August 24, 2024

My deepest condolences, iemanja

As a long-time GOTV volunteer, myself, I have to say your mom made a lasting impact not only on the election results to which she donated her time and energy, but on the spirit of other volunteers who spent time alongside her, many younger and just learning the ropes and feeling a larger sense of democratic community from her enthusiasm and dedication. And each person that she converted or persuaded to get to the polls still carries at some level of consciousness a bit of the conversation she had with them. The number of votes she impacted, and may even continue to impact, can’t be quantified but guaranteed, your mom made a lasting difference.

I honor her in my heart and wish you comfort and peace.

February 14, 2023

CDC data shows U.S. teen girls 'in crisis' with unprecedented rise in suicidal behavior

Source: PBS/Associated Press

The pandemic took a harsh toll on U.S. teen girls’ mental health, with almost 60 percent reporting feelings of persistent sadness or hopelessness, according to a government survey released Monday that bolsters earlier data.

Sexual violence, suicidal thoughts, suicidal behavior and other mental health woes affected many teens regardless of race or ethnicity, but girls and LGBTQ youth fared the worst on most measures, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. More than 17,000 U.S. high school students were surveyed in class in the fall of 2021.

In 30 years of collecting similar data, “we’ve never seen this kind of devastating, consistent findings,” said Kathleen Ethier, director of CDC’s adolescent and school health division. “There’s no question young people are telling us they are in crisis. The data really call on us to act.”

The research found:

Among girls, 30 percent said they seriously considered attempting suicide, double the rate among boys and up almost 60 percent from a decade ago.
Almost 20 percent of girls reported experiencing rape or other sexual violence in the previous year, also an increase over previous years.
Almost half of LGBTQ students said they had seriously considered a suicide attempt.
More than a quarter of American Indians and Alaska natives said they had seriously considered a suicide attempt — higher than other races and ethnicities.
Feelings of persistent sadness and hopelessness affected more than one-third of kids of all races and ethnicities and increased over previous years.
Recent poor mental health was reported by half of LGBTQ kids and almost one-third of American Indian and Alaska Native youth.

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/cdc-data-shows-u-s-teen-girls-in-crisis-with-unprecedented-rise-in-suicidal-behavior

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Another heartbreaking toll… not just of the pandemic, but of our current cultural fabric.

January 30, 2022

Bill Kristol tweet re:Fox liability

https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1487552750804213768
If tobacco companies were guilty of knowingly promoting falsehoods that led to early deaths, shouldn't Fox be liable for anti-vaccination falsehoods that have led to early deaths? Both did it for profit. And Fox suits and stars know the truth as surely as tobacco execs ever did.

February 14, 2021

Sharing gratitude as I pass 20,000

Reflecting on where we are at this moment is a straight shot to gratitude.

Gratitude for the stellar work by our House Dems and feeling better about the Senate. Gratitude that our leadership team is deep and determined and is acting in ways that make it clear that they are more than rising to the occasion. The messaging is tight while the rhetoric has been subdued, making the stark, objective depravity clear to all. Hoping this continues with investigations into not just FORMER potus (grateful every time I think about his descent from the throne) but also into his accomplices in the administration and Congress.

Appreciating Biden’s restraint and the way he’s playing it lowkey but savvy, while I appreciate the power of the fire VP Harris has the ability to unleash and am in delicious anticipation of who she will become as a key party leader. I’m grateful for Sanders’ devotion to the cause and bringing his intense desire to right wrongs to his new role as Budget Committee Chair, already firing me up about budget reconciliation, something I had a dimmer awareness of before. I’m so grateful for the folks who are stepping up to run for local office.

In short, I appreciate where we are as a party at this moment, brimming with possibility even in the face of historic humanistic challenges.

Also grateful to members of the media who are digging in and even risking their own safety to bring the truth the light. And Greg Palast for his long-term devoted persistence in investigating election/vote count “irregularities” and Stacy Abrams for doing a kickass job of GOTV. And so many others, obvs, so many who are holding up our democracy. And I’m deeply grateful for those warriors fighting on so many fronts to save our planet, whether by amassing data, changing policy or donating what they can.

And gratitude to DU for being here. A hub for us, a rich community. Grateful for DUers who show up to share your insights and your humor. For those who keep us so well informed with important news, advances in science and important editorials. For those who keep us entertained with the latest SNL clips and editorial cartoons as well as sharing your passions for furbaby vids, music, photography and other arts. Massive gratitude to DUers who are peacekeepers here, those who hold space for folks with different points of view. And for those who run the interest and support groups, these have been such important resources at DU over the years. For Omaha Steve’s superlative marshaling of funds to our candidates. And, as a forum host, I’m grateful for DUers who check for dupes before starting LBN threads

A toast to all of you, and Earl G, Elad and emeritus Skinner, for supporting this rich tapestry of a community.

Lots of virtual love and wishing a grateful, warm and happy Valentines Day to everyone

December 19, 2020

It's beyond time to establish a duty of care standard for politicians, with respect to constituents.

Their oath has now been shown to be positively meaningless. They are in positions of trust yet there is no duty of care. Trump, for example, can decide not to distribute vaccines, and with no duty to us, he doesn’t have to.

In a country of dying, starving, suffering people, McConnell uses his position to grant favors as he wishes and blithely prevents voting on help needed by those in dire straits. There is something gravely wrong with this picture. Conflict of interest rules don’t even have any teeth. It’s positively revoltingly immoral.

Wincing here over a simple glass of red that so many, many thousands would love to be able to enjoy, but they are impoverished, in pain or suffering the loss of a loved one... or working endless hours to help others simply stay alive.

No real effort by republicons because no legal duty, and moral duty has now been proven to carry no weight. We need some fundamental, structural change here, people, eh?

February 15, 2020

Good point.

I like that he genuinely seeks the truth about important issues and spells out what he finds in an unfiltered manner.

February 8, 2020

Steve Bannon wants to divide us, and so does trump. People are falling for this trap. So obvious.

Truly bizarre that some here are promoting the ploy

July 25, 2019

Glad you posted this. I agree it's a good interview, explores good points.

Sanders is making a more structural case. I’m a passionate proponent of anti-corruption controls but the issues really go deeper. I’m not committed to him, but Sanders has demonstrated courage in being willing to go against consensus. I see Biden as being all about consensus, which is fine for folks who don’t see things as needing big fixes. (I still need to hear more from Warren.)

But we will simply never get rethug consensus on some absolutely urgent matters. Like giant steps that are now necessary to combat climate change and the rapidly accelerating destruction of rainforests and ocean life. We are where we are on that right now not because of tRump, but because of years of rethug refusal to step away from their donors and address the effing problem.

And like our grossly skewed election infrastructure, on which everything else ultimately depends.

And the refugee detention camps.

When tRump’s gone we will still have an irretractable mess because of the immoral, starkly unjust and unpatriotic Republican Party mentality. Which has only become emboldened by tRump’s administration and by mcconnel’s untouchable actions in STEALING a Supreme Court seat, in refusing to touch election protection, and on and on.

The time for playing nice with them is over.

February 22, 2019

Ha, I'm not decided but I really respect what Bernie has done to raise issues in a way that

connects with a lot of people. His principles are also mine (with a couple exceptions), and represent why I’m an ardent Dem.

One of my core concerns is the rampant spread of conflicts of interest in all three branches of government, because decent environmental, economic and social policies (and more so lately, foreign policy) hinges on influence being courted by those with money. Period. This is, IMO, why we are where we are today! Starting most stunningly with Bush v. Gore which led to Citizens United. Election fraud, environmental destruction, you name it. I’m fine with any Dem as long as conflicts of interest are taken care of.

The aggressive posts against Bernie are anti-Dem despite protestations to the contrary.

November 16, 2018

My dad had a fabulous voice, and loved to sing and listen to Russian folk songs

I put Natanya Davrath on heavy rotation during his last months earlier this year. He was close to 97. He and Mom and I lay on his hospital bed singing together on his last night with us.