The country is inspired by all these college students walking (unnecessarily) far and wide to get their ballots cast. Y’all are killing it!

No excuses to get those votes in. Vote early if you can!

I’m not sure this was allowed, but this appeared on my Instagram feed and I thought it would be cool to share in here.

Hello! I am helping a friend in their efforts to find their lost pup. She was visiting the Roanoke area and the dog was last seen in September. If seen please email marissa_alcala22@yahoo.com 🙏

mods here are losers https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering/checking-your-registration get a life nerds. Vote if you haven’t.

I've been tracking the daily early vote files in North Carolina (both mail and early in-person) and matching them against the exact same day before the election in 2022 and 2024.

Right now we're at 238,000 ballots cast, which is up 25% compared to this point in 2022. By party registration, it breaks down to 46.9% Democrat, 19.5% Republican, and 33.6% Unaffiliated (Unaffiliated voters are up 42% over 2022).

That puts the gap between registered Democrats and Republicans at D+27.4 right now. At this exact same point in 2022, it was D+13.2. At this point in 2024, it was D+3.1.

What makes that jump so crazy is the shift in how Republicans treat early voting. Back in 2022, a lot of Republicans avoided early voting on principle, which gave Dems a big head start. By 2024, the GOP was heavily advertising and telling their voters to bank their votes early—which is why the gap at this point in 2024 was only D+3.1.

Normally, now that Republicans actively push early voting, you'd expect the early Dem lead to stay much smaller than 2022. Instead, Dem early ballots are up 41% while Republican early ballots are down 14%, blowing past both 2024 and 2022.

Two quick reality checks before anyone reads too much into it: first, party registration isn't a vote, and with a third of the ballots coming from Unaffiliated voters, nobody knows how those break until Election Night. Second, in 2022 that D+13.2 lead shrunk down to D+7.1 by the end of early voting as more Republicans showed up in the final week. That's why we don't feed early voting into our forecast model.

If you want to keep an eye on it over the next two weeks, I update the tracker three times a day here:

https://www.callthemap.com/early-vote

So I saw this today at my local charity shop (I think you call them good will stores) anyway it seems a long way from home so thought I would grab a photo and share it here with you lovely people

I'm in the northwest of the UK

North Carolina state Sen. Michael Lee ran an attack ad using AI-generated images of his opponent, Jessica Bichler, twisting her body into impossible yoga poses while calling her “bonkers” and making disputed claims about her political affiliations. He was sent a cease-and-desist letter but chose to keep running the ads anyway.

Now someone is putting up giant posters and cardboard cutouts of Lee holding cash, wearing an “I ❤️ Special Interest” shirt, and appearing to have peed himself.

Lee is demanding that Bichler condemn the attacks. She has, also stating that “…unlike my opponent, I’ve always been against AI-generated advertisements.”

Apparently, AI-generated political smears are fair game until you’re the one being mocked.

Uwharrie Search Dogs, a 501c3 is hosting a national training seminar for search and rescue handlers in Denton, from Oct 25-30. We are in need of volunteers to hide on the 26th through 29th.

No experience necessary, we just need folks to hide in the woods or buildings, so the dogs and their handlers can find you. If you can hide for half of one day or more, please reach out. Lunch is provided if you stay the majority of the day.

Remember to get vaccinated for the flu! Only 9% are vaxxed right now compared to 24% last year.

Looking for really good fried chicken and biscuits in the pink hill / beulaville / kinston area. Or soul food in general.

Most of the biscuits I've had have been wack and the chicken so far had been just okay.

I live just outside Charlotte (Mint Hill / Matthews area) and a lot of the "second hand stores" around here are pretty pricey. Are there any stores left that are less than $5 an item? I'm willing to drive an hour-ish out to somewhere that's dirt cheap. I mainly look for furniture, kitchenware, decor, and sometimes clothes, but mainly houseware items.

I'm NOT a reseller, I just love cheap old stuff I can give a 2nd home!!!

Places I've gone to:

Carolina Value Thrift, off Central Ave

ALL the goodwills in Charlotte

Where Ya Bin, Matthews

Bargain Hunters, Mint Hill

some of the Plato's Closets CLT

Hidden Treasures, off South Blvd CLT

Sleepy Poet Antique Mall, South Blvd CLT