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Good News Roundup for September 8, 2023: Increasing the Blue Zones [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-09-08
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
I recently watched a Netflix documentary series, “Living to 100: the Blue Zones.” The Blue Zones, pockets in the world with much greater life expectancies, are called blue not because of the Rep/Dem red/blue divide, but because an earlier researcher happened to be using a blue pen to mark those pockets.
But many of the habits in longevity blue zones apply to our sides. The four main points are:
eating well (this means little processed food, not much meat, and lots of beans and veggies, as well as not too much, period);
moving naturally (not just paying for a gym membership that you rarely use, but lots of things like gardening and walking)
forming connections with people
having a purpose, a raison d’être, for every day — especially a positive purpose
We can discuss points one and two in the comments, but I wanted to talk about points three and four here. Writing the Good News Roundups has helped me feel connected to so many of you. It’s also given me a positive purpose for organizing my weeks.
Not only do these things make life worth living, they are good for getting things done. Today’s GNR has several examples showing how the DOJ is working with other parts of the government: the IRS, the EPA, and the FBI (which of course is part of the DOJ). (Again, points three and four.)
When we connect with others, we get inspired to do more. We generate ideas and possibilities. We discover that others can do what we cannot.
So, please engage today! Can you make suggestions on how to connect better? Are you seeking someone with a particular skill? Let’s empower each other in making the world a blue zone, both with respect to democracy and with respect to health and longevity.
So happy to be here with you! 💙💙💙💙 Come in, dear gnusies, and Happy Friday!
Note that next week I will be traveling.
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember:
💙 There are more of us than there are of them.
💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!
💔 They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
🗽 Biden as President ! 🗽
Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room.
👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍
Converting voters, one at a time:
x My dad is a lifelong Republican. We just talked about President Biden’s record. My dad said he’s blown away by his management of the economy & never thought the price of pharmaceutical drugs would be lowered. By the end of our conversation, he said he’d for for Biden in 2024. — Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) September 3, 2023
Government can work when you want it to:
x Working people are having an easier time getting their refunds, and millionaires are having a harder time cheating on their taxes.
https://t.co/Y8PF1DXZh8 — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) September 3, 2023
The IRS appears to be working with the Department of Justice to tackle the cheats. Here are snippets of a press release from the DOJ website:
Owner of Oregon Payroll Services Company Pleads Guilty to Employment Tax Scheme
An Oregon man pleaded guilty today to willfully failing to pay more than $24 million in payroll taxes owed to the IRS. According to court documents and statements made in court, Robert Kohnle of Lake Oswego, was the president, secretary, and chief executive officer of Real Benefits Group Inc., dba Aliat. As a professional employer organization, Aliat provided payroll and payroll-related services for its clients. Aliat was responsible, pursuant to service agreements with its clients, for receiving the payroll taxes withheld from the wages of clients’ employees, including federal income and Social Security and Medicare taxes, and paying those payroll taxes to the IRS. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2016 through the fourth quarter of 2022, Kohnle received payroll withholdings from Aliat’s clients but did not pay it over to the IRS as required by the client service agreements. Kohnle instead used the money to pay Aliat’s other expenses and creditors, including himself. In total, Kohnle caused a tax loss to the IRS of $24,816,602. Kohnle is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Department of Justice has several other examples of catching tax cheats among its recent press releases, but this is already going to be pretty long.
Hooray!
x 🚨BREAKING: Federal Court STRIKES DOWN Alabama remedial congressional redistricting map that had defied prior court order. Court will have its own special master drawn new map with second Black opportunity district.
https://t.co/wTk4anX7rn — Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) September 5, 2023
Gwynn Wilcox back on the National Labor Relations Board Robyn Pennachia Wonkette
On Wednesday, the US Senate voted 51-48 to confirm a second term for Gwynne Wilcox on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) — with Alaska Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan voting for her and West Virginia’s ever-whimsical Democratic Senator Joe Manchin voting against. Manchin was also the only Democrat to vote against giving rail workers seven paid sick days a year. Her confirmation restores the 3-1 advantage Democrats have on the panel. Normally, there are supposed to be five members, three from the party currently in power and two from the party that isn’t, but the Biden administration is not exactly chomping at the bit to get another Republican up there. Several groups, including the US Chamber of Commerce, were quite miffed about this and felt that the Senate should wait to confirm Wilcox until Biden nominated a Republican to fill the empty seat. You know, for “balance.” Godforbid there aren’t two people on the panel fighting for the big guy.
Banning book bans: this is happening in many places.
x New Jersey: The Hoboken City Council passed a resolution Wednesday evening that makes Hoboken a "book sanctuary" -- essentially a place that bans book bans.
https://t.co/DnFnIcQfMg — PEN America (@PENamerica) September 7, 2023
It’s hard to call this good news, as 47 years of blame is so terrible (he was in prison for 7.5 years). But at least this innocent man is finally known to be innocent.
x BREAKING: Leonard Mack was exonerated today — on his birthday — after nearly five decades of wrongful conviction in New York.
“I never lost hope that one day that I would be proven innocent. Now the truth has come to light and I can finally breathe."
https://t.co/l6kdye7rVj — Innocence Project (@innocence) September 5, 2023
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
Impeachment of Biden worries House GOP moderates Mychael Schnell The Hill
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has suggested that the House could hold a vote to launch an impeachment inquiry as soon as this month, despite hesitation from some moderates. At the same time, conservatives are continuing their push for steeper spending cuts and policy provisions attached to government funding, with some going as far as to embrace the possibility of a shutdown. Both issues could put the 18 Republicans defending their seats in districts Biden won last cycle in a tight spot — forcing them to choose between risking blowback from their party on Capitol Hill or from their voters back home. “I think there’s a lot of peril this fall facing Republicans,” said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist and former member of House GOP leadership.
Senior staffer testifies in Ken Paxton impeachment Kate McGee, Robert Downen The Texae Tribune
Ryan Bangert did not want to report his boss, Attorney General Ken Paxton, to the FBI. A bona fide ultraconservative and former Paxton donor, the onetime deputy first assistant attorney general believed in Paxton and the office, calling it a national "beacon" of the conservative legal movement. But, as Bangert detailed in crisp, riveting testimony during Thursday’s impeachment trial proceedings, he reluctantly concluded that Paxton’s repeated and escalating use of the office to help his friend and political donor Nate Paul left him and other senior staff with no option but to report the behavior to the FBI. “It was not a mutiny,” he said, rejecting prior characterizations by Paxton’s lawyers that his top staffers were trying to stage a coup in the attorney general’s office.
It’s so much more comfortable to be a democrat, where the cognitive dissonance is much less. But we can all wonder why this case was enough to cause them to impeach.
Michigan fake elector describes planning with tRump campaign Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck CNN
In a December 2020 radio interview reviewed by CNN’s KFile, Meshawn Maddock, one of the 16 fake electors in Michigan charged by the state attorney general for the alleged scheme, detailed the Trump campaign-directed plan and said the crucial decision on which electors to use would ultimately rest with a constitutional attorney and Vice President Mike Pence and Congress. The newly uncovered interview reveals Maddock’s detailed knowledge of the Trump campaign’s involvement in the plot and undermines her more recent comments claiming only a “vague” recollection of it when asked about CNN reporting from last year – which first reported on the Trump campaign’s alleged involvement in the scheme, according to three sources with direct knowledge.
Republican threatens tRump with legal hell that could kick him off the ballots Andrew Stanton, Newsweek
GOP presidential candidate John Anthony Castro threatened Donald Trump on Monday with "legal hell" in his latest bid to get the former president disqualified from the ballot in several states ahead of the 2024 election. Castro, a Texas tax attorney who has been sharply critical of the former president over his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol building, posted a photograph showing legal filings for eight states that backed Trump during the 2020 election to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "Happy Labor Day! About to unleash legal hell on @realDonaldTrump in what he thought was secure red states... but they're in blue circuits. Zero path to 270," he wrote Monday afternoon. The filings showed that he is filing challenges to Trump's candidacy in Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, North Carolina, West Virginia, Montana, Kansas and Idaho. Of these states, analysts only view North Carolina as being competitive in the 2024 election, but Trump not having access to any of these ballots would complicate his path to winning the Electoral College.
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
Actual delivering
x The former guy talked.
We’re delivering. pic.twitter.com/qoiugDrjQn — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 3, 2023
And this:
x “Guess what? The great real-estate builder, the last guy here, he didn’t build a damn thing,” said Biden. #BidenBuilds pic.twitter.com/VRMXnxOPLJ — Rachel Bitecofer 📈🔭🇺🇲🇺🇦 (@RachelBitecofer) September 4, 2023
This is big because I NEVER agree with David Brooks. But for once he is agreeing with me. Or perhaps not? I don’t subscribe to the NYTimes, could someone else check this out?
x .@nytdavidbrooks: "The American Renaissance Is Already at Hand"
"Bidenomics is working — big time. President Biden promised to help America outcompete authoritarian China & to heal some of the economic divides at home. Both those goals are being achieved"
https://t.co/v8qDue2v5c — Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) September 8, 2023
🌵 Governor Hobbs (AZ) is rescinding Ducey-era executive orders Cole Lauterbach, The Center Square
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is cleaning up old executive orders from the COVID-19 pandemic under former Gov. Doug Ducey. The governor announced Tuesday afternoon that she'd rescinded 14 orders that were largely moot because of subsequent legislation or measures her administration had taken. One of the Ducey-era orders Hobbs rescinded gained notoriety in 2021, as it classified any vaccine requirement by a county, city or other political subdivision as a Class 3 misdemeanor. Hobbs' announcement described the order as "unnecessarily restrictive." ✂️ Programs that Hobbs renewed were the Governor's Commission on Service and Volunteerism, the Arizona Juvenile Justice Commission and the Governor's Council on Child Safety and Family Empowerment.
💜 Unity? 💜
🚋 More infrastructure, this time in the Middle East Barak Ravid, Axios
President Biden and the leaders of India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hope to announce a major joint infrastructure deal on Saturday that will connect Gulf and Arab countries via a network of railways, two sources with direct knowledge of the plan told Axios. It will also connect to India through shipping lanes from ports in the region, Why it matters: The project is one of the key initiatives the White House is pushing in the Middle East as China's influence in the region grows. The Middle East is a key part of China's Belt and Road vision.
Governor Kelly 💙 of Kansas announces lots of bridge projects in Kansas Kansas Office of the Governor
DODGE CITY – Governor Laura Kelly and Kansas Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed today announced that 35 local and off-system bridge projects across the state will receive a combined total of $42.3 million as part of two local bridge improvement programs that capitalize on new revenue from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Combined with matching funds from the awarded cities and counties, the total project value is nearly $48.8 million. By reshaping the local bridge programs to take advantage of BIL, the Kansas Department of Transportation more than doubled its annual funding as part of the existing Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program (IKE). “A stronger transportation system and safer bridges keep our communities and economy moving,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “There are more than 19,000 bridges on local road systems across Kansas, all of which are essential to getting people and goods where they need to go. Yet almost 5,000 of those bridges simply cannot meet our state’s needs in a modern world, which is why these investments are critical for making our state a better place to live and work.”
📥 Actions You Can Take 📤
Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. You can fill this out for the NRA and lots of other organizations. How about if some of us white folk go into some of the MAGA churches and video record what they’re saying?
Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are), you can support and contact these organizations:
ACLU — American Civil Liberties Union
Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election.
Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams
🌱Grass roots. Biden and Harris can do the top-down stuff, but we have to support from the bottom. I don’t know how to deprogram 75 million people, but some things have been written about, such as deep canvassing, and lots of people are talking about this. If you know someone (who did not storm the Capitol), then see if you can be pleasant. Instead of trying to reason with them (logic is obviously not their strong point) distract them with something else. We need to remove the sources of lies and to take down the temperature. If we get more of the Rs to wear masks and to get vaccinated and to vote for Ds, the country will be a better place. We need to coax some of them out of the rabbit holes and diffuse the anger and the crazy.
🏃 Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if you’re not in a position to stand for office, you can help. Note: they are especially planning to target the 57 Rs in local governments who participated in the insurrection.
👎 Defund the seditionists. Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some — either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others.
🔎 Want to check out what’s going on with campaign contributions? Check out this diary. 👀
🐍 Schadenfreude 😈
Peter Navarro is found guilty:
x Pretty simple verdict form and a rather straightforward note from the jury in the Contempt of Congress case of former Trump adviser Peter Navarro pic.twitter.com/6en6R2aqmv — Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 7, 2023
Fani Willis excoriates Jim Jordan Jordain Carney Politico
Fulton County DA Fani Willis on Thursday sent a fiery letter to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, responding to his decision to launch an investigation into the Georgia office just hours before Trump appeared in court late last month on charges related to interfering in the 2020 election. In the blistering, nine-page response, Willis called Jordan’s actions “offensive,” accused him of being “misinformed” and said it’s “clear that you lack a basic understanding of the law, its practice, and the ethical obligations of attorneys generally and prosecutors specifically.” ✂️ Willis, in her letter, did provide some details on federal funds that her office receives — one of Jordan’s requests. But the bulk of her letter offered several pointed criticisms of the House GOP’s request, including that it would involve sharing non-public information about an ongoing investigation. And she pointedly argued that it was time for him to “deal with some basic realities.” “The basic premise of your letter is wrong. The criminal defendant about which you expressconcern was fully aware of the existence of the criminal investigation being conducted by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office at the time he announced his candidacy for President. I have no doubt that many Americans are the subject of criminal investigations and prosecutions at any given moment,” Willis wrote. “An announcement of a candidacy for elected office, whether President of the United States, Congress, or state or local office, is not and cannot be a bar to criminal investigation or prosecution,” she added. “Any notion to the contrary is offensive to our democracy and to the fundamental principle that all people are equal before the law.”
Threatening election workers is against the law, and the DOJ is doing something about it DOJ Press release
A Texas man pleaded guilty today in the Northern District of Georgia to posting a message online threatening several Georgia public officials following the 2020 election. “This case marks another destructive example of threats of violence to the election community and law enforcement,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department will not tolerate the criminal targeting of the men and women responsible for administering our elections and ensuring that every eligible voter has the opportunity to exercise the most fundamental right in our democracy: the right to vote.” According to court documents, around Jan. 5, 2021, Chad Christopher Stark, 55, of Leander, posted a message to Craigslist entitled, “Georgia Patriots it’s time to kill [Official A] the Chinese agent - $10,000.” The message included the following: “It’s time to invoke our Second Amendment right it’s time to put a bullet in the treasonous Chinese [Official A]. Then we work our way down to [Official B] the local and federal corrupt judges. It’s our duty as American Patriots to put an end to the lives of these traitors and take back our country by force. . . . ✂️ “Today’s guilty plea plainly shows that anyone who threatens election officials online will be investigated by the FBI and held accountable for their words” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “We must take calls to violence seriously, whatever their form, especially when they have the potential to result in physical harm and undermine the integrity of U.S. elections.” Stark pleaded guilty today to one count of a sending a threat using a telecommunications device. He faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
One thing about the disinformation years and the general discontent with the media — owned by so many corporate bosses — is that regular human beings have stepped forward to report on the news, and to skip the bothsiderism. Here are a few, who we honor today:
There’s Allison Gill, who started Mueller She Wrote and has branched into the Daily Beans and Clean Up on Aisle 45 and also Jack (about the doings of Jack Smith). Unsurprisingly, when the tRump administration figured out who she was, they forced her out of the Veterans Administration. Lots of people here post her tweets. Here’s her story:
PoliticsGirl, whose name is Leigh McGowan: Leigh McGowan launched PoliticsGirl as a way to help people reconnect with politics. She started the YouTube channel in 2015 as a way to inform and inspire because she said, “when you understand you care, and when you care you vote”. After watching the fallout from the Trump years, Leigh relaunched the project on TikTok in September of 2020 doing rants in her kitchen as a way to engage the younger generation whose participation, she believed, was essential to the future of the country.
x The forces fighting democracy are strong and powerful, so when we get a chance to fight back, we take it.
Next up…#Virginia pic.twitter.com/yNFbUGDyrm — PoliticsGirl (@IAmPoliticsGirl) September 4, 2023
Not her story, but a reminder on how important the elections this year will be in Virginia.
There are even people like us who contribute to The Daily Kos! And here’s the story about how The Daily Kos is being sued, because a contributor hurt the fee-fees of someone who has a lot of money. William Bredderman, The Daily Beast. You’ve seen requests for contributions in order to fend off this lawsuit, meant to get The Daily Kos out of existence. If you’ve sent in money, you’ve been supporting the truth.
Note that attacks often happen — Allison Gill was fired — because we’re making a difference.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
This really might be the best thing:
x Want to see the best thing on X today?
A young boy was attending his first day back at school but was sad because his dad was deployed overseas.
This is the exact moment his dad surprised him. pic.twitter.com/f0CaocY405 — Goodable (@Goodable) August 31, 2023
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
💰 Fining Tadano Group for non-compliant diesel engines DOJ Press Release
The Justice Department today announced that Japan-based Tadano Ltd. and its subsidiaries – collectively known as the Tadano Group – will pay a $40 million civil penalty to resolve allegations that it violated Title II of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Justice Department worked with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to broker the settlement, which resolves allegations in a complaint filed with the settlement that Tadano Group imported and sold heavy, nonroad cranes with diesel engines not certified to applicable CAA emission standards, and that Tadano Group violated related CAA and regulatory requirements. As part of the proposed consent decree, Tadano Group will also contribute $3.2 million towards a project to mitigate harm caused by excess nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions from its noncompliant crane engines. The project will retire a 1975 tugboat and christen a new, cleaner tugboat to service ships in the Port of Port Arthur, Texas. The old tugboat has outdated diesel engines while the new tugboat will have up-to-date, Tier 4 engines, preventing the release of an estimated 2,075 tons of NOx emissions and more than 22 tons of PM emissions over 20 years. The Port of Port Arthur is near low-income communities with environmental justice concerns and near the Tadano America Corp. facility in Houston. “Tadano Group imported and sold giant cranes with engines that didn’t carry valid EPA certificates of conformity, flouting federal law that protects the public from harmful emissions,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This settlement holds Tadano accountable for its violations and requires completion of a project that will improve the quality of life for those living in the Port Arthur, Texas, area.”
Steps being taken to improve our mental health Kate Woodsome, Washington Post
Recent steps in spending, policymaking and litigation offer three reasons to hope the United States is starting to take behavioral problems as seriously as medical ones. Now, the gatekeepers of health care need to build on these wins by investing in people’s mental wellness. The first ray of hope: More people are spending money to treat their troubled minds. During the coronavirus pandemic, clinician visits increased by 39 percent and spending by adults with employer-sponsored insurance jumped 54 percent, according to a new study in JAMA Health Forum. The researchers examined the claims of about 7 million adults from March 2020 to August 2022. ✂️ These statistics reveal a nation determined to feel better. Working through mental health and substance use issues is often painful and expensive. People who seek care should be lauded: Investing in their own health pays social and economic dividends.
The article continues with information on how the Biden administration is making sure that insurance companies enable the coverage to continue. 😄
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and sequels, Scavengers of Mind and the brand-new Familiars of the Flock (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages.
💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙
It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time.
Current projects:
Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters
And some other ideas:
You can relax and recharge.
You can join protests and freeway blog.
You can help register new voters.
You can smile.
You can say something nice to friend or a stranger.
You can get out the vote for special elections.
You can reach out to upset Republicans. We need to win some back.
You can share your ideas below.
🌻
💙 “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.” 💙
President Joseph R. Biden
🌹 🌹 🌹
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