yesterday’s election.
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Congrats to Governors & amazing groundwork teams in MI, MN, PA, WI!!

https://www.ft.com/content/be331b8e-3a24-4941-b6d0-aa3041f789cf?ftcamp=traffic/partner/feed_headline/us_yahoo/auddev

"While Russia needs to sell the EU its natural gas, Europe no longer needs these supplies. Gas is becoming a buyer’s market. The energy crunch should be no threat to unified support for Ukraine, let alone Europeans’ comfort this winter, despite Putin’s machinations.

Analysis of underlying supply patterns reveals that, contrary to common belief, Europe is securing enough gas and liquefied natural gas from global markets to fully substitute for lost Russian supplies already. What is more, it can fully replace every last bit of Russian gas without any need for demand destruction or even substitution away from gas.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February, EU sourcing of Russian gas has plummeted from 46 per cent to 9 per cent. This pivot came partially through increased piped gas from Norway and Algeria. Even more noteworthy, the dramatic increases in shipped LNG imports from the US and elsewhere have replaced the lost Russian vaporous gas from the targeted pipelines. This new supply surge to the EU now approaches, based on our calculations, 40 per cent of total global LNG supply.
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Good short article. Putin's gambit hasn't paid off at all.