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Join us at The Village, 9/27/23 [1]

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Date: 2023-09-27

I thought I’d dedicate today’s diary to some follow-up on a couple of my earlier dairies.

My diary on rural California got a fair amount of good discussion. It turns out it’s part of a series from the LA Times. Another article was published about the same town — Alturas, in Modoc county. It was interesting to read and I thought it did a good job of capturing what it’s like for young people to live in such a remote area. Not surprisingly, it’s difficult.

One reason is this:

Models consistently show the state’s highest rates of childhood trauma are in rural Northern California, where there is a dire shortage of both primary care and mental-health care providers. The gun violence and poverty experienced by young people in some urban neighborhoods is well-documented in the media and popular culture. But these issues are as present, if not even more common, in rural areas. While homicide rates are lower, suicide rates are generally much higher in rural than urban counties. Home to just 8,500 people, Modoc County is one of California’s poorest, with a fifth of the population living in poverty.

The article then proceeds to focus on two high school seniors, a boy and a girl; Linda and Justin. Linda is student body president, and a mature teen who is affectionately called Mom by her classmates. She helps nurture them, and has been mostly financially responsible for herself for several years, even going through the legal process to become emancipated from her mother. She has been accepted to UC Berkeley, which is a major accomplishment for any entering Berkeley freshman.

Justin is a father already, and will be attending a small, Christian college in Eugene, OR. He’s also the Salutatorian of his class and has worked while attending school as well.

Both of these young people are to be applauded for surviving, and in a sense, thriving through their high school years in Alturas. Linda wants to be a marine biologist, and Justin will be studying accounting.

What came to mind as I read this article, and reminisced about the last one, was that the child tax credit payments being sent out in 2021 could really make a difference in places like Alturas. If republicans had not ended it, and those payments went regularly for years it probably wouldn’t take long for the incomes to rise enough in the town that other businesses might be able to open. There are a little over 800 students in the Modoc school district. Conservatively speaking, let’s assume that all those 800 students are 6-17 years old. Their parents would receive $250/month for each of them. The parents of any children <6 would receive $300/month. The 800+ at $250/month equals over $200,000 in income. The spending power that would be generated by that many families receiving monthly checks for those children would quickly add up.

I don’t know if it’s enough to support a Walmart or Target, but maybe it would support some additional smaller businesses that sell clothing, household goods and food. Those businesses could also hire teens that could then use their income to support more movies being shown at the local theater or other entertainment options that appeal to them and their families.

That’s just one big impact, thanks to Democratic party policies, that could improve the lives of people in Alturas and other very remote areas. I wish more people, in small towns and cities would understand that the Democratic party policies help support them and their communities. The other party only stands for chaos.

******

Harking back to another diary of mine, the one on people that should know better, but are unprofessional. The list of people included the usual congressional subjects — Representatives Boebert, & Greene, along with Sen. Tuberville. Also making the cut were Justice Alito. This time around I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Justice Thomas, and Rep. Gosar.

Let’s start with the unprofessional and immature behavior of Rep. Boebert. I am of the camp that this was newsworthy because it’s an outstanding example of the hypocrisy of the republican party. She tried to shame the pregnant woman, broke theater rules around photography, she flipped off the staff of the theater, and it also appears that she took a selfie on the walk out to the lobby. And yes, we also know she and her date were having inappropriate sexual conduct in a public place — blech.

x And definitely don’t take them to see Beetlejuice (especially when you are in the audience). https://t.co/a6tmWzHetZ — Jaime Harrison (@harrisonjaime) September 16, 2023

Gosar is following in the footsteps of his gross idol, TFG. Very very dangerous and unprofessional as well.

x In which Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar advocates for the execution of Mark Milley in his weekly taxpayer funded newsletter pic.twitter.com/AScaI6AmP5 — Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) September 24, 2023

This entire thread is incredible, in a not so good way, but the idea that Sen. Tuberville is holding positions open so they can be filled by MAGA loyalists in 2025 is very troubling. If that is not the goal he is still weakening our national security and hurting people he claims to respect. Very unprofessional!

x I believe that what Senator Tuberville is doing with flag nominations is part of a larger effort to fill flag ranks with people personally loyal to Trump. Like Scalia's seat at SCOTUS, he's holding them open for Trump to fill later with ideologues. 10/n https://t.co/5nyScVoUp9 — Brynn Tannehill (@BrynnTannehill) September 21, 2023

Last week brought another round of reporting on Justice Thomas’ complete lack of ethics. The excellent reporting by Pro Publica also calls into question some of his rulings that benefit his benefactors. Extremely unprofessional and a stain on our judicial system.

x Clarence Thomas helped a political network which has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.



That's another enormous ethics issue.https://t.co/NzsQsHgPyB — Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) September 24, 2023

******

What’s on your mind this week?

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