I was scammed and lost everything, don't let it happen to you.

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday December 07, 2023 · 4:53 PM PST

2023/12/07 · 16:53

So we decided to flee Indiana.

For background, my name is Alexis, I'm a nonbinary trans person, married to my trans husband Ian, and we have 2 kids, Felix, aged 12, and Zinnia age 9. Indiana is currently attempting the "Florida Speedrun" insofar as it pertains to persecuting us trans people as "groomers", so my spouse and I decided it was time to get out.

I was originally born near Buffalo NY and still have a lot of family in the area, so it seemed a logical choice, especially with how close it is to Canada in case shit gets really bad on a federal level. I went job hunting, and found a pretty good job in my field up in the city. When we went to sell our house things seemed to be moving swiftly, we had a buyer who wanted to take possession at closing on October 20th so we had to get our stuff out quickly.

I was already up here in Buffalo, staying with one of my aunts and working my new job, so my husband Ian began the work of shopping around for a mover. Normally we would just move ourselves with a Uhaul but with the buyer wanting to take possession right away and me being out of state we decided to hire a moving service. After looking around a bit Ian sent out an inquiry to a place called Extra Space Moving and Storage (this name is important)

He received a call back and booked them for the 17th, they had us pay 1600$ as a deposit and estimated that it would be a total of about 4,000$ for moving everything. We thought that was a great deal. We were wrong.

A couple weeks later Ian got another call from ESMS (gonna abbreviate it from now on) to get a more firm grip on everything we had to move. He spoke with the rep for an hour, and was told "oh you have a lot more stuff than initially expected, it's gonna be 7K, not 4."

Ian asked if we could cancel and was told we'd forfeit our deposit if so, so we decided to bite the bullet since that was more like the price we expected anyways.

When moving day arrived the movers showed up with a truck that was already half full, then started loading. About half way through they left with that truck and came back with another half full truck (I now suspect it was the same one and they dumped our stuff off at a storage area in Indiana nearby)

Once everything was loaded the mover on site changed the total again and told my husband it was now going to be SIXTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS to move everything and that 6,300$ was due right then. My husband was panicked and didn't know what to do, he wrote them a check for 6,300 and then called me crying. After they left he looked at the invoice he had signed and it didn't say Extra Space Moving and Storage, it said Lucrative Van Lines. He found that odd and looked the name up, only to find a Facebook group of people who'd been scammed and had their stuff stolen and thousands of dollars extorted to get it back, only to either never receive it or to get back only things that couldn't be sold or pawned off, all of which were battered and damaged.

We decided to cancel the 6,300$ check and I called the customer service number we'd been given to try and figure out what was going on. I left a message and didn't receive a call back. During his investigation, Ian realized that the reason he'd been tricked was that Extra Space Storage is a legitimate company but Extra Space MOVING and Storage is not. These thieves constantly create LLCs that sound like legitimate moving companies, only to change names and create a new shell company when the heat gets too high for them.

There's a lot more I can't get into right now, but suffice to say that the guy running the Facebook group of people who have been scammed by these assholes got us the contact information for the FBI agent who is in charge of investigating these crooks and we have been working with him on bringing them to justice. Meanwhile, we are trying to get homeowners insurance to help us recoup the value of what we lost, but that won't bring back my kids baby pictures. Or the short stories I wrote in high school. Or my wedding photos. Or Ian's grandmother's antique dresser that is impossible to find. Or the paintings a friend made for us. Or my huge collection of books, some of which are now out of print. You get the idea.

How someone can load up a child's toys and bike in front of her, knowing that he is going to take them away and she'll never see them again, I will never understand.

If you're planning on moving, and you are thinking about using a mover, please, for the love of whatever God you hold to, check into them very deeply, take a LOT of time, don't just Google and think you're good. I've been with my husband for 22 years, and now 22 years of our life is just... gone. I don't want that to happen to anyone else.

On a final note, I have put up a GoFundMe to try and help us recoup some of what we've lost. As I said in the diary above, we're working on a homeowners insurance claim but it's gonna drag out, they're putting us with their "special investigation unit" and taking their sweet time with it. We have been renting a furnished apartment (really an AirBnB) since this happened as otherwise we'd literally have an empty house, the only things that they didn't take were a couple old hutches, some minor miscellany, and the kids beds (guess they didn't think those were worth stealing and selling). It's expensive as all get out to rent furnished but we don't have a choice. Our buyer on our house wound up backing out (so we DIDN'T even have to rush it turns out, yay) and we just finally got another buyer and closed right before Thanksgiving. The house we're buying up here needs repairs before FHA will approve the loan, so we're still a few weeks out from closing on it, but when we do we'll be moving pretty much nothing into this house. We'll need furniture, housewares, tools, the kids will want their toys replaced etc and while we may get something from insurance eventually, that won't help right now. If you're willing to assist us, I'd really appreciate it. Link Below, and again, if you're going to move, please please please do more research than we did, it could save you tremendous heartbreak.

gofund.me/...

Appeals court seems likely to narrow, but uphold, gag order against Trump

Mark Sumner

Daily Kos Staff

Sunday December 03, 2023 · 10:23 PM PST

2023/12/03 · 22:23

Former President Donald Trump motions a zipped lip as he walks out of the courtroom during a break in proceedings at New York Supreme Court, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) — Former President Donald Trump motions a zipped lip as he walks out of the courtroom during a break in proceedings at New York Supreme Court, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, in New York.

After a day of hearing arguments by an attorney for Donald Trump along with an attorney from the office of special counsel Jack Smith, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit did not seem ready to strike down a gag order issued in a lower court. However, they did give indications that the order may be significantly narrowed in its effect on Trump.

In October, Judge Tanya Chutkan placed a gag order on Donald Trump that restricted his ability to target court staff, potential witnesses, and members of the office of the special counsel. Trump was still free to make all the remarks he wanted about the unfairness of the trial, to spread false claims about President Joe Biden initiating the case, and to demean both the city and citizens of Washington, D.C. He just couldn’t name-drop people involved in the case and expose them to danger from Trump supporters who have repeatedly engaged in acts of violence.

Four days later, the appeals court put the gag order on ice, freeing Trump to resume his attacks on Smith, Chutkan, and potential witnesses. Trump’s legal team followed this with a court filing in which they argued that Chutkan had inserted herself into the 2024 election and requested that the appeals court reverse the gag order. But based on the questioning from the judges, the hearing doesn’t seem to have gone that well for Trump.

Associated Press for Daily Kos

Sunday December 03, 2023 · 5:24 PM PST

2023/12/03 · 17:24

no image description available — Members of the band Kiss, from left, Tommy Thayer, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Eric Singer attend the premiere of A&E Network's "Biography: KISStory" during the 20th Tribeca Festival in New York on June 11, 2021.

Fifty years ago, four young New Yorkers dragged their guitars, amps and drums to a loft on 23rd Street in New York, dreaming of becoming the biggest band in the world.

This weekend, Kiss, the band started by those four — albeit with two different members currently in the fold — will say its goodbyes about 10 blocks north of that loft. Kiss will play Madison Square Garden, having become if not THE biggest band in the world, certainly one of the biggest, one that's redefined expectations for the live concert experience.

Here is a look back at major events in Kiss' history, taken from Associated Press interviews with Kiss members, quotes they gave to other media and material from band members' autobiographies:

Rob in Vermont

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday December 03, 2023 · 5:09 PM PST

2023/12/03 · 17:09

“Thank you! Your gorgeously concise stickers just arrived in 3 hand addressed envelopes! Soon my friends & neighbors will be driving them all over the northwest.”~sybild

Promoting Democratic values and achievements — the Democratic brand — is one of the ways that we in the grassroots can help elect Democrats.

Promoting the brand helps remind both voters and politicians of the importance of progressive leadership.

You can get up to 4 FREE pro-Democratic bumper stickers. Just log onto Daily Kos and use this link to send a Kos-mail letting me know which ones you’d like!

When you request stickers, I’ll add your Daily Kos username to the “Messengers Across America” list below. Thank you for volunteering your bumper and/or distributing stickers to your pro-Dem contacts!

This project is not run by or funded by Daily Kos — it’s a voluntary effort by Community members like you and me.

Daily Kos members all across the country have volunteered their bumpers, distributed bumper stickers, and/or contributed to the free inventory. See the “Messengers Across America” list below.

To contribute to the free inventory, visit Mightycause. For about $1 you can sponsor a pro-Democratic message which will get many thousands of views. That’s a lot of bang for the buck!

All contributions are used to buy inventory: bumper stickers and stamps to mail them. Visit my Mightycause page to see the current campaign (aiming to distribute another 1000 bumper stickers) and read about how this project started and how crowdfunding makes it more economical.

If you send a Kos-mail to let me know you contributed, I’ll add your username to the “Messengers Across America” list, below.

You can request a bumper sticker for a friend — we can mail to any address in America!

Whether you’re volunteering your own bumper or helping to get these messages onto other pro-Dem folks’ bumpers, THANK YOU for participating in this messaging campaign!

These bumper stickers are also available online; see the links below. MakeStickers offers quantity discounts in levels ranging all the way up to 10,000 stickers. Cafepress is the better bargain if you want just 1 or 2 of a particular sticker; they also offer magnetic versions.

Note: I designed these stickers to promote the Democratic brand; I make no profit from their sales.

If you purchase these stickers or car magnets and would like your username added to the “Messengers Across America” list below, just send me a Kos-mail.

Quick Links to View or Order Bumper Stickers

Note: if you order from MakeStickers, I recommend selecting size 10x3 and entering “No proofs needed” under Special Instructions. To order multiple designs: choose a link below; add item to shopping cart; repeat.
Message	Cafepress		MakeStickers
DEMOCRATS INVENTED & PROTECT	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl
DEMOCRATS FIGHT FOR WORKERS	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl
DEMOCRATS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl
DEMOCRATS LEAD ON HEALTH CARE	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl
DEMOCRATS FOR AMERICA’S KIDS	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl
DEMOCRATS MULTITASK	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl
DEMOCRATS FOR CLIMATE ACTION	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl
DEMOCRATS GOVERN WITH CARE	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl
DEMOCRATS ARE BETTER FOR THE ECONOMY	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl
VOTE DEM	vinyl	magnetic	vinyl

Not every driver is comfortable displaying a political message on their vehicle, but I have no doubt that there are many tens of thousands of pro-Dem drivers who would gladly display pro-Dem bumper stickers — and only a small fraction of them are currently aware of this project. So I encourage you to help spread the word:

▶ Recommend the free-sticker diaries. Getting onto the Recommended (Trending) list is crucial for visibility of this project.

▶ Share our links:

dailykos.com/tags/MessagesAcrossAmerica (free bumper stickers)
cafepress.com/donkey (no-markup bumper stickers and car magnets)

▶ If you have other ways to promote this project, please do so! And please share your ideas!

Testimonials

“Such a good project. Thanks for initiating it, Rob.”

—Meteor Blades

“Happy to [contribute] — to get the message out. Thanks for the opportunity”

—Denise Oliver Velez

“I still have the one on my car. I’ll leave it on after I remove my candidate’s stickers. It’s relevant and has a positive message...” —kaja

“You sent me a bunch last year and I gave them to our Indivisible group in Santa Fe and they sent them out to others.”

—Singing Lizard

“Gave the [‘Democrats Lead on Health Care’] one to [Sen.] Jon Tester last Sunday night. He loved it. I told him it was for his truck, I think he said ‘God damn right’ when he read it.”

—Smurf

“Yesterday, a delivery guy...said ’I see by your bumper sticker you’re a Democrat.’ … He was excited to talk with me, felt validated by seeing my bumper sticker… People need to see that they aren’t alone and there is remarkable power in a simple bumper sticker.” —Besame

“Keep it up Rob; I’ve already received positive responses here in Red State TN.”

—jarbyus

“I still have the Workers bumper sticker on my truck from the last election - and it still gets comments! Thanks!”

—CathyM

“I love your project. Anything to put good ideas for Democrats in front of the eyes of prospective voters is a GREAT IDEA.”

—Angela Marx

*Messengers A c r o s s* America** In addition to the users below are all the folks who have ordered directly from the print shop and/or contributed anonymously to the free inventory.
Daily Kos Members Who Have Contributed to the Free Inventory
^{a mighty deuce, Angela Marx, balancer, BCO, bethann, bleeding blue, bmaples, Captain Action, carlsbadcarol, Catkin, chrismorgan,}^Claudined66,^{Counselor730, David Akajian, Denise Oliver Velez, DownHeah Mississippi, ecowyoming, eliaVL, Gatorgirlnc, greenandblue, hilltopper, igualdad, J Graham, jimrundle, JimTheGeek, J L B, joanbrooker, keepiru, Kitty Praptic,}^{laperry23, Leileis, MargaretPOA, Matilda Briggs, Meteor Blades, Mimikins, moondanc, Mother Mags, nancyjones, Naturelvr, no more low hanging fruit, oc hope, PJ the WB Lefty, Portlaw, Puddytat, raspberryberet, Robert Norman, Rob in Vermont, scifiowa, sharondonovan, sidnora, socrates shoes, SolarMom, sweetthesound, Tamar, TomP, TrainRyder}
Daily Kos Members Who Have Volunteered to Display and/or Distribute These Bumper Stickers
^{18038, 1mare1, 19Trumpf____d, 45forPRISON, 8ist, a mighty deuce, A Siegel, abuannie, acornweb, ACTESQ, activeinmd, Aequaliter, Agnes1966, agoldnyc, aimeehs, AJDJR73, Albion1, AllAmericanChica, alsoknownas, AnalGeezer, anamac1210, AndyT, Angela Marx, annan, AnneofGreatHope, annetteboardman, AnnoyedFrog, antonrobb, aPauledInNJ, Arbiter88, Arizona Mike, Argyle Gargoyle, arich, ArkansasJoseph, art ah zen, Art Doyle, Atlanta Biker, Audri, Aureas2, B52D, BabblingBrook, Badkitty2016, balancer, baldysinclair, BaritoneWoman, basquiat518, bbamboo, Belle Ame, bernardsnatager, Besame, besttymes, bethann, betsydc, beverlywoods, bgblcklab1, Bidenmytime, big spoiled baby, bill dog, Bill888, birdfeeder, bjwelvis, bkamr, BlackSheep1, blakman1313, Blue Boomer, Blue Colorado, Blue in WNC, BlueFender, bluegirlinpoorredstate, blueinthedeeprad, Blueismycolor123, Bluefirewolf5, BlueJohn, bluesophie, bluetigereye, bluetownship, bluetoo, bluewabash, bmaples, bmihevc, bob5148, bob62old, bobinalaska, BobbyBoomBoom, bobobo, Bones1, bonitamia, britt88, brookela, Brunehild, Btemmink, bulb, Bunkerhobbit, bvljac, C Noir, cadam, Cal Worthington, Cali girl, calldonna2, Canid Micturate, CanyonWren, Captain Action, Captain Davie, Captain Gary, carlsbadcarol, Carmeninvermont, carolgs, carpunder, carriekc, Cat in the Hat, catdoor, CathyM, Catkin, catlady3, cbuschkat, Centrist Dem, CereusBison, cgcandela, changeofview, Chartreuxe, chatnoir, cheesedae, Chickie74, Chilipalmer, Chinton, chigh, chrismorgan, chrisron, Christianfirst, chuicuito, Cincinnatus53, CitizenJoe, cjfb, Claudined66, CoastalLib, codyalexis, ColoGal, ColoTim, Compost on the Weeds, Constitutional Patriot2, cooperjubilee, Copp, copymark, Costanoan, Counselor730, CountryKen, CoyoteSue, cpbn, Crazycab214, CroneRanger, cruisersailor, CSVAC, ctamatt, cumberland sibyl, cwsmoke, cwv, Cyclopsgirl, CynF, Cynical Sonya, Cynizen, Czechjournalists, Da Rock, DaddyO, DanielCoyne, DannyB, Darkchylde, dadadata, DannyG123, DarkestHour, Darrell Whitchurch, davekro, DaytonaBeachBum, dcynicak, Deadheadatvs, Deadwood13, Debann, debn, debralee, deminmaine, DemocraticKarla, DeniseHa, Denise Oliver Velez, DenverSignCrew, DesertLadyNM, Desert Lass, dianae, dianalynn, Diddybop, Digiterus, dingelbar, Disgusted02, divelly, Dixiecollie, djgreeneyes, dlarsen263, dnrteuer, Doctor Grumpus, doingbusinessas, Don Khan, Done4nau, donparcher, Doobs, Dooey, Dorn, dottygirl, DownHeah Mississippi, downwardly mobile, DPE312, dragonwerx, Dreamstone, drjonesphd, DrLori, dsb, DSC on the Plateau, duckgrad01, duncanidaho, Dunvegan, dustdevil, dyana auset, dymnbak, dzinger, earniewiggins, eashep, Ebonjedi, ecowyoming, Edgar46, edwinf, egamount, egarrett, eggplantfl, Electablog, elizende, Elliot Rosewater, El Mimbreno, elwior, emilyteacher, emmasnacker, ems mom, ericlewis0, Etpm, EviLiberal, evrgreen, Exrepublican2, faerywings, family farmer, FarWestGirl, fayea, fifty50, filkertom, fjpace, FlaVoter, FlatulentFather, Flips4fun, FloridaDem0326, Flowergirl77, franie, fankieshane, freemark, fromberkeleytocville, Fury, GabbysDaddy, Gail E Griffith, galaxyWatch, gappy, Gardening Toad, Gator, Gatorgirlnc, gaynette, GDbot, genekraszewski, georgelshea, Gerald Scorse, GFS3, GL Lynx, glbTVET, Glen The Plumber, glorificus, Go Blue USA, godismanmade, GoldenBate, Got a Grip, GrannyCT, green sage, greenandblue, greenchiledem, GrizzOzo, grtman, Grumley, gstrome, gunsqhawk, GypsyT, hanniespice, harlank, HarmonyRon, hcarola, hcjones8, hcrawford, hdrinehart01, Heronflight, hershig, hetchywalter, Hholly, histopresto, HM2Viking, Hollowdweller, Holly Heggee, homeexchanger, House O Mayhem, howardappel2, HPSW516, I Hate Republicans, Iaborn, IdeaTipper, Ignacio Magaloni, iluvpuddies, inCheddarland, Inkdreamer, insipid47, ioanna carlsen, IrenicEgalitarian, irisclara, ironrangdem, itsnotbutter, IwishIwerearobot, J Graham, Jackie JB, jackyeager, Jacstorm, JadeSkywalker8, JaeKat, Janesaunt, jarbyus, Jason of Argo, JavaBubba, javax2, jazzyfahy, jcarrington, jdgVDFP, jdmaxell, jdpilch, JefFrohn, jegeisler, jEly, jenfordem, jenheinz, jennifree2bme, jennybravo, jeremyfryberger, JerryNA, Jesus Ghandi, jev12b, Jill, JFHardy, jimmycck9, jimrundle, JimTheGeek, jimwolf359, J L B, joanbrooker, Joey Bagadonuts, John in Denver, Johnnie L Smith, JohnnyBabs, johnrhoffman, Joker2101, jorge gurk, JosBon, josephthebuilder, Joshua Bloxom, Joyce Siegel, joyful505, jrasicmark, Jshell, July4rocks, Junipertree, Just Saying, just us, just working, justcruisin55, justKD, justmypiece, kaeleewilliams, kainein24, kaja, Kamalaska, KansasJarhead, Kateinrp, kathg, KathrynZ, KATIESMUM, kck, KD143, keepiru, Ketttlemom, Kipsap River, Kitty Praptic, kittycoldfeet, kmkentots, kmp67, krakenstrong, kriski, krwheaton, kwozny, ladybug53, ladypockt, LAgraves, LamontCranston, lao hong han, laperry23, Lavendersblue, lawcat2012, Leileis, LibChicAZ, libdoc, liberaldad2, LiberalePietro, Lilredhead, Limelite, Linda Q, lizagnello, LL Brown, LLEmerson, lockthetraitorsup, LoneWolfOhio, loois, LordBlunt, lornakeith, lovinretirement, louavul, louiseal94, lovinretirement, Lsands1950, lsong, luanne brazewell, Luarvin, Lujane, lupinella, Lupus, mabon, MACGEG, MacroMolly, MadScientist, maggiejean, Mamanyt1953, mandalayt, manoffire, ManyKnives, MargaretPOA, marina, marktheonegun, Mariebn, Martin Lydick, Martin in MD, martinincalifornia, MartyM, maryalden, maryrainbow, MatchGirl, Mathetria, Matilda Briggs, mattoqp, MaxxW, mbh1023, mcfarlin999, mcmomannon, Me and My Aardvark, mealresa, megcrane, mehunt6367, melainoman, Merck3333, merwin, mesawyer, metalmmom, Meteor Blades, mflinn, Michelle 2774, mightynurse, mike34mike4, mikejay611, MikeTheLiberal, Milret2, Mimikins, Miss Blue, mission419, misterwade, mjroach, mmcguire, Mmeadowmist, MoDem, moji23, moldawer, MomcatBlueinNY, MommaBear2, mommyof3, monamongoose, moondanc, Motonirvana, mpcmpc, mpotter, Mrsanders2, MrsTarquinBiscuitbarrel, Ms Fyre, mslat27, mspage, mst4king, mt41w, MTMark, Munchkn, MWF49andforObamaBiden, mwind, Mystery Roach, nailkeg, naiyacp24, nancelot, nancyjones, nannyboz, Naturelvr, nawlinscate, nawlinscate, ndgoldendomer, nela1872, NeoCleo, nfeller, nhdlady, Ninalyn, ninemileskid, Nstin1, NMDEM19, No9nan, Nomoto, NOREMORSE, norselandc, Not So Sirius, notdarkyet, notdrinkingtherightwingkoolaid, Nova Land, nsburge, Nuevo Davo, NYSuperLib, oakroyd, obiwandb, oc hope, oconnor303, ohamaker, old iowa guy, OldDragon, oldhippiedude, oldlogan, Ole Texan, openvision, operculum, ornerydad, ORVoter, outtabody, owlswan, ozsea1, Pahli1969, Parkerbelanysupporter, patrickelliot, PatsBard, Paul E, Paula Writer, PaulNFortWorth, peacearena, pecosbob, pepperpie, peregrine kate, pete080, PeteinVT, PeterHug, Pfirshizzle, pholkiephred, pierre9045, pittgreg, PittJas90, pizzaconnection, PJEvans, plankbob, pluck, praxEs, PLeopard, pluck, political junquie, pooka1953, Poswald463, poyma, PrairieFuser, pray4snow, prrnbsn, ptgkc, PubliusMinor, Puddytat, PushMama, puzzled, QDMacaw, Queenie3000, quetzalmom, quietcornerlefty, Quintessa, Qwisp, Rabblevox, Raggedman, RagingMama, RandyLH, Ras el Hanout, raspberryberet, rat racer, RationalSouthCarolina, Raucous Indignation, Raven, rebelga, Reetz, Remembering Jello, reformedrepub, Remontant, renaye, RenMin, Resistance, resistpersistcreate, revbludge, RevWalt, rfosborn, rgremban, RHerberg, Richard Fedder, Richard Villiers, richardborgen, Richardeslc, RichHubie, Richyphoo, rickeagle, Rightprice, RigorMortis, Riki, Rikon Snow, SonnyDog, Rileys Red, Rjw, Rknrobin, rktect, Roadrunner49, Rob in Vermont, Roger Mexico, roses, RosyFinch, roxsaxton, RRG3DAV, Rudyard, rummarhazzit, RunawayRose, Rural juror, Ruralsalt, Rustom, ruthie52, sageblue, sallyk, saluda, SamSinister, sandav, Sara Robinson, Savage, savemycity, sbabcock, schi, Scubee, scyellowdogdem, sdosch, SDZanne, SeattleTammy, seefleur, seelcraft, SemiIndie, seymoore, shaalvarez, shadowandmolly, sharondonovan, Sher Watts Spooner, Shrew in Shrewsbury, signup, Simple, Singing Lizard, SirVantes, Sister Havana, Skeptuckian, Skorpio, skrinkels, slokat, slowbutsure, smcthinker, Smurf, socrates shoes, simmkath, smbclifton, SolarMom, SoldierTeacher, Sophies Mom, southingtonian, SpaceElevator, SparkLady, Spiderpriest, Spiff1118, stalegranola, Stena, SteveA NC, stevenwag, stevew1sp, steworange, Stills, strawbale, Sue DeNym, Sue in Greeley, susanWAstate, sweetthesound, swklmpc159, sybild, Syoho, Tamar, tarhealian, tarheelian51, Taosbill, TB50, tegrat, tehodler, TEMkitty, TGW, The Bob, The Geogre, The Widow Flanagan, theaccidentalrabbi, thedead106, theneuron, thenurse27, thepook, TheProgressiveAlien, third Party please, thumbsupcecil, thuprof, TII3570, tjnor01, TLL, tmaguire18, tobendaro, toby1955, TomP, ToniT, tonyahky, Tonyds, Tookish, TopH71, tqmon, TrainRyder, treefroga1, treehugger, Trocar1970, trry699, truebluedonkey, Truth is Justice, Truthforme, TShaneW, TulsaGal, turtle4, twingrace, twistedflatcat, TwistedResister, twistermom51, Ubwenge, ultrageek, unger027, uniqity, urnumbersix, VA6thDem, Van Buren, Veets, vjcalaska, vjm22, Voter1vote, vputsche, vschultzvidal, Waimer, walkingdeer, walking dude, Wally DuBois, waukez, wavicles, wcjones, wgsmith, willard landreth, WireBender73, Wired Wolf, WisdomSeeker, wizdame, Wolffarmer, Wolfound, WolverineForTJatAW, wood worker, woolibaar, Woubbie, wren, wrights, ybruti, Youffraita, Zack from the SFV, Z51Xfire, zainkatz, ZatCSU, ZenTrainer, ziniko, zircon the twisted, zman1527, zombyfireman, zootscoot, zozomike}

dailykos.com/tags/MessagesAcrossAmerica

Black Music Sunday: Kabiosile (all hail) Chango!

Denise Oliver Velez for Community Contributors Team

Community

Sunday December 03, 2023 · 6:17 AM PST

2023/12/03 · 06:17

On Dec. 4, the sound of drumming and singing will fill the air across the Caribbean and Latin America, and in neighborhoods here in the States where there are practitioners of African diasporic religious traditions, often called “Santeria,” but more properly “La Regla de Ocha” or Lukumi. Because forbidden African religious and spiritual practices were masked behind Catholicism during enslavement, African deities were and are still celebrated on specific "saint's days." In the case of Dec. 4, that saint is Saint Barbara, who is the public face of Changó (or Shango or Sàngó), the Yoruba deity of fire and thunder, drums, and dance. This Catholic syncretism differs in Brazil, where Saint Barbara is syncretised with Iansã, the goddess of winds and storms.

I took a deep dive into the history and meanings of Changó back in 2011, in “¡Qué viva Changó!: West African deities in the Americas,” and have explored some of the music here in this series in “Afro-Latinas sing to the santos, the ancestors, and the culture.”

Join me today in listening to the rich music, singing, drumming, and viewing the accompanied dancing and celebrations for Changó. You don’t have to know Spanish or Yoruba to get into the groove!

”Black Music Sunday” is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music. With more than 180 stories covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.

Bill Berkowitz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 27, 2023 · 11:11 AM PST

2023/11/27 · 11:11

By Bill Berkowitz and Gale Bataille

"Taylor Swift is going to come out in the presidential election and she is going to mobilize her fans. And we're going to be like, 'Oh wow, where did all these young, female voters come from?' We better have a plan for that."– Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director, Turning Point USA

Since 2018, Taylor Swift has encouraged young people to register to vote; to come out in support of President Joe Biden and Democrats in her home state of Tennessee, and has weighed in on the right-wing’s assault on abortion rights, trans rights, gay rights and any measures to deal with gun violence. In doing this she went against advice from friends and family who remembered the right wing trashing of the Dixie Chicks for their opposition to George W. Bush’s Iraq War.

During a 2020 interview about the filming of the documentary Miss Americana, (https://variety.com/2020/music/features/taylor-swift-politics-sundance-documentary-miss-americana-1203471910/)

Swift commented on the risk of taking a political stand, “…what happened to the Dixie Chicks was real outrage. I registered it — that you’re always one comment away from being done being able to make music.” But she felt like she had to speak out.

As the threat of a Trump autocracy looms in 2024, will Swift, the globe’s biggest star who has given her fans her heart and soul, once again stand strong for democracy in America?

According to a January 2020 piece by Variety’s Chris Willman (https://variety.com/2020/music/features/taylor-swift-politics-sundance-documentary-miss-americana-1203471910/), Swift was “adamant about pressing the button to send a nearly internet-breaking Instagram post, saying that [Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha] Blackburn has voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act as well as LGBTQ-friendly bills: [Tennessee Senator Marsha] Blackburn. Swift said that ‘I can’t see another commercial [with] her disguising these policies behind the words ‘Tennessee Christian values.’ I live in Tennessee. I am Christian. That’s not what we stand for.’” Willman noted that Swift “Pushing back tears, she lamented not having come out against Trump two years earlier, ‘but I can’t change that. … I need to be on the right side of history.

Says Swift now, “This was a situation where, from a humanity perspective, and from what my moral compass was telling me I needed to do, I knew I was right, and I really didn’t care about repercussions.” Swift clearly understood that her father “[was] terrified of threats against my safety and my life, and he has to see how many stalkers we deal with on a daily basis, and know that this is his kid. It’s where he comes from.”

Now that Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the country, has hired a reporter to exclusively cover all things Taylor Swift and there are breathless wall-to-wall stories across social media about her ERAS tour and romance with Kansas City Chiefs football star, Travis Kelce, the world’s most popular pop star is perfectly positioned to use her platform. Granted, by opposing the rise of autocracy and criticizing right wing bigots, haters, and MAGA-ites, she might lose some of her fan base, and face threats to her health and well-being. But Lord knows she could lose half of her followers while still breaking box office records for a concert film, selling millions of records, and winning Grammy Awards by the bucketful.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said that her influence on the 2024 presidential election would be “profoundly powerful.”

According to Politico’s Claudia Chiappa (https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly/2023/09/29/the-unavoidable-politics-of-taylor-swift-00119201), “Swift’s ability to move political markets appears to be growing, whether she’s interested in being a political actor or not. No matter how much she wants to avoid it, in an increasingly polarized country where everyone wants to know where you fall along a political divide, Swift is consigned to having every action (and everyone she dates) picked apart by people trying to understand her politics.”

Travis Kelce has engaged in some political activism; he took a knee “during the Star Spangled Banner in 2017, the NFL star triggered anti-vaxxers earlier this [fall]when he posted an advertisementin partnership with Pfizer, encouraging fans to get their COVID-19 shot. This came only a few months after he starred in a Bud Light commercial, the beer brand that was boycotted by conservatives for partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney — in an era of polarization, that track record is viewed as a signal that Kelce has chosen sides,” Chiappa reported.

After a recent Chiefs game, “ Upon seeing photos of the two of them, popular conservative voices seized on the moment, with Charlie Kirk [the head of the ultra-conservative Turning Point USA] immediately highlighting Kelce’s pro-vaccine advocacy and Tomi Lahren referring to Swift’s ‘lefty, liberal, brain-dead political opinions.’”

Reporting for the Kansas Reflector, Tim Carpenter pointed out that “In 2020, Swift endorsed … Biden for president. She stepped further into the spotlight in 2022 by criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to undercut national recognition of abortion rights. She has identified as a feminist and advocated for LGBTQ rights and gun control. She’s been critical of police brutality, racism and white supremacy. She donated to the NAACP and Black Lives Matter.”

The Kansas Reflector noted that “Former White House aide Alyssa Farah Griffin, who co-hosts The View, said Swift was the only person capable of defeating former President Donald Trump in next year’s presidential contest.”

Swift’s influence is even being parlayed internationally. In November 2023, AP’s Daniel Politi and Natacha Pisarenko reported that as thousands of Taylor Swift fans eagerly lined up for the superstar’s first-ever concert in Argentina, they saw themselves surrounded by posters urging them to vote against right-wing populist Javier Milei in the presidential election. ‘A Swiftie Doesn’t Vote Milei,’ read one of the posters, using the term commonly used to describe fans of the 12-time Grammy winner. In this instance, there were not enough fans to defeat Milei who won handily.

“I think she’s avoided being caught up in kind of culture war discourse,” Brian Donovan, a University of Kansas sociology professor who is writing a book about Swift said: “Her star is burning so bright right now she’s almost untouchable.”

Donovan added: “She said that we need to learn to live alongside cringe. What is cringe now might be cool later. I think that’s a great lesson, not just for leaders and politicians, but for everyone else.”

What is clearly “cringe” now is the concerted right-wing attack on democracy, and candidate Trump’s ratcheting up hatred against his political opponents. Taylor Swift could be an influential player in the 2024 election cycle. Pro-democracy advocates need Swift -- and her many friends in the music and entertainment industries -- to mobilize youth in opposition to MAGA authoritarianism.

Black Music Sunday: 'Simply the Best': Remembering Tina Turner on her birthday

Denise Oliver Velez for Community Contributors Team

Community

Sunday November 26, 2023 · 7:59 AM PST

2023/11/26 · 07:59

On Nov. 26, 1939, Anna Mae Bullock was born in Nutbush, Tennessee to a factory worker mom and a Baptist deacon dad. Nutbush, at the time, had a population of 239. From these humble beginnings, Anna Mae would go on in life to be known and celebrated around the world as Tina Turner.

Often dubbed “the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll,” Turner also sang rhythm and blues, soul, and pop in the course of a career spanning over five decades. The list of awards she won is long, and includes eight Grammys.

She also set world records: “In January 1988, Tina set a Guinness World Record for the 'largest paying concert attendance for a solo artist' by performing in front of approximately 188,000 people at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil” and “in 2000, Guinness World Records announced that Tina sold more concert tickets than any solo performer in music history. Her career also extended into acting roles.

Though she passed from this life in May, she will always be remembered as “simply the best” by her fans (and I am one of them).

RELATED STORY: Tina Turner has joined the ancestors

McCrowlerr

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday November 25, 2023 · 2:25 PM PST

2023/11/25 · 14:25

a little stairway to better things, if not heaven

My son is in prison in a non-Western country where they do not obey the accepted rules of civilization. It is an unimaginable hell. I keep in touch with him- barely- by means of a cellphone smuggled in to him by a friend.

Last week he became ill and wound up in the infirmary there, surrounded by dying people. He thought he had malaria but he was told he had typhoid. He was very weak. Through the cellphone I managed to get some money to him (no, I will NOT explain how that works) and he sent me a message that he was going to buy medicine (everything is money there; they provide nothing for free.)

Then he disappeared.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, nothing. My friend who smuggled in the phone messaged me with great concern. My son communicates with him almost every day (he doesn’t chat quite as much with me, but I’m a dad, not a buddy) and he was not answering his messages.

I honestly believed my son was dead. Or, perhaps even worse, that the guards had discovered his cellphone and had taken it from him. That would have cut him off from the world, perhaps permanently.

In my despair I wrote a story and posted it here. It was mostly well accepted and many people were sympathetic. I deeply appreciate the kind remarks. It made the trending list, which had its disadvantages. It drew the attention of someone who apparently delights in arguing and he said some very cruel things. l was in no mood for such foolishness and deleted the diary, vowing never to show my personal life to anyone ever again on the internet. There is pure evil out there and I foolishly made myself vulnerable to it. Schoolyard rules; show a weakness and the bully goes straight for your tender spot.

But this morning I got out of bed after a sleepless night to find a message from my son. He said he had died but came back to life (I assume meaning he had been deathly ill.) He was back in his cell and recovering.

I thought those who were so kind would like to know. For those who said that my beloved son smells, perhaps someday you will grow a soul. Believe me or not, as you will.

Bookmark our new 2024 calendar of primary dates and filing deadlines

Jeff Singer for Daily Kos Elections

Daily Kos Staff

Saturday November 25, 2023 · 1:29 PM PST

2023/11/25 · 13:29

Daily Kos Elections is pleased to unveil our 2024 primary calendar, where you'll find a complete list of major-party filing deadlines, primaries, and runoffs for all 50 states. We also include the dates of each presidential primary, which often take place months before the state's downballot nomination contests. Sometimes, though, the two coincide, which frequently leads to higher-than-normal primary turnout.

One of the things we pay careful attention to at Daily Kos Elections is each state's candidate filing deadline, since it represents the point at which prospective candidates need to decide whether or not they'll actually run for office. The first deadline of the cycle was on Nov. 10 in Alabama, where a brand-new congressional map will be used for the first time, while Arkansas followed on Nov. 14.

That gives us the opportunity to run down the state of play for the state's key races, which we did in Alabama and Arkansas and will be doing as each new state's filing deadline passes. And several are coming up soon: Illinois, California, Texas, North Carolina, and Ohio all have deadlines in December.

Joan McCarter for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday November 23, 2023 · 8:26 AM PST

2023/11/23 · 08:26

Kitchens across America are bustling with Thanksgiving dinner prep: Turkeys brining, rolls and pies baking. But for millions of households, the holiday highlights the grim reality of hunger. The end of pandemic unemployment and expanded assistance programs resulted in a sharp increase in food insecurity.

Line chart showing trends in food insecurity since 2002, showing sharp increase post-pandemic.

In 2022, 49 million people turned to food banks and community assistance for help putting food on the table. That includes 13 million children who are food insecure, according to Feeding America. There isn’t a single county in America where families aren’t experiencing food insecurity.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, the old food stamp program, is helping more 42 million people in the United States stave off hunger. It helps communities, too. For every $1 spent on SNAP, $1.54 is created in economic activity. That assistance is in jeopardy for millions of people because of deep cuts the Republicans in the House of Representatives have advocated in the program, with new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson leading the charge.

This post isn't intended to make you feel guilty about the Thanksgiving dinner you are about to enjoy, but to ask you to act. Ask Congress to help end hunger.

Campaign Action

Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community

Wednesday November 22, 2023 · 9:50 AM PST

2023/11/22 · 09:50

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

Did You Know?

Who followed up Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act? Democrats.

Who brought you federal protections that guarantee insurance companies can’t engage in pre-existing condition abuse? Democrats.

Who made sure the insurance companies can't shut off the spigot to your health care just because their bean counters think you've had enough? Democrats.

Continued...

Poll

700 votes Show Results

Do you think the conservative billionaire class will give Clarence Thomas a luxury Thanksgiving vacation experience worthy of a corrupt Supreme Court justice?

700 votes Vote Now!

Do you think the conservative billionaire class will give Clarence Thomas a luxury Thanksgiving vacation experience worthy of a corrupt Supreme Court justice?

Yes

625 votes

29 votes

Not sure/No opinion

46 votes

Good News and Fun Stuff! Here's the Wednesday GNR!

niftywriter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday November 22, 2023 · 9:32 AM PST

2023/11/22 · 09:32

22443868 - bleeding heart flowers (dicentra spectabils). shallow dof

HELLOOOOOOOO GNUVILLE! 🤗 It is I, Nifty, sitting in for KariJ today. 😊 CG and I are delighted to be with you for the pre-Thanksgiving GNR and we’ve got some fun things for you today!

I am quite out of practice, so this GNR won’t be in my old format. It will be kind of a cornucopia of news and fun items all mixed together like the best kind of pumpkin pie custard. 😁

Let’s begin with a seasonal tune!

YouTube Video

Labor and the Economy

2023 has been a year for the rejuvenation of organized labor! The UAW strike was gutsy and effective. Here’s to more of this!

UAW clinches record Detroit deals, turns to organizing Tesla, foreign automakers, David Shepardson and Joseph White, Reuters, November 20, 2023.

Nov 20 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers (UAW) said Monday that 64% of workers at the Detroit Three automakers voted to ratify new record contracts after a six-week targeted strike, as the union turns its attention to organizing foreign-owned and Tesla auto plants.

The votes lock in the UAW's tentative agreements with the automakers through April 2028, which include a 25% increase in base wages and will cumulatively raise the top wage by 33%, compounded with estimated cost-of-living adjustments to over $42 an hour.

It also cut the number of years needed to get to top pay from eight years to three years, will boost the pay of temporary workers by 150% and make them permanent employees and includes significant retirement improvements.

The union on Monday released a new video on social media touting the "UAW Bump," referring to raises workers at non-union automakers have received since the agreements were reached with the Detroit Three. U.S. President Joe Biden appears in the video, which urges non-union workers to join the UAW.

Unions make life better even for non-unionized workers

Corporations see the writing on the wall — under pressure as unions win important gains for workers in their industries, non-unionized companies hope to forestall union organizing among their own workforces by matching the gains that the UAW just won for its members. Hopefully, these workers will recognize that the only reason they are getting these offers from Honda, Toyota et al is because those corps don’t want them to organize AND the moment they think they can get away with it, they’ll revert back. It is imperative that unions remain strong and that more workers unionize, to keep labor rights strong.

Honda joins Toyota in hiking pay after UAW agreements with Detroit Three, Breana Noble, Detroit News, November 10, 2023.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. is matching the immediate wage hike the United Auto Workers has won for its members upon ratification of tentative agreements with Detroit's three automakers, and the union is using it as a call to organize.

Biden in Belvidere, IL

Meanwhile, Subaru Corp. is teasing a "response to current industry circumstances" to its employees. That makes for a chorus of automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. taking actions concerning their workers following the union's tentative agreements with General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV. Experts say the moves are in response to labor market conditions, but especially to ward off organizing efforts at their plants.

That's been a stated goal of UAW President Shawn Fain to change the tide of the union's past organizing failures and turn the "Big Three" into the "Big Five or Big Six" by the time the new contracts expire at the end of April 2028. President Joe Biden has given his approval.

"Union autoworkers own this victory," Biden posted … about Honda after visting on Thursday Belvidere, Illinois, where Stellantis in February had idled its Jeep Cherokee plant, which would find new life under the new deal. "I meant it when I said deals like UAW's historic agreement will change the game for every worker in America, and that I want this type of contract for all autoworkers."

Beau: Good sign for the US economic picture — and yes, people are finally starting to feel a bit better about the economy:

YouTube Video

Student Loan debt relief continues — thanks, President Biden!

Millions could benefit from a new way out of student loan default, Cory Turner, NPR, November 21, 2023.

Right now, borrowers with federal student loans in default are already feeling relief without having to do a thing. As part of Fresh Start, the Biden administration has extended the pandemic-driven pause on collections on defaulted loans until at least September 2024. Wages and tax refunds aren't being garnished. Social Security payments aren't being withheld. The harassing collections calls... they've stopped too.

Many borrowers' credit reports have also improved, with defaulted federal loans now reported as "current" instead of "in collections."

The problem is this is a temporary reprieve. If borrowers in default want to keep these benefits, they have through September 2024 to opt into Fresh Start – the simplest path yet out of default.

The process takes about 10 minutes to initiate. Borrowers need only let the U.S. Education Department know they would like to use Fresh Start. That will then trigger the shifting of their loans back to a traditional loan servicer.✂️

Perhaps most importantly, in the past, borrowers emerging from default could not immediately qualify for the most flexible, income-driven repayment plan, but the Biden administration has changed that too. When opting into Fresh Start, many borrowers can now enroll in the newest, most generous plan, known as SAVE, which offers lower payments and loan forgiveness after a set number of years.

For many low-income borrowers, SAVE could be a game-changer. According to newly released federal data, 2.9 million borrowers who are enrolled in SAVE earned incomes low enough that they qualified for a $0 monthly payment. For these borrowers, being in good standing, and even earning their way toward loan forgiveness, costs less than being in default.

Perspective for when you’re overwhelmed by RW extremism:

"We have been here before": Heather Cox Richardson on how to save our republic, Dean Obeidallah, Salon, November 2, 2023.

I'm optimistic, first of all, because we have been here before, and we have the American people. What's that saying: The American people finally do the right thing after they've tried everything else? If you had looked at America in 1853 when only white men could vote, you would have seen a country that was rapidly increasing human enslavement, not only through the South, but also in the West and soon to be national, on the principle that the United States would become a leader in a global movement to push an extractive economy, based on human enslavement.

By 1854, they managed to push that across the United States with the Kansas Nebraska Act. By 1856, there's a political party that decimates the other two political parties in the North to stand against that idea. By 1859, you have Abraham Lincoln rising and talking about the ideology of that party to recenter the Declaration of Independence. By 1861, he's in the White House, and in 1863 he gives the Gettysburg Address, which rededicates the nation to a new birth of freedom based on the Declaration of Independence and the idea that everybody must be treated equally before the law and have a right to a say in their government. In less than a decade, we go from the idea that a few rich guys should control everybody else to the idea that government should work for ordinary Americans and everybody should be treated equally. I mean, that's truly amazing.

In this moment, we have plenty of things on the negative side in this moment, but we still have Black Americans, people of color, and women who do actually still get to have a say. So I do not see this as insurmountable. I really don't see it as insurmountable.

Orban’s Dream of an Illiberal Pan-European Alliance Is Fading, Andrew Higgins, New York Times, November 8, 2023.

But Mr. Orban’s hopes of leading a pan-European movement — one that is deeply illiberal and infused with nationalism — are fading, deflated by the poor performance at the polls by some of his most fervent admirers in Europe and deep divisions over the war in Ukraine.

Most crucially, Poland’s governing Law and Justice party — a longtime partner of Mr. Orban’s Fidesz party in its battles with the European Union over minority rights, migrants, the rule of law and other issues— lost a general election last month.

That followed a string of election setbacks for Mr. Orban’s political allies across Europe over the past two years, in Spain this past summer, and upsets in Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

Women will not go back.

The Supreme Court dismantled Roe. States are restoring it one by one. Alice Miranda Ollstein, Megan Messerly and Jessica Piper, Politico, November 9, 2023.

Justice Samuel Alito challenged voters to decide the future of abortion when he wrote the U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade last year.

“We do not pretend to know how our political system or society will respond,” he noted as he threw out half a century of precedent.

Now, 17 months later, the court has an answer: Americans want to preserve or restore Roe-like protections. In contest after contest, including a major victory in Ohio this week, voters decisively chose abortion rights over limitations — even in deep-red pockets of the country.

When the right to abortion is on the ballot, it wins. It wins in red states that voted for President Donald Trump. It wins in counties President Joe Biden lost by more than 20 points. It wins when popular Republican officials campaign for it and when they ignore it. And it wins even when the outcome has no immediate effect on abortion access.

Support for abortion cuts across party lines, performing significantly better at the ballot box than Biden and other Democrats. In fact, abortion outruns Biden most in the most Republican areas, according to a POLITICO analysis of election results from the five states that have had direct votes on abortion rights. In those five states — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio — every county that voted for Biden also voted for abortion rights.

In the counties where Biden received less than 20 percent of the vote in 2020, the abortion-rights side has averaged 31 percent in referendums — an 11-point gap.

In numbers too big to ignore, women will vote and will fight Republican attempts to subjugate them.

YouTube Video

Good news for journalism — and you can contribute, too!

A Billion-Dollar Bet on Local News, John Palfrey, the Atlantic, November 2, 2023.

The Marion County Record is one local newspaper that
was recently in the news — illustrating how good journalism threatens the corrupt and why we need it so badly.

In town after town, city after city, the same story is playing out. Andover, with its active civic culture, was lucky: It still had a local-news provider, even if one that was much less robust. Roughly 20 percent of communities in America have no local coverage at all.✂️

At the MacArthur Foundation, we decided to double our bet on journalism and media—to continue our longstanding program focused on national news and to add a time-limited, big bet on local news. But we realized that even with our significant resources, we could not make enough of a difference alone. So we helped create a 22-funder consortium called Press Forward. Together, we have committed more than $500 million to address the local-news crisis over the next five years.✂️

Our goal is to raise the next $500 million at the local level. For local news to be sustainable over the long term, communities will need to stand up and support their local news providers—whoever that may be in any given area. Americans will need to support local news the same way that they invest in arts and culture, hospitals, or alma maters. They will need to add it to their list of philanthropic commitments—or at least to their list of subscriptions, alongside Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix.

There are good candidates in red states — let’s support them!

Doctor Strange mentioned Arkansas yesterday and here is just the kind of candidate who might win over Arkansans who want something better for themselves and their families:

AR Dem Marcus Jones Shows How To Run For Congress In A Red State. (Don't Pretend To Be A Republican), Doktor Zoom, Wonkette, November 3, 2023.

From Adam Parkhomenko on the Threads, a really nifty political ad from Democrat Marcus Jones, a retired Army colonel who’s running for Congress against Republican incumbent French Hill, who sounds like he’s more a geographical feature than a member of the House. Jones is so far the only announced candidate in the Democratic primary for next year’s ballot, and if he keeps his messaging focused on the arguments he makes in this ad — for Democrats as the real party of everyday American values — he may have a good shot. Yes, even in Arkansas, where Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Tom Goddamn Cotton are the biggest political names.

Look at this ad, will ya? And for my fellow anti-militarist folks, try to look beyond the military bang-bang, taking out bad guys stuff, because so does Jones, as you’ll see:

x

x
YouTube Video

We like how the ad takes the military stuff, the “challenge coins” that military people get for completing a mission or other achievement, and uses the idea to both call attention to Jones’s military record — patriotic credibility established — and then to suggest that the biggest challenges America faces are here on the home front.

The 2023 Elections Are Over. 2024 Will Be Different. David Dayen, The American Prospect, November 10, 2023.

That has changed a prior truism about elections that was the conventional wisdom for a few decades. With their disproportionate share of older voters, Republicans were seen to have an advantage in midterm and off-year elections, relative to drop-off voting groups like those aged 18–29 and people of color. This has completely turned around. Thanks to education polarization, Democrats are more likely to be politically engaged and aware, and this gives them the advantage in low-turnout and oddly timed races.

I think that’s clear in the resounding election results this week. It’s not the only reason for Democratic success; Samuel Alito has been the greatest activist for the Democrats’ cause in this century, as his ruling in Dobbs completely changed the primary issue set of U.S. elections. But even before that, in 2018, Democrats figured out how to turn out voters in an off year. Democrats have been winning special elections at a high rate this year as well. It turns out that educated neurotics addicted to doomscrolling vote at high rates. Who knew?

Simon Rosenberg has written plenty more since November 10 (see below), but first I am repeating this particular blog post because it summarizes some important wins we need to keep in mind:

Savoring Our Big Wins, The Democratic Party Is Strong, Ongoing Republican Betrayal, Simon Rosenberg, Hopium, November 10, 2023.

In the last 4 Presidential elections we’ve averaged 51% of the vote, Republicans 46%. 51-46 (+5). In the last 8 Presidential elections Democrats have won more votes in 7, and Republicans have only topped 48% once, in 2004, which was the last time they won the popular vote - 20 years ago. The last time we averaged 51% over 4 elections was in FDR’s 4 elections from 1932 to 1944. America today is a center-left country.

We’ve now have “won” the 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023 elections. It’s a remarkable run. Our performance since the spring of 2022, in all kinds of elections across the US, even in red states like KY and OH, has been extraordinary. MAGA is a failed politics, the Republican Party is broken, and I am deeply optimistic about next year.

The resounding defeat of Youngkin’s 15 week abortion ban “compromise” was devastating for Republicans, for they head into 2024 with no clear way of mitigating the ongoing, deep damage the stripping of rights from women is doing to their party. It’s why we fought so hard in Virginia these past few months - we simply had to defeat the 15 week ban. For more on how cental this debate has become to our politics see Tom Bonier’s terrific new op-ed in the New York Times, American Elections Are About Abortion Now.

Polling, should we be worried? I’m not. Just this week two large sample, serious polls had Biden up 48-44 (+4), and 47-45 (+2), and Navigator has found Congressional Dems gaining substantial ground in the battlegrounds.

Cygnal poll news, November 7, 2023.

Joe Biden’s image noticeably improved since last month – from upside down by 8 to upside down by 3 – likely due to the war in Israel. He was 45% fav / 53% unfav [-8 net fav] and is now 47% fav / 50% unfav [-3 net fav]. At the same time, there was a 10-point jump in “right direction” among Republicans, a similar 1-point jump for right direction with Independents, and a 6-point jump in right direction among Democrats.

Trump needs 95% of Republicans to have a chance of winning. Simon Rosenberg explains "he's very far away from that"

Now, here’s something more recent from Simon: Pollster sees hope for Biden: "Republicans are in far greater trouble than is generally understood", Chauncey DeVega, Salon, November 21, 2023.

The Democrats have been winning in off-year elections. We won in the red wave midterm that we weren't supposed to win last year. We won in the general election. This idea that as the electorate gets bigger, it gets more Republican is false. The Democrats have won more votes in the last seven out of eight elections than the Republicans. No political party has done that in American history. In the last four elections, we've beaten the Republicans on average by 51 to 46 by five points.

In addition, there is a big anti-MAGA majority in this country and it continues to show up to give the Democrats big electoral victories when nobody expects it. I also have no idea how Donald Trump is going to pick up a single new vote beyond the voters who voted for him in 2020. And it's far more likely that he gets 45% of the vote than he does 49% of the vote. Trump is not a strong candidate. He's only getting 60% of the Republican field right now. That means 40% of Republicans are not supporting him right now. Trump needs 95% of Republicans to even have a remote chance of winning. He is very far away from that. Trump is actually showing a lot of structural weakness, not strength.

I know the polls have shown what they've shown. First of all, the election is a year away. Not to be overlooked, there are polls showing Biden up by between two and five points nationally over Trump. There is contradictory data out there — which is what happened with the non-existent red wave in 2022. For Trump to be in the high 40s, or even ahead of Biden, it would put Trump in a place that no Republican candidate has been in 20 years. I just don't buy that given the fact that when actual Democrats and Republicans go vote, we do well, and they don't. I'm not going to tell you we're going to win. I can't predict that. But I would much rather be us than them given everything I know about politics.

See ya, sad face, hello smiles!

YouTube Video

Mental Health

8 things you can do this fall to help ease winter depression, ← (gift article), Richard Sima and Chelsea Conrad, Washington Post, November 12, 2023.

Susceptible people — an estimated 5 percent of Americans — already are feeling the effects of winter SAD, lower moods, lethargy and excessive sleep, despite the sweltering global heat records of summer and early fall.

“The good news is you’re dealing with a predictable phenomenon,” said Norman Rosenthal, a psychiatrist at Georgetown University School of Medicine who first described SAD. “The bad news is it is not always as predictable as you’d like.”

(Read the (free) article for some concrete things you can do to get ahead of SAD this year!)

A program helps Ukraine's veterans find sexual healing after the trauma of war, Brian Mann, NPR, November 10, 2023.

The books, the Youtube video and the effort to normalize discussions of body positivity and sexuality after war are based on the work of Kathryn Ellis, an American therapist who started her career treating U.S. veterans.

"There were tons of service members coming back at that time from Afghanistan and they had questions about sex and intimacy," Ellis tells NPR. "Often the providers were not prepared to address those questions."

Ellis wrote a book — Sex and Intimacy for Wounded Veterans — that provided much of the material, with her permission, in the manuals now being used in Ukraine.

Military cultures tend to be conservative, she says. Sex and self-image are areas where many soldiers can feel extra-vulnerable after an injury. Many wounded veterans also experience low libido, according to Ellis.

"It can feel really shameful to bring that up," Ellis says. "Body image plays such a role."

With help and guidance, she says, many veterans recover, learning to feel good again about their bodies. She believes sexual healing can also help with other parts of mental and physical recovery after war.

🦃🥧 Now For the Good Stuff! 🥧🦃

Have you ever wondered…? ⬇

It's not your imagination: Why Brussels sprouts taste better than when you were a kid, Ashlie D. Stevens, Salon, November 20, 2023.

Yummy! Roasted brussels sprouts!

I didn’t grow up in a brussels sprouts family, yet through the powerful force of cultural osmosis, I somehow grew up believing that they were always just a little gross. It’s not really a surprise why: Much like cafeteria lunches or liver and onions, brussels became a popular culinary punchline among the jungle gym set. Just the name evoked images of emotionless housewives boiling them over high-heat, rendering the little cruciferous vegetables bloated, soft and gaseous, destined to be scraped into the trashcan or offered to a family dog under the table.

But then sometime in the 2010s, alongside the explosion of New American and New Southern cuisine, brussels sprouts underwent some reputational repair. Chefs moved away from straight boiling them and started to slow-roast them in halves or quarters, coaxing out a really appealing caramelized sweetness that masked the vegetable’s inherent bitterness. They coated them in butter and bacon and maple syrup. And this happened over and over and over again until overpriced maple-glazed brussels were as much a cliché of hipster gastropub dining as Mason jar cocktails and food served on wooden planks. And the thing is — I loved them. ✂️

“In the late 1960s, our industry switched over to mechanized harvesting, which required a plant that would mature fairly evenly over the entire stem,” Steve Bontadelli, a Brussels sprouts farmer, told MEL Magazine in 2021. “The Sakata seed company developed the first plants that would mature evenly, and they were beautiful and green with lots of production, but they were horribly bitter, and we turned off an entire generation,”

The ultimate Thanksgiving Dinner ideas list (seriously, it is ALL here from pre-dinner drinks to condiments, to dishes to dessert!) 80+ Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas, Gaby Dalkin, November 1, 2023.

You know you want them all: 😍 T he 27 Most Popular Thanksgiving Desserts of All Time, New York Times, November 12, 2023. 😋

Preparing to meet your MAGA: For some of us, holiday gatherings with some MAGA type relatives is unavoidable, but I’ve got you! Here is an article (gift article!) with the lowdown — that is, the FACTS — so you can disarm the top contenders for Thanksgiving dinner fights. Here are the facts to prepare you for your Thanksgiving arguments, Ben Brasch, Washington Post, November 21, 2023.

Thanksgiving can be hard. When loved ones gather, it’s natural to reflect upon what’s happened since everyone last came together. That can be fertile ground for awkward conversations — whether with an uncle who only nourishes his brain with Facebook or a 14-year-old Redditor who has it all figured out. Let’s not turn Thanksgiving into a gobble squabble.

Whether at the adults table or the kids table, The Washington Post wants to help readers with a big helping of what we’re best known for: facts.

We’ve compiled potential turkey-day topics for some of the year’s biggest stories in politics, pop culture, the economy, international news, sports and a smattering of leftovers.

40 Best Thanksgiving Games to Play Before the Big Feast, Jill Gleeson, The Pioneer Woman, November 20, 2023.

Every household has its own Thanksgiving traditions that help make the holiday special. Nothing can beat watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with your cousins or even just breaking the wishbone. But any family that enjoys a bit of friendly competition (other than watching football on Thanksgiving) will want to add a few Thanksgiving games to their lineup. These activities will keep everyone entertained while the chefs concentrate on the most important thing of all—the Thanksgiving menu! Even Ree Drummond has a game idea from her crew: "Start a new around-the-table tradition of vocalizing things you're thankful for," she says. "You can even turn it into a game by following the alphabet and seeing how far you can get."

For more fun ideas, check out this list of the best DIY Thanksgiving games for kids and adults to play before and after the big feast. You'll find plenty of options for the whole family, as well as great ways for your little turkeys to burn off some energy after all that pumpkin pie. Family bowling contests, counting challenges, Thanksgiving trivia, and icebreakers are included. There are even some games that double as Thanksgiving decorations!

These Thanksgiving activities can be played indoors, outdoors, or in some cases, both. Some are twists on old favorites, and some are entirely new. You can even turn Thanksgiving crafts into a fun competition! But no matter how different these family Thanksgiving games are, they have a couple things in common: They're all easy to play, and even easier for everyone to enjoy. In fact, they're so much fun, they might even turn out to be the highlight of the holiday—besides the food, of course!

A sweet Thanksgiving update

A few years ago, one of us (maybe even me!) posted about this unexpected Thanksgiving celebration. A woman texted her grandson (or so she thought) to let him know what time to come for dinner and it turned out to be another teenager’s phone. What followed was a happy Thanksgiving dinner invitation and the story went viral. Well, it’s UPDATE TIME! Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton continued to spend Thanksgivings together over the past 7 years and are planning to do so again this year — with another modern twist:

Grandmother and man she accidentally invited to Thanksgiving in 2016 adding two guests to this year's holiday dinner, Kayla Galloway, NBC, November 15, 2023.

A grandmother in Arizona and the stranger she accidentally invited to her Thanksgiving dinner in 2016 are set to celebrate their eighth holiday together — but this year, they are inviting two more people to the dinner table.

Their story went viral when Wanda Dench texted then-teenager Jamal Hinton, telling him the time of her Thanksgiving dinner.

Dench told the 17-year-old that dinner was at her house at 3 p.m. on Nov. 24, 2016.

He responded by asking who was texting him and she responded, “Your grandma.”

After the initial confusion and back-and-forth, Hinton jokingly asked, “Can I still get a plate tho?”

The rest of the story became an annual holiday tradition, and a lasting internet sensation.

(Nifty note: As part of this teaming up with Wanda and Jamal, Airbnb has pledged to make a donation to Feeding America)

The 22 Best Holiday Movies and Shows to Watch This Year, From ‘Best. Christmas. Ever!’ to ‘Family Switch’, Fletcher Peters and Coleman Spilde, Daily Beast, November 9, 2023.

We’re little more than a week into November—have you set up your festive decorations yet? If not, why not get started a little early this year? We could use the good cheer. Bring out your garland, your fake (or real?) snow, your mistletoe, your stockings, and your warmest blankets. It’s time for the holiday season.

Streaming services are going big on Christmas movies this year, with plenty of romantic comedies and entertainment for the whole family. Stars like Eddie Murphy, Leighton Meester, Brandy Norwood, and even Ludacris are making a foray into holiday specials this year. Thanks to Netflix, it’s going to be the Best. Christmas. Ever! (Yes, that is the title of one of its upcoming wintery movies.)

🐩💙 CG’s Picks 💙🐩

Hello Everybody, it’s me, Curlygirl! I am so happy to see you all again! Me and Mama have been SO BUSY this year with so much family To-Do and also we are moving! Next week! So, did I mention we have been so busy? Lucky for Mama, I am the best dog ever (that’s what Mama says! 🥰) and I am very helpful because I keep us both exercised and relaxed.

Today, I have some fun videos for you featuring different kinds of dogs (the second one is a trick, though!). I hope you like them!

Thanksgiving Hijinks

YouTube Video

First Chicago-style Hot Dog

Pug dressed as a hot dog and tilting his head. — Check this out: Visitor to Chicago orders a hot dog

Olive and Mabel hard working dogs (like me!)

YouTube Video

RoundUp WindDown

In the past, I used to leave you with a list of things you could do to help protect Democracy — and I will do that again — but for this Thanksgiving Week, I would like to give us all permission to take a little breather.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving celebration, however you like it. If you can, spend some time outdoors breathing in some outdoor air and watching the seasonal changes. It will restore your spirits.