Everybody Loves Lincoln

Good News! Vaccines Galore, a Stowaway Owl, the Prairie & more!

Not 1 but 2 vaccines are showing amazing promise. We learned about Pfizer last week and this week we heard about Moderna’s vaccine. Both are around 95% effective which is incredibly impressive. Both require 2 shots spaced out by a few weeks but the Moderna one doesn’t need to be kept at super low temperatures which makes distribution easier. The fact that we have 2 potential vaccine candidates just 8 months after the pandemic started is nothing short of miraculous and is a testament to the scientists who are working so hard on this. We owe them, and Dolly Parton, our gratitude and our lives. Literally. Dolly donated $1 million to Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center which was an early trial site for the Moderna vaccine. So she helped too. Thanks Dolly, and all of the scientists.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has raised about $2 billion from the European Commission, France, Spain, The Republic of Korea, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to reserve and access 1 billion doses for low- and middle-income economies. In addition, 94 higher-income countries have officially joined the COVAX Facility, which is a worldwide effort to make sure that the vaccines that are produced are able to be distributed equitably for the most vulnerable groups of people. Not only will it help people in those economies, it’ll also help end the pandemic overall. They still need to raise more but it’s comforting to know that hopefully anyone on the planet who needs a vaccine most will be able to get one.

Though there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we’re not out of the woods yet. Many of us won’t be able to be physically with our families on Thanksgiving to help stop the spread of the virus. So how do you connect with your family during the holiday? Zoom has the answer! All day on Thanksgiving, zoom is lifting their 40 minute time limit on free meetings. You can talk to those relatives in Timbuktu or Chicago or wherever you are for as long as you’d like that day. Thank you zoom for helping us all stay connected.

14,000 acres of land were added to the Montana Wildlife Reserve as part of the American Prairie Reserve. This was the 29th purchase of land for The American Prairie Reserve which is a project with the goal of buying enough privately owned land to connect 2 huge tracts of federally managed land and in doing so, it would create the single largest reserve in the lower 48 states. The reserve now has about 419,000 public and private acres with the goal of eventually acquiring 3.2 million acres. Once that happens, which is basically about 5000 square miles, scientists think that will allow for the grassland reserve to be big enough to preserve the full ecosystem and have enough resources for the wildlife living there. It’s a massive conservation project and one we certainly hope is successful.

And a worker who was helping set up the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York discovered a tiny male saw-whet owl in the tree. They grow only to 8.3 inches. His wife called the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center and they treated him, ensuring he’s healthy. He’s now ready to go back to the wild but with a cool new name: Rockefeller.

Comment below w your good news!

Is it Possible Trump could Overturn Election Results? (Michigan & more)

Remember that Trump has lost the popular vote by close to 6 million votes. But we choose our presidents via the electoral college. In almost all states, the winner of the popular vote in that state wins all of the votes for the electoral college. The way our constitution is written, there are technically ways for the courts or a state to overturn the will of the people via that states’ legislature. But none of it is going well for Trump. Here’s what happened recently:

In Arizona, a state judge dismissed a case brought by the Arizona Republican Party wanting to expand a hand audit of votes. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Democratic Party pointed out that the state had just finished a hand-audit recount of a sampling of ballots that found zero discrepancies and therefore a full recount would do nothing but delay the results. Biden won by over 10K votes.

In Georgia, a judge appointed by Trump threw out a case that was trying to stop the certification of the state’s results over improper procedures by election officials. The judge did not find evidence of irregularities. And Georgia just finished a full hand count. Biden won again. Georgia has certified the results. Biden won by over 12K votes.

In Pennsylvania, a judge there rejected an attempt to invalidate 2,177 absentee ballots. Trump was claiming that these ballots were "legally insufficient" because of technical issues with their envelopes or were missing a handwritten date or address. The judge said the case was about language, not voter fraud and that it would be wrong to disenfranchise those voters because of this. Biden won by almost 82 thousand votes.

In Michigan, Trump tried to pull off something pretty wild. First, as I mentioned earlier this week, 2 GOP members of the Wayne County elections board voted against certifying the results. Remember, Wayne county includes Detroit, a city where voters are primarily black and democrats. They eventually voted to certify but then tried to rescind that. It didn’t happen. So Trump tried a different tactic: he invited members of the Michigan State House and Senate to the White House to make an appeal in person. He was hoping that doing so could help stall the state’s certification which is set for Monday. And he wanted to convince them to get the Republican controlled legislature to overturn the popular vote, where Biden is ahead by at least 154,000 votes, and instead appoint pro-Trump electors to the electoral college. But that would also require the Governor to sign off on this. The governor is a democrat so that’s not happening. And the GOP member who met with Trump said afterwards that “We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors, just as we have said throughout this election.”

You might be asking: if there’s no way for Trump to actually overturn the Michigan results, why try? Because it sows the seeds of doubt. It keeps his supporters angry and feeling like something wrong must have happened even though the only thing that happened was that Trump lost. It keeps him front and center in the news and gives him more power once he’s out of office. Perhaps most importantly for him, it keeps the possibility of a run in 2024 very real.

Firing & Fraud: What happened at DHS & in Michigan?!

Everyone was concerned that if defeated Trump would act out. And he has. The most recent firing came today. Chris Krebs served as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is a branch of the Department of Homeland Security. Their job is to ensure that our elections are protected from hackers. And he and several other committees had declared this election to be the most secure in American history. Krebs had also continued to debunk claims, especially via the CISA blog “Rumor Control,” where he publicly denounced the false claims by the president and his allies around election security and voting procedures. CISA also released a statement saying, “there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised. While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too. When you have questions, turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections.”

Obviously Trump didn’t like any of that. Remember that according to Trump, the only way he could lose and election was through fraud. But that’s not what happened. He lost because people voted against him. There was no mass fraud. Even his own lawyers haven’t been able to find any. But that hasn’t stopped him from making these false claims. For those who pick and choose instances of fraud, small examples are found in every election. But we’re talking at most .0025% aka none. Did a few dead people vote? Probably. But a few probably voted for Trump and a few for Biden. But again, no mass fraud that would flip tens of thousands of votes. Interestingly, now that Chris Krebs has been fired, something he expected would happen, he’s now available to talk to Biden’s team. That was being prevented because the administration still hasn’t acknowledged that Biden won and the official transition hasn’t begun. Hopefully Biden has already made the call.

As for additional shenanigans and more examples where it seems Republicans are politicizing the elections process in ways not done before, in Michigan 2 GOP members of the Wayne County elections board at first refused to certify the results. Wayne County includes Detroit which is a heavily democratic district with a lot of black voters. While they eventually did reverse themselves after hours of angry voters calling them out as racist, this was an effort to disenfranchise voters, and especially black voters. One of the Republican board members, Monica Palmer, made a motion to “certify the results in the communities other than the city of Detroit.” The republicans claimed that many precincts in the county had conflicting figures for the numbers of votes cast and the number of voters they recorded as having participated. But it involved a small number of ballots and that’s normal. Sometimes people leave the line, or an absentee ballot is kicked out of a tabulator. But again, these are small numbers and discrepancies like this have never held things up in the past.
For Democrats concerned that Trump wanted to force Michigan and other states to miss their certification deadlines so that Republican-controlled legislatures could appoint their own pro-Trump delegates to the Electoral College, there is some hope. The GOP majority leader in the Michigan State Senate, said that won’t happen.

For those who might say, well Jackie, this just seems so anti-Trump. To that I say, no, it’s just pro-fact. I’m not here to tell you things you just want to hear. I’m here to explain accurate info so you know what’s really going on. In court case after court case, Trump is losing. Why? Because he lost the election, more people voted against him and for Biden, and even his people can’t find mass fraud. The election is over. Someone just

What’s going on w Penn, dead voters & more?!

Joe Biden won and he’ll be sworn in as president.

But there will be a bit of chaos beforehand.

Trump refuses to concede but even his team can’t find proof of voter fraud.

And a few dead voters voted in PA. Some voted for Biden but apparently some for Trump.

Watch to find out more!🇺🇸

In the midst of everything, there’s actually some really good news including:

-Eliminating hepatitis
-Best Dad Ever
-Santa is an Essential Worker!
-A polar bear livestream!

Check out more GOOD NEWS! Share YOUR good news too!

Where’d all those votes come from?!

I assure you, no new votes have been cast. They are just counting votes. Mail in ballots were always expected to take longer and come in last. They did in Michigan, Wisconsin & Pennsylvania.

Why? Bc GOP state legislatures in all 3 prevented ballots from being counted in advance.

The red mirage happened: Trump was up in Election Day votes. They got counted first so it looked like he was winning. But once all ballots are counted, it looks like Biden wins all 3.

Also, Biden on track to win AZ and Nevada but it’s #2020 so let’s make sure all votes are counted!

Election Update as of 12am pst!

This election is not over!

There are key votes that are still not in. While Democrats are bullish and feel confident that when all votes are counted, #Biden will win, #Trump will not back down easily.

Trump declared that he won which is not true.

Biden seems to have flipped #Arizona and #Nebraska’s 2nd district.

Ballots in blue areas of Michigan, Wisconsin & Pennsylvania haven’t come in yet.

As of filling, #Georgia is still in play because ballots from Fulton & Dekalb county still haven’t been counted and they’ll skew for Biden. It’ll be very close here.

*In the video I said Wisconsin was won by Trump in 2016 by about 10k votes. That was actually Michigan. Wisconsin went to Trump by 22k.
Comment below with questions!🇺🇸😀

The Red Mirage: Explained

You may have heard the term “the red mirage.” No, it’s not a Star Wars Jedi Challenge. Although to Democrats it’s the nightmare equivalent of a battle with Kylo Ren.

What is it really? It’s the impression on election night that Donald Trump is winning, when in reality the votes of many Democrats won’t have been counted yet.

Here’s why: In Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, all swing states, mail in ballots can’t be counted until election day. Due to COVID precautions, there are millions of mail in ballots and it looks like the majority of those are from Democrats. This is because Trump has discouraged voting by mail so it seems many republicans are voting in person.

Mail in ballots take longer to count than ballots that are cast in person. So the in person ballots, which will skew heavily republican, will be counted first. Which means they could be reported first. Leading to what looks like a Trump victory, the red mirage, when in reality it could turn blue once all of the votes are counted.

Moral of the story? Vote in person or drop off your ballot at this point no matter who you support! And prepare yourself: don’t expect to know the winner of the election on election night. It could take these states a few days to process all of the votes!

Want me to explain something else? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for watching.

Good News! Voting Records, Solar Savings, Mountain Lions & More!

Happy Halloween! Which means...It’s time for some good news, good news. It’s my favorite video of the week. Normally I give you politics explained quickly. But once a week I like to make a good news video because despite everything happening in the world, and especially election anxiety, there really are good people and good news too. Please like this account and share the good news with your friends via the paper airplane aka triangle below.

More than 80 million Americans have voted and some counties have surpassed their 2016 vote totals already. America has some opinions and we’re going to hear about them!

Batesville High School in Arkansas decided to go solar after an energy audit in 2017. That was a very good move. They installed 1400 solar panels and with the savings, they were able to give raises between $2000 and $3000 a year to each teacher. On top of that, the energy consumption for the school district decreased so much over a 3 year period they were able to turn a $250,000 budget deficit into a $1.8 million surplus. Apparently over 7,300 schools in the nation now use solar as a way to save money, and introduce kids to renewable energy. Helping the environment can help your pocketbook too.

Liem Kaplan may only be 13 years old, but he’s already spent the past seven years of his life serving his community through coat drives and other philanthropic activities. Since COVID-19 hit the Seattle area, he’s been applying his generous nature tenfold: getting more than 5,000 masks, as well as sanitizer, food, clothing, and shelter. It’s just a little more remarkable because Liem was born with arms that are a little different. Clearly that hasn’t stopped him from being amazing.

Gordon Wayne, who at one point had been homeless, has walked over 500 miles from Central Virginia to Boston college in Massachusetts to raise money for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. He raised over $136,000. I’m happy to report he’ll be a sophomore at Boston College with a full scholarship. He said “Many homeless people have great skill, work ethic, and heart, but simply need the resources to have a realistic chance at success. Please consider donating, as your generosity could truly save someone’s life.”

Los Angeles has a lot of mountain lions. But as the city has continued to spread, freeways have impacted these animals’ ability to travel freely, not to mention it’s dangerous for them to cross over these freeways. So, money is being raised to create a 165 foot overpass over the 101 freeway in an area between thousand oaks and calabasas. It’ll be covered in extra-dense trees and other vegetation. The goal is to make the overpass as silent and shaded as possible, so the mountain lions will feel comfortable and safe using it. Save LA Cougars and the National Wildlife Federation, have raised $15 million so far. If you’d like to contribute, look those organizations up!

Thanks for watching. Remember to vote! And wear a mask. Share your good news below!😀🇺🇸

And the Polls Say...

It’s the end of the world as we know it…no matter who you vote for, you probably think it’ll be the end of the world if the other side wins. Which guarantees it’s the end of the world either way. But if SOMEHOW it’s not the end of the world on November 4th, or whatever day we find out who won the election, you might be wondering where the race stands. So I thought I’d explain it to you…quickly. Because that’s what I do.

After the final debate where most people felt that Trump helped himself and Biden did well too, the question was: did the race change? I’m going to explain some of the weird polls and share some important info on voting so stick with me. First, while the race has tightened a bit as expected, it’s remained fairly steady overall with Biden currently favored to win.

As I’m sure you’ve heard, because of the electoral college, our election hinges on a few key swing states. That means the vote is going to be close and therefore could “swing” either way. The main ones this year are Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina. Although there are other states that, based on polling averages could also be close, including Ohio, Georgia, Arizona and even Texas. Yes, Biden is polling well in Texas and the race is now considered a toss up. So much so that Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire who briefly ran for president, is spending millions of dollars in a last minute attempt to convince some additional voters to support Biden.

If you’re like me, each day you refresh your feed to see if any new polls have come out. And they’re coming! Some of them seem a bit ridiculous but if you remove those outliers, you’ll start to see a pretty clear picture of where things stand today. It’s the polling averages that tend to provide us with a more realistic picture. Remember, polls are a snapshot and reflection of where things stand but they’re no magic eight ball. Although those magic eight balls say things like “Cannot predict now” and “ask again later” so maybe they’re exactly like polls! Either way, both candidates have a pathway to victory.

Trump’s most definitely runs through Florida. If he loses to Biden in Florida, and we should know that on election night because Florida processes ballots as it receives them, he’ll lose the election. This is because there likely won’t be enough other states to make up for those 29 electoral college votes. Right now, the polls are showing the race virtually tied with a slight edge to Biden. But when polls are this close, it could swing either way. In North Carolina, the race is a dead heat as well.

In Pennsylvania, the race has tightened. Biden has a polling advantage of 3.8 percent in real clear politic’s average of polls. But that’s just in the margin of error meaning it could be close there too. Both candidates have spent quite a bit of time in Pennsylvania because of this.

Michigan is polling pretty steadily in Biden’s favor, up 8.6 on average. In Wisconsin, the average is 5 to 6 points. Please ignore the one poll that said he’s up 17 points. He’s not.

Now for those of you with PTSD from 2016 saying well, Hillary was ahead in the polls but she lost. So far, it looks like 2020 is going differently. First, the polling numbers were more volatile and though Hillary polled ahead in a lot of the states, Biden is polling ahead by a greater amount. In addition, data geniuses have studied not just state polls but district polls, which are even more detailed, to compare 2016 and 2020. Apparently in 2016, the district polls should have raised red flags for the Clinton campaign. And in the final week, the momentum was not shifting in her favor. This time, district polls are showing a fairly stable race with Biden ahead.

What does this mean? VOTE. Because it’s going to be close either way so this year more than ever, your vote really matters. But at this point, only vote early in person, drop off your ballot or vote in person on election day. DO NOT ma