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Democracy

Lifelong Republicans are turning out to vote for Biden, unable to stomach another Trump term

Lifelong Republicans are turning out to vote for Biden, unable to stomach another Trump term

President Trump has always had a fan base that would literally follow him off the edge of a cliff. But he's also had support from Republicans outside of his base—people who range from diehard fiscal conservatives to one-issue voters to hold-their-nose-and-vote folks who couldn't bring themselves to vote for Hillary.

This election, however, there seems to be a turn of the tide. We've seen prominent Republicans who served in previous GOP administrations come out in support of Biden, warning the nation that Trump poses a danger to our democracy. We've seen coalitions of Republicans from The Lincoln Project to RVAT (Republican Voters Against Trump) form in the past couple of years. And we've even seen people who have served recently in Trump's own administration encouraging people not to vote for him based on their experiences in the White House and seeing his behavior up close.

It's historically unprecedented for an incumbent president to lose so many members of their own party, though it's not surprising to the millions who have always seen Trump for who he is. Now it seems many everyday conservative Americans are recognizing that restoring sanity, stability, and decency to the presidency is the first order of business right now—partisanship be damned.

Twitter users are sharing stories of friends and loved ones who are lifelong Republicans voting for Biden—and even voting for him early.


Some are even voting Democrat all the way down the ticket.

For some, it's their parents who have made the switch. For others, it's actually themselves.

Many of the stories are about folks in the older generation, who may have been put off by the president's cavalier attitude about COVID, which poses the greatest threat to their age group. Or it could be that they are dismayed by how far the dignity of the office has fallen under Trump.

One person shared that her 81-year-old mother understood the "toxic agenda" from the Council for National Policy—a secretive, right-wing policy-pushing group where mainstream conservatives and extremists mix, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The stories seem to be met with a mix of outright glee and cautious optimism, as many people are still hesitant to feel too hopeful after the 2016 election.

But it is heartening to see that even those who are exposed to Fox News aren't necessarily lost.

For some of these folks, voting for anyone other than a Republican is a big deal, especially when they are surrounded by folks who believe in kooky conspiracy theories. Their willingness to put country over party should be celebrated.


For some, a combination of reading actual news and the influence of younger generations have made the difference.

It's almost enough to make you think that the polls that have Biden's already sizable lead growing might have some legs. Almost.

One story was particularly touching. Brennan Suen is an LGBTQ activist who was inspired by AOC to find one person in his life that he could talk sense into in the election. He chose his 94-year-old grandmother who has always voted Republican.

Suen wrote:

"After RBG died, I listened to @AOC say, there is someone in your life who only you can get to in this election, and it is your job to get to them. Since then, I have been filled with anxiety knowing what I needed to do. For me, that's my 94 year old grandmother.

She has always voted Republican. My very first memory of politics was seeing polls during Gore v. Bush and her telling me she supported Bush but my parents supported Gore. I took one look at the two and said that I agreed with my parents.

After weeks of hesitation, I finally called my grandmother after SCOTUS justices indicated their intent to overturn Obergefell. She has always been the greatest ally -- the first thing she said to me when I came out was that she wanted me to have a grandkid for her.

I have never called her crying, but I did today. I told her that in my work, I advocate for my community every day, and the last four years has been unbearably difficult for me. I told her the Republicans are trying to take away our right to marry, adopt, access health care.

I told her a vote for Republicans was a vote that would harm me and my future. I told her I was scared. And today, my grandmother promised me she would vote for Joe Biden and @xjelliott. She told me that I'm the love of her life and that she would not break her promise.

I am still crying. Please call your loved ones. Tell them what's at stake. Tell them it's personal. Because it's true. There is someone out there who only you can get to. And their decision will mean the world to you."

Some things are just more important than political parties or even policies. As General Michael Hayden, former CIA director under Bush, said in a video ad this week, "I absolutely disagree with some of Biden's policies, but that's not important. What's important is the United States ... Biden is a good man. Donald Trump is not."

Country over party. Decency over degeneracy. Regardless of political identity, it's time to say enough is enough.

Identity

Celebrate International Women's Day with these stunning photos of female leaders changing the world

The portraits, taken by acclaimed photographer Nigel Barker, are part of CARE's "She Leads the World" campaign.

Images provided by CARE

Kadiatu (left), Zainab (right)

True

Women are breaking down barriers every day. They are transforming the world into a more equitable place with every scientific discovery, athletic feat, social justice reform, artistic endeavor, leadership role, and community outreach project.

And while these breakthroughs are happening all the time, International Women’s Day (Mar 8) is when we can all take time to acknowledge the collective progress, and celebrate how “She Leads the World.”

This year, CARE, a leading global humanitarian organization dedicated to empowering women and girls, is celebrating International Women’s Day through the power of portraiture. CARE partnered with high-profile photographer Nigel Barker, best known for his work on “America’s Next Top Model,” to capture breathtaking images of seven remarkable women who have prevailed over countless obstacles to become leaders within their communities.

“Mabinty, Isatu, Adama, and Kadiatu represent so many women around the world overcoming incredible obstacles to lead their communities,” said Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE USA.

Barker’s bold portraits, as part of CARE’s “She Leads The World” campaign, not only elevate each woman’s story, but also shine a spotlight on how CARE programs helped them get to where they are today.

About the women:

Mabinty

international womens day, care.org

Mabinty is a businesswoman and a member of a CARE savings circle along with a group of other women. She buys and sells groundnuts, rice, and fuel. She and her husband have created such a successful enterprise that Mabinty volunteers her time as a teacher in the local school. She was the first woman to teach there, prompting a second woman to do so. Her fellow teachers and students look up to Mabinty as the leader and educator she is.

Kadiatu

international womens day, care.org

Kadiatu supports herself through a small business selling food. She also volunteers at a health clinic in the neighboring village where she is a nursing student. She tests for malaria, works with infants, and joins her fellow staff in dancing and singing with the women who visit the clinic. She aspires to become a full-time nurse so she can treat and cure people. Today, she leads by example and with ambition.

Isatu

international womens day, care.org

When Isatu was three months pregnant, her husband left her, seeking his fortune in the gold mines. Now Isatu makes her own way, buying and selling food to support her four children. It is a struggle, but Isatu is determined to be a part of her community and a provider for her kids. A single mother of four is nothing if not a leader.

Zainab

international womens day, care.org

Zainab is the Nurse in Charge at the Maternal Child Health Outpost in her community. She is the only nurse in the surrounding area, and so she is responsible for the pre-natal health of the community’s mothers-to-be and for the safe delivery of their babies. In a country with one of the world’s worst maternal death rates, Zainab has not lost a single mother. The community rallies around Zainab and the work she does. She describes the women who visit the clinic as sisters. That feeling is clearly mutual.

Adama

international womens day, care.org

Adama is something few women are - a kehkeh driver. A kehkeh is a three-wheeled motorcycle taxi, known elsewhere as a tuktuk. Working in the Kissy neighborhood of Freetown, Adama is the primary breadwinner for her family, including her son. She keeps her riders safe in other ways, too, by selling condoms. With HIV threatening to increase its spread, this is a vital service to the community.

Ya Yaebo

international womens day, care.org

“Ya” is a term of respect for older, accomplished women. Ya Yaebo has earned that title as head of her local farmers group. But there is much more than that. She started as a Village Savings and Loan Association member and began putting money into her business. There is the groundnut farm, her team buys and sells rice, and own their own oil processing machine. They even supply seeds to the Ministry of Agriculture. She has used her success to the benefit of people in need in her community and is a vocal advocate for educating girls, not having gone beyond grade seven herself.

On Monday, March 4, CARE will host an exhibition of photography in New York City featuring these portraits, kicking off the multi-day “She Leads the World Campaign.

Learn more, view the portraits, and join CARE’s International Women's Day "She Leads the World" celebration at CARE.org/sheleads.


Health

Over or under? Surprisingly, there actually is a 'correct' way to hang a toilet paper roll.

Let's settle this silly-but-surprisingly-heated debate once and for all.

Elya/Wikimedia Commons

Should you hang the toilet paper roll over or under?



Upworthy book

Humans have debated things large and small over the millennia, from the democracy to breastfeeding in public to how often people ought to wash their sheets.

But perhaps the most silly-yet-surprisingly-heated household debate is the one in which we argue over which way to hang the toilet paper roll.

The "over or under" question has plagued marriages and casual acquaintances alike for over 100 years, with both sides convinced they have the soundest reasoning for putting their toilet paper loose end out or loose end under. Some people feel so strongly about right vs. wrong TP hanging that they will even flip the roll over when they go to the bathroom in the homes of strangers.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not merely an inconsequential preference. There is actually a "correct" way to hang toilet paper, according to health experts as well as the man who invented the toilet paper roll in the first place.

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Family

Mom teaches daughter a perfect lesson after she threw her new pencil case in the trash

"I truly believe changing your perception & just being grateful can turn around any situation in life."

Photo from Pexels.

Getting lessons are usually not so fun.

Kids can seem pretty unappreciative at times. Parents often sacrifice a lot to give their child the best, just to have it thrown in their face, or in the bin. This is something that Haley Hassell recently discovered when she went to three different stores to get her daughter the latest trendy pencil case.

When Hassell gave her daughter the pencil case, she threw it in the bin complaining that everyone already had it. That's when Hassell decided to teach her daughter the perfect lesson.

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Some girls out at a bchelorette party.

A recent story posted on Reddit shows how sometimes trusting your gut can be the best thing you can do, even if following it will seriously impact your friendships. It all started when a 24-year-old woman with the username Yslbabycat went to a bachelorette party with 5 other friends in Italy.

For brevity’s sake, we’ll call our main character YBC.

One night, the six girls went bar and club hopping and met some new friends. “We met some young people, and they invited us to a party. We went and danced and met more people. The night kept going on longer, and we were very far from our lodgings. These young men with 2 women in their group told us to stay with them for the night,” she wrote.

That’s when she had the first strong gut feeling.

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Pop Culture

3 moments that might convince you Edgar Allan Poe was a time traveler.

In the case of Poe, it was his fiction that was, well, stranger than fiction.


I'm pretty positive that Edgar Allan Poe had (has?) the power to travel through time. Hear me out on this one.

It's not just the well-known circumstances of his life — orphaned at a young age, father of the mystery novel, master of cryptology, maestro of the macabre. Nor am I referring to the head-scratching details of the days leading up to his death: how he was found on the street near a voting poll wearing someone else's clothes, and during his subsequent hospitalization, he was alleged to babble incoherently about an unidentified person named “Reynolds."

And I won't even get into the confounding reports of a nameless figure who, for seven decades, would show up to Poe's gravesite in the early hours of his birthday with a glass of cognac and three roses.


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Family

When her 5-year-old broke his leg, this mom raised $0. It's actually inspiring.

Her crowdfunding alternative is so obvious, it's shocking America hasn't taken advantage of it.


Freddie Teer is a normal boy. He loves Legos, skateboarding, and horsing around with his older brother Ollie. But in March 2017, his mother faced every parent's worst nightmare.

Photo via iStock.

Freddie was doing tricks down the stairs of his front porch when he fell off his bike — and his bike fell on him.

"[He was] just crying, wouldn't let us touch his leg, couldn't put any weight on his leg. We knew," mom Ashley says.

Ashley rushed Freddie to the emergency room, where an X-ray confirmed the bones in his left shin were broken in half. He needed to be sedated, his bones set and put in a cast. It was an agonizing day for the Teers. But it's what happened next that was truly inspiring.

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People started a viral thread about the most random facts they know

Certain people have an innate ability to remember random facts. They are great at trivia but can also be insufferable know-it-alls.

So why are some people better at recalling random facts than others? Researchers in Europe believe that it's because their brains are more efficiently wired than other people's.

"We assume that more efficient networking of the brain contributes to better integration of pieces of information and thus leads to better results in a general knowledge test," biopsychologist Erhan Genc, from Ruhr University Bochum, said according to Science Alert.

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