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Author: Spocko

Stay Alive! Act Now To Stop A Christmas Death Surge @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on November 30, 2020

We can’t wait until Biden’s inauguration to act. We need to push governors to make public health policy changes now. We need a #WarOnChristmasDeaths

I wondered, why doesn’t he want to frighten people? He wants to be non-political, great, fine, I get it. Then WE NEED to get political and use the hard data from previous holidays and emotional communications campaigns to put pressure on Governors in states like South Dakota and Nebraska to make changes NOW.

While watching the videos of people traveling home for Thanksgiving I heard experts say spikes in cases and deaths have happened after every major holiday since the pandemic started. They also pointed to increases in cases and deaths after the Sturgis Rally and Trump’s rallies.

We have the deadly data, then why aren’t there videos of stacks of coffins and ICU wards playing on TV every night and social media every day?

Business in booming in coffin sales.

As a logical Vulcan I know the left wants to believe that when presented with the truth people will make the right decisions. NO! One to the 12th power no! Humans make decisions based on lots of factors, with “doing the right thing because it’s “scientific and logical” is actually pretty far down the list.

Public health communicators believe that “good speech drives out bad speech.” That’s partially correct, but what we also need are campaigns and methods to stop people who willful spread dangerous misinformation.

The example used to justify restrictions on speech is, ‘You can’t FALSELY yell fire in a crowded theatre.” The concept is that the panic based on false information will lead to real deaths. However, if the theater was ACTUALLY on fire, you SHOULD yell fire! People who know there is a fire and say, “‘It’s nothing. Stay in your seats. Enjoy the show!” are threatening people’s health and safety with misinformation.

Our squeamishness in sanctioning willful misinformation is killing people.

I listened to a GREAT Mother Jones podcast with science communication expert Jessica Malaty Rivera At 10:33 senior editor Kiera Butler asked if there are pieces of misinformation that won’t go away. Science communicators want to educate the good faith misunderstandings of data. Rivera called one example an “unfortunate misunderstanding of data.” She was frustrated that people were “misreading charts” that were very simple. But what about the people who know the facts and willfully spread false information?

#MaskItOrCasket.

Why don’t we push back hard against misinformation? Are we just too polite? Shell shocked by our inability to change people’s minds with facts & science? Afraid some RWNJ will say, “Your early model was incorrect, (because more people changed behaviors than predicted, but they ignore that) therefore we should ignore everything you say!”

There are steps beyond education to take for the people who have been suckered in by the liars, that involves strategic pressure on specific people who can enact changes.

Hammer ALL Governors to push mask mandates other public health actions
People are dying! Stop waiting for Biden to be President! 
It’s time to pressure Governors like Kristi Noem and Pete Ricketts to make policy changes before Christmas so there won’t be a death surge in January.

Bodies loaded into a refrigerated temporary morgue trailer in El Paso, Texas, on Nov. 16 Mario Tama—Getty Images

Get the Lincoln Project people to make some ads about the dead piling up in South Dakota, (since apparently only former Republicans are allowed to go on the attack for dismal Republican policy failures.)

That’s great for the heartstrings, but what about the purse strings?
I looked up the 100 largest companies in South Dakota. In the top 6 are 4 healthcare companies and 2 senior care ones.

Get the CEOS of these companies to call the Governor! “Hey, Kristi, it’s Bill Gassen, the new CEO of Stanford Heath here. The lives of my employees and clients are at stake. Get with the mask mandate or no more PAC money for you!” If the CEOs won’t make the call maybe the top shareholders should remind them that dead customers are bad for repeat business. 

  1. Sanford Health
  2. The Good Samaritan Society
  3. Good Shepherd Retirement
  4. Regional Health
  5. Rapid City Regional Hospital
  6. Avera Health

When researching money for Noem look what I found! There was a Taylor Swift fundraising concert for Noem in 2015!

Ask Taylor Swift to call Gov. Noem @taylorswift13 to implement a statewide mask mandate. Ask @sanfordHealth to contact the Governor to protect the lives of their 28,000 workers and–for the love of God–please issue a statewide mask mandate. Image from: OpenSecrets Screen Grab

What about businesses from out of state that employ lots of people?
I know a lot of HR people and those who work in retail. Push nationwide mask mandates in all their stores and support employees enforcing them.  Why is this so important? See headline from yesterday:

South Dakota’s governor encouraged people to go shopping the same day the state reported its highest single-day COVID-19 death total

 (Business Insider) NOT the Onion!

My experience using financial leverage to drive change in right wing media taught me that corporations will take steps to avoid tainting their brand, as long as the revenue keeps coming in. Associating with deadly governors is bad for their brands.

What kind of pressure can nurses put on Governors like Ricketts who haven’t pushed mask mandates? 

Maybe you’ve seen the heartbreaking video of the Omaha nurse from the University of Nebraska Medical Center talking about the tragic experiences of dealing with patients dying.

Last Tuesday Omaha nurse Daphne Newton caught the virus and died. She had spent the past eight months on the COVID-19 pandemic frontlines, treating patients at CHI Health Immanuel Hospital.

Do dead nurses need to hold George Floyd level protests in states where the people won’t protect them by wearing masks?

Nurse Daphne Newton died November 24th in Omaha Nebraska. She worked on the COVID-19 pandemic frontlines, treating patients at CHI Health Immanuel Hospital. Image from: KETV Screen Grab

Use the power of the retired donors to pressure the appropriate governors
Retired people were the top donors to Noem, get them to act! Get the number 3 employer in South Dakota to ake a stand. Someone should contact the AARP, they are a powerful lobby. They compiled a list of states where there are no mask mandates.

“For me, the tragedy is none of those people have to die if we adhere to 95% mask-wearing” Dr. Peter Hotez

My work with activists attempting to stop gun violence and the proliferation of guns everywhere has shown me that we need more than just good messages to sway public opinion. We need to organize to pressure politicians politically, financially and in the public eye.

What else can we do now? Get CDC & DHHS professionals to talk. If they get fired by Trump they can be hired back later.

We have become acclimated to the deaths. Like in a war, the number of deaths that were seen as horrific in the early days now seem normal–but they are not.

What can we do NOW to prevent MORE deaths?

Hammer GOP officials at the state level for allowing Trump policies to remain these next two months.

Governors aren’t the only politicians in a state with leverage, call them all now. Protest at home offices! Indivisible has proven this works.

Use both public AND behind the scenes pressure. Public pressure can drive behind the scenes pressure we never see. Copy people like Tony Venhuizen @Tony_Venhuizen, Noem’s Chief of staff.

Don’t expect the Media to pressure politicians
The media lets politicians run from hard questions. Help ’em out. Be the constituent who catches them in their home districts on the way to their fundraising dinners. Video everything, especially lame answers. Cable TV producers and my comedy writing friends at the Late Night comedy shows lap that stuff up! That is how you reach the millions who aren’t on social media 24/7 like us.

Look, I know you did your bit, you voted, wrote postcards, donated and made calls. You are tired, but what I know is that your one strategic call, email, post or tweet can make a difference. Look the companies and affiliate groups I’ve listed. Just pick one you have a connection to, and take one tiny action. Even if it is a single tweet, comment or share.

You might be the snowflake that starts the avalanche.

You all know the old saying, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Sometimes we need hammers.

Nail the malicious misinformers and obstructors now, so we’ll use fewer coffin nails later!#WearAMask so you will LLAP
Spocko

We’ve adapted to the velocity of COVID-19 deaths. That needs to stop. @spocksbrain

Published by Spocko on November 21, 2020
Americans have adapted to the velocity of deaths from COVID-19. We need to understand our perceptions have been distorted, so we can act urgently and stop accepting the obstructing behavior of politicians and acceptance by the media.

Like in a war, the number of deaths in the early days that were seen as horrific, now seem normal. I was thinking of a way to talk about this when I found this piece in The Association for Psychological Science.

Too Fast, Too Slow: Judging–And Misjudging–Speeds

This distortion of perception applies to speeding in a car, but also when people watch fast videos for awhile and then normal speed ones. It’s happens in freeway driving. You leave a highway to take an off-ramp, the fast speeds seem more normal than slower ones, and going the legal limit seems especially slow.

How do we get back to the urgency of action in the early days to a GREATER urgency to act NOW to prevent MORE deaths?

Hammer ALL Governors to push mask mandates NOW & other public health actions
 People are dying! Stop waiting for elections to be certified.

Hammer GOP officials for allowing Trump to mope while people die
 My friends in Indivisible groups around the country know how to do this. Call now! Protest at home offices!

Hammer COVID-19 Task Force for dragging their heels on the transition
 They’ve given up on prevention to please loser Trump & the quack Atlas. That abdication of their responsibility to save lives was horrible when there were 2 dead it’s morally repugnant when it’s thousands dead EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Hammer Democrats to Hammer Republicans for NOT accepting the elections
I don’t care what they say in private to you so you can maintain your comity in January under Biden. Sam Seder, Ben Dixon and Emma Vigeland had a great discussion about this today on The Majority Report  

Hammer the media for continuing to allow a slow weak response from everyone while we wait for Biden Administration.
Jesus H. Christ on The Cross Dying For Your Sins, yes the Lincoln Project allows you to attack Republicans so you don’t have to, but it’s time to get ACTUAL elected officials to speak strongly right now!

  • Personally I’m sick and tired of videos of them running down hallways while someone shouts a question at them. Stop letting them decline to comment! Stop accepting a platitude talking point for an answer! I know it’s not easy, so be prepared for their BS answer as part of your question and anticipate their standard response with a follow up.
  • Lure them in with a nice question about the Moderna vaccine.  Let them brag about Operation Warp speed. Then ask what they are doing until it’s deployed about the PPE the COVID-19 Task Force hasn’t delivered.
    Ask about voter fraud! Then ask them if they support investigating other fraud, like PPE fraud on Jared’s task force.
    “Will you make a public statement about the need for that investigation  into the White House’s fraud  now Congressman?

I know the media is stymied, so they should find and follow a constituent who is in pain because of COVID-19. Have them ask questions for them! Remember the elevator scene during the Kavanaugh hearings?

If you are in their state, catch them in their home districts on the way to their fundraising dinners. It will make news. Video all your interactions with them, their staff and supporters–everything! (And please hold the camera horizontally!) If their answers are especially inane it will get picked up by the Late Night comedy shows and that is how you reach people who aren’t on Twitter.

Look, I totally understand, my perceptions of the velocity of death over time have been distorted too. My understanding of which actions work or don’t work–but are still necessary to take–has also been broken by this administration and the GOP.
These days all I want to do is watch music videos of Annie Lennox, especially, There Must Be An Angel, but I do NOT want people to die so I can talk to them as angels!

You all know the old saying, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Sometimes we need hammers. 

We nail these people now or we nail more coffins later! #MaskItOrCasket.

Bodies loaded into a refrigerated temporary morgue trailer in El Paso, Texas, on Nov. 16 Mario Tama—Getty Images

New York, Reuters.

Introducing the Mask Launcher! @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on November 17, 2020

The Uniquely American Solution for Americans Who Won’t Wear Masks!

Are you tired of arguing with people who won’t wear a mask?

The people at Sufficiently Advanced know you can’t fix stupid, so they created the Mask Launcher!

Simply point and shoot!

Tested on Allen Pan of Sufficiently Advanced.

Makes a great gift for people who live in states where people don’t take personal responsibility for their role in spreading COVID-19. 


Act now to use it at DOOR BUSTER SALES!

It’s portable. Take it to the beach. Or to your local Walmart!

 

This product is not available in any stores. You can’t buy it, but if you want to make your own here’s the build video from Allen Pan – Sufficiently Advanced  @AnyTechnology

#MASKUP

Look, I’ve written the serious reasons to wear masks, why enforcement needs to come from public health because of the issues with police who don’t apply the law equality.

I talked about how to get corporations on board Want To Reopen Retail? Everyone Must Wear Masks and how to make Trump pay for his superspreader rallies. But they are ignored by the target audience, so why not go over the top? 

This humorous solution got 3 million views when it first came out. Maybe we don’t need a working mask launcher just a prop one to point at non-mask wearers, especially the aggressive anti-maskers. Will they freak out? Sure, they love to freak out and play the victim, even when they are the ones who could infecting others.  

When they squawk we use the same logic as the guns everywhere people.  
“It’s for defensive use! I’m just trying to protect myself! You didn’t have on a mask and were coming right at me! I feared for my life! Walmart says I’m legally allowed to carry in their store, so I will!”

I don’t like confrontation. I also don’t like death by COVID. 

Rallies led to 30K COVID cases, 700 deaths. Make Trump pay for holding them @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on October 31, 2020

Stanford Researchers: Trump Rallies Led to 30,000 COVID-19 Infections, 700 Deaths

According to their research, 18 rallies held between June 20 and September 22 led to more than 30,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The researchers also concluded that the rallies “likely led” to more than 700 deaths, although not necessarily among those who attended the events. -Slate October 31 

The Effects of Large Group Meetings on the Spread of COVID-19: The Case of Trump Rallies B. Douglas Bernheim, Nina Buchmann, Zach Freitas-Groff, Sebasti´an Otero*  PDF link to abstract

Trump rallies that led to sickness and death of his rally goers and others in the community has been proven. Why are they still allowed to continue? They need to be stopped. I know people throw their hands up and say, “It’s too late, there is nothing we can do now to stop them.” Okay, if that’s the case then what’s your next step? Make the Trump campaign pay a price for this suffering and death to the communities they infected.

During Trump’s Tampa Rally the fire department was called to cool off the crowd. EMT took multiple people to the hospital for heat stroke. Who paid for that extra time of the first responders? 

After the Rose Garden outbreak, when it was clear,”HE’S INFECTING HIS OWN PEOPLE!” most Democrats stopped pushing hard to stop rallies, hoping decent people would stay away from Trumpers. This might be a good strategy from an electoral point of view, but from a PUBLIC HEALTH point of view it’s still bad to let people get infected. 

I’ve been writing on how and why to stop rallies since Tulsa and Phoenix in June. Read all the methods and reasons at this piece Trump’s Contact Tracing Failure.  I wrote, “The people at Trump’s rallies are suicide bombers. How many will they infect and kill?” (link) We now have proof the rallies spread COVID but nobody in Trumpworld has paid a price for it yet.

The superspreader death rallies have become a joke on cable TV & late night shows, yes it’s gallows humor, but I’m tired of it. I want the organizers and their allies to pay a price for this recklessness that leads to illness and death.  If you live in a city where there was or will be a Trump rally, there are things you can do to stop them now or make them pay afterwards. Let me explain why and how.

Why You Should Go After Trump’s Campaign Rallies Now

1) IT WILL COST THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN MONEY 
Besides possibly saving lives now, suing Trump’s campaign for public health violations will cost them money. Trump cares about money above all else.   Each lawsuit in each city can be used to hound him and the campaign after the election! It will cost his campaign people time and money to defend against this AND it might be a source of cash for the people suing.

2) It will cost Trump’s allies money
Trump isn’t loyal. Campaign allies and supporters might lose power and protection after the election, making them vulnerable AND more willing to roll on the Trump organization to protect themselves financially.

I spoke to Paul DeMuro, one of the lawyers who sued to prevent the Tulsa Rally. He pointed out that the case is not against Trump, it’s against the SMG and ASM Global Parent Inc., that company that ran the venue. HOT TIP for Tulsa residents the case is still open!  PDF Link to Tulsa rally case

3) Multiple laws are broken around events
Don’t just look at violations of pandemic executive orders, look for:     Bribes, payoffs and threats to non-cooperating officials     FEC and Hatch Act violations

4) Trump can’t pardon the staff that broke the state laws
These cases will be state by state, and Trump can’t pardon the campaign people or their local allies from state crimes.

5) It might save lives 
We know that the Trump campaign DOES respond to certain pressures. They might make some changes pre-event; more likely they will AGREE to make changes then break those agreements. (Like we saw in Tulsa with the social distancing stickers when they then removed.) Cities and local activists can use those broken agreements or stiffed vendors for civil cases post election.

I’ve followed the behind the scenes story about the rallies in Michigan, Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida and Nebraska, I KNOW there are public health directors in these states and cities who are angry. There are also attorney generals and individual activists in cities who want to go after the private groups & enablers that have helped the Trump campaign put lives at risk.

No matter their politics, all city officials care about their budget. Whether or not Trump wins, the cities need money for services. Especially now. Why should they extend credit to the campaign for months given his track record?

ACTIONS TO TAKE NOW
 Write your city director of finance or comptroller ask how much it cost and when they will be paid. (Here’s contact info for Stephen Curtiss, Omaha’s Finance Director/Acting City Comptroller  ) Here’s contact info for Dennis Rogero, Tampa’s Chief Financial Officer  and Tampa’s Chief Accountant, Lee Huffstutler, CPA, CGFO. 

Sample text: “How much taxpayer money was spent for all the extra services the city had to cover for the campaign? (For example, what was the cost of sending the police out to bring rally goers out of the freezing cold in Omaha? What was the cost of the Tampa Fire Department being sent for water cooling the crowd? What is the cost to the city for EMT services for the heat strokes? Send them these link to remind them of the Trump campaign’s terrible payment record. Write today!

14 U.S. Cities Still Waiting for Trump Campaign to Pay Nearly $2M in Police, Public Safety Bills

Trump still owes El Paso—a city facing a coronavirus disaster—$569,000 for his 2019 rally

It was so cold his lies froze in the air!

Come for the President, stay because the buses don’t arrive.


Post Election Action: Preparing For When Republicans Lose:

If Republicans lose they will spend the lame duck sessions in cities & states trying to grab power, hide grift and excuse their horrible actions. Now is the time to file FOIA requests on the rallies details. (NOTE: The right will focus only on the laws that do or don’t exist vs guidelines & recommendations because they care more about their liability than your life.)  Things you’ll want to determine:

  • Who pressured whom to get the rallies? (Federal, State & Local)
  • Who ignored public health guidelines AND/OR blocked passing laws that would support the guidelines?
  • Who didn’t push to enforce laws that DID exist that were broken at events? What excuses were made when attendees didn’t follow the laws? What excuses were made for not enforcing laws?
  • Who paid, or didn’t pay, for which services? Were there Sweetheart Deals with elected officials?
  • Were activities AROUND events, that add to the superspreader nature of them, counted? For example,were bars other indoor spaces filled beyond capacity before and after the events? Was there any enforcement of those violations? Why not?
  • What did public health officials recommend about crowds in buses before and after the events? Were they monitoring how long people were exposed to infected people?
    (BTW Georgia Tech COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool calculates there was a 99% chance there were COVID positive people at the Omaha & Tampa rallies.)

If guidelines and recommendations at rallies weren’t followed, because they weren’t laws, it’s time to make them laws. As we saw in Omaha and Tampa, poor planning and irresponsible behavior leads to endangering the lives of people. Yes, those people signed a waiver excusing Trump and this minions, but they shouldn’t be off the hook for the additional costs to the community. (Also based on my early research it’s likely these waivers won’t hold up in court.)

Trump doesn’t care about his people, but he and his grifting buddies DO care about money. Make them pay.

You can push your city elected officials to get the money city taxpayers are owed. Help your local civil lawsuit lawyers and activist groups by gathering evidence of the laws broken and external costs of rallies by tracking what happened before during and after the events.

In this Omaha TV news story they downplay number of people stranded and medical issues at the rally, but they end up explaining how many additional services the city provided to the Campaign in the form of police, medical services and city buses.

Trump’s campaign is notorious for not paying their bills while in office. Win or lose, the Trump Campaign is responsible for their debts. If they lose, the Campaign will claim they are broke. That should trigger the investigation into how the Campaign spent the money, which should lead to exposing multiple FEC violations and crimes. Taxpayers should demand clawing back money that was illegally allocated and have it sent to them. Act now to ensure your city’s debts are on the top of creditor list!

City officials can’t bring back the lives of those lost because of Trump’s reckless decision to hold campaign rallies during the pandemic, but they can make sure his organization pays a huge price with the only thing they actually care about, money.

Barr buys RoboCop Taser Shields for Memphis cops @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on September 24, 2020

Check out this cool new product provided to police departments by Bill Barr under “Operation Legend”  This is a from Memphis. 

I’m still trying to track down the manufacturer,  but until then I’m going with Omni Consumer Products from RoboCop. I mean, just look at the OCP logo on that Taser™ Shield!

Apparently this is part of Bill Barr’s Project Legend that is pumping resources into cities to stop “violent crime.  But in this piece from WREG on September 10th, Josh Spickler with Just City (@joshspickler @JustCity901) calls Operation Legend a “fear-based” campaign stunt.

“Many of these folks in Memphis in particular are not charged with violent crimes,” Spickler said. “In reality, crime is down. Our community still struggles with crime and with violent crime in particular. But that is no reason to invite federal agents on to our streets. That is no reason to raise fear.”

He says address the systemic issues instead.

“If the federal government were serious about helping Memphis with some of its societal problems, including crime, then they would further invest in housing,  further invest in mental health care in our community, further invest in our kids’ education,” Spickler said.

Note: This is NOT a OCP product, Manufacturer TBD.

https://twitter.com/Megandeth/status/1309199497558462464?s=20

This is how Trump’s Federal government is bribing local governments to ensure help when it’s time to put down citizen protests. 

The type of tools the police get shows which policing policies are encouraged.

Remember the Pentagon’s program to gave military surplus to cities for free? Communities could have gotten upgraded communications equipment or biohazard gear, military temporary pop-up shelters for their natural disasters, but that didn’t encourage the military mindset in the police. Then small towns competed with each other to see who had the coolest war gear to take down their 2 meth heads and then intimidate those dirty hippies and uppity black protestors.

In a era of “defund the police” the Feds coming through with money now will be remembered. It will also be used as a lever when the authoritarian Feds send out the word to put down their local citizens.

The message: Go in with MAXIMUM force! Use “Knock their eyes out” rubber bullets, toxic tear gas and heat rays. 

That is the money leverage that is behind the suggested suppression techniques that the AG wants that encourages their policies.

Coming soon: ED 2020!

“You have 10 seconds to comply!”

Postmaster DeJoy was sued by his brother for hiding his mail & millions from him @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on September 15, 2020
Dominick DeJoy, Jr., who sued Louis, accused him of hiding his mail and forging his signature on bank and investment accounts

My  friend Lisa Graves testified Monday in front of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations Hearing on “Postal Update.” 

“I am calling on Mr. DeJoy to be fired or resign,”  government watchdog Lisa Graves told lawmakers on Monday morning, during a briefing on postal operations before the House Oversight Committee. True North Research, the organization Graves heads, found that DeJoy — who runs a North Carolina shipping firm — had been sued by his brother Dominick for allegedly siphoning money from the trucking company founded by their father.  –– Alexander Nazaryan  Yahoo News


Lisa’s an expert on vetting people and she found out that the Board of Governors missed some doozies.  Like this one she uncovered, ( Bloomberg)   

DeJoy Gave $600,000 to GOP After Postmaster Job Opened Up

DeJoy  gave President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee more than $600,000 over eight weeks after the opening was announced, Lisa Graves, executive director of True North Research, which investigates the influence of money on public policy, said in written testimony submitted to a panel of the House Oversight Committee in advance of a hearing Monday

But the part that got my attention was how Louis DeJoy’s own brother sued him for hiding mail and money from him.  From Graves’ research (link)

Louis DeJoy Was Sued by His Brother Who Alleged a Pattern of Financial Deception, which DeJoy Denied

  • Dominick alleged that Louis DeJoy opened three different bank accounts in his name, forging his signature without his permission, and that he did not know these financial accounts–that held millions of dollars–were in his name.
    Louis DeJoy claimed they often signed each other names on documents.
  • Dominick also alleged that Louis DeJoy hid the mailed bank statements for three different bank or investment accounts in Dominick’s name from him for more than five years, from 1994-2000, or had employees of the company hide that monthly mail from him.

Graves goes into detail based on the public information that the Board of Governors could have found if they did a simple Lexis/Nexis search.

Dominick DeJoy, Jr., who alleged that Mr. DeJoy told him certain companies were subsidiaries of the family business they owned jointly but then it turned out that Mr. DeJoy had secretly created companies with a similar name that were held only in his name and the name of another brother, Michael DeJoy, who also denied wrongdoing.

Dominick DeJoy, Jr., swore in his complaint that Mr. DeJoy cheated him out of millions of dollars of business that he helped generate through this secret arrangement, and that Mr. DeJoy was able to do so because he had trained as an accountant and knew how to structure different legal entities.

The DeJoy brothers reached a confidential settlement in 2000. There were never any charges brought for the allegations regarding signing someone else’s name. Nevertheless, the claims alleged are troubling given the position of enormous public responsibility Mr. DeJoy now holds. 

Look, I don’t want to draw comparisons between the DeJoy Family and The Trump Family. Maybe Mary Trump could explain the mind of someone who  manipulates financial documents to screw his brother (and family) out of millions from the family business.  
Raw Story has more details, like how they haven’t talked since 2001.
(“You never call you never write. What, you need stamps? I’ve got a million of ’em!” )

The other big thing I learned from talking to Lisa  about this  is that only the Board of Governors can fire DeJoy.  Congress can’t impeach Postmaster General DeJoy. so what can people do?

Tell the USPS board of governors to fire Louis DeJoy. 
Mail them a Postcard titled Fire DeJoy
at…
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C. 20260
Just kidding. Here are their emails.

Robert Duncan, Chairman: mduncan@inezdepositbank.com
John Barger: barger.jm@gmail.com
Ron Bloom: ron.bloom@brookfield.com
Ramon Martinez IV: roman@rmiv.com
Donald L. Moak: lee.moak@moakgroup.com
William Zollars: DirectorAccessMailbox@cigna.com

I’d suggest you tweet #FireDeJoy at the Board of Governors but none of them are on Twitter! (“We get no revenue from Twitter! Mail us a letter if you want to talk to us!” -BoG probably) 
Here’s the kicker about this  board–they are all Trump approved!  It turns out that the entire board of Governors are new! Some have served less than a year. And Chairman Duncan? Huge McConnell donor buddy.

NameTitlePolitical partyTerm beginTerm expirationNotes
Louis DeJoyPostmaster GeneralRepublicanJune 15, 2020No term limit75th United States postmaster general[16]
Robert M. DuncanGovernor, ChairmanRepublicanAugust 2018December 8, 2025Re-elected as chairman in November 2019[17]
Ron A. BloomGovernor
Democratic[18]August 20, 2019December 8, 2020Chair of Strategy and Innovation Committee[19]
Roman Martinez IVGovernorRepublican[20]August 1, 2019December 8, 2024Chair of Audit and Finance Committee[21]
John McLeod BargerGovernorRepublican[22]August 1, 2019December 8, 2021Chair of Compensation and Governance Committee[23]
Donald L. MoakGovernor[24]Democratic[25]June 18, 2020December 8, 2022Replacing Alan C. Kessler[26]
A boy like that he’ll cheat his brother. Fire that boy and hire another!

UPDATE: Full disclosure, as I said, Lisa’s a friend and I’ve been an advisor to her and did a project for Center for Media and Democracy in the past on journalism and drones. She is working now on The Ben Franklin Project to protect the Post Office. Twitter: @ProjectBenFrank
or Facebook Link

I’m always trying to figure out effective actions activists can take to have an impact. Graves’ research got in front of Congress and made the news, but that doesn’t always translate to the kind of pressure that is needed to force action. There needs to be more pressure on the Board of Governors.

Sadly in America it often comes down to money above all else. Saying “Save Democracy!” is too abstract. I would tell the millions of people who sell & buy items through Etsy and Ebay to write the Board of Governors and tell them “DeJoy is hurting my bottom line and needs to be fired right now.”

(I’m also thinking that the millionaires on the boards of those companies should make some calls to the Board of Governors too since they travel in the same circles. ‘Hey our stocks are going to take a hit this quarter if DeJoy keeps messing with the P.O.”)

If people don’t want to write postcards or send email they could donate to the Ben Franklin Project, because that is where people like Lisa are doing these kind of strategic and tactical actions to save the USPS.

SF kids’ BLM lemonade stand @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on September 7, 2020

On my ride during the 100 degree record breaking heat I stopped at Spreckels Lake Model Yacht Facility in Golden Gate Park to get some water.

I sat under a tree eating my almond butter and raspberry jelly sandwich when a masked little boy approached and asked if I wanted some lemonade. As a rule, when riding my bike I always stop to buy lemonade from kids. I also always over pay. I like to chat with the kids (first to make sure there is no high fructose corn syrup in the mix) and then to find out how business is going.

After he found out they used regular sugar, I asked for the strawberry lemonade. I clipped two dollars to my makeshift social distancing tool and had him put the cup down on the ground.

I told him that after I was done I was going to try the regular lemonade.  Like a an excellent server he noticed when I had finished my first and brought me another. “This one is a special mix I made of strawberry and lemonade!” he proudly told me.

I wanted to take his photo so I asked a nearby parent for permission. She thanked me for asking and I told her I appreciated his mask wearing and politeness.

She told me about the girl who started it and how her friends joined in. In mid-sentence she stopped and said, “Excuse me, I need to keep an eye on one who’s heading to the far side of the lake.”

They sold so much lemonade that day they ran out of cups! Another mother, who I’m betting is in logistics said, “The staff is currently sourcing more cups.”  When I left they were pre-selling lemonade for later delivery.

I told one mother I wanted to write about this because it was yet another example of empathy I was seeing from the residents of San Francisco for people who didn’t look like themselves. I follow RW media and know that in some parts of the country instead of seeing the generous spirit of these kids and their parents it would bedismissed as “Virtue Signaling.”

While most of us are thinking, ‘Aww isn’t that nice!” They would question the kids’ imperfect social distancing or mask wearing in order to flip it on its head with, ‘Those liberals tell everyone what to do but they don’t do it perfectly themselves!!!”

Why do they do this? Maybe they can’t bear seeing people showing empathy for others. They are always looking for a chance to shout “Hypocrite!” Maybe they don’t want to acknowledge that if they don’t even try to do the right thing nobody can attack them for not doing it perfectly.

To me these kids and their parents are showing the “San Francisco Values” that I know, it made me proud of my fellow citizens. In the future I expect great things from these kids because they care for others.

By the way, the lemonade was delicious, especially the special mix!
Live Long And Prosper SF kids!
-Spocko

Make Team Trump Pay For Holding Deadly Rallies, Including the RNC @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on August 24, 2020

Rachel Maddow gave an almost giddy recitation of all the laws that the RNC might break, from Melania Trump’s speech in the White House Rose Garden to using a Federal Building for partisan purposes. But one of the most deadly might be if they allow more than 50 people to be inside at the same time.

The current scuttlebutt is that multiple people will be attending in person at both DC AND North Carolina venues. Depending on the venue local and Federal laws on mask mandates & the number of people allowed at indoor gatherings could be broken. Who will be sent to ensure compliance? The Mayor of D.C.? The Mayor of Charlotte? The Surgeon General?
UPDATE: I CALLED IT! 

WSOCTV-Charlotte 
Several delegates inside the Convention Center could be seen not wearing masks on the floor, which drew the ire of Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris.

“I have just shared concern about the lack of mask-wearing and social distancing in the room at the RNC Roll Call Meeting with the RNC Convention staff,” she said. “I have been assured that they are working hard to address these issues. All attendees agreed to comply with the requirements prior to attending and were informed that these requirements would be enforced.”

Hermain Cain is dead. People who attended the Tulsa rally got infected.
These are both facts. This information SHOULD have BEEN used by the public health community as evidence to prevent ANY more large scale, in-person indoor rallies, especially when there are no-mask requirements and enforcement of social distancing rules. The information DID lead to Pence cancelling an event in Jacksonville, but it could have led to even MORE scientific proof that these types of events are deadly and should be banned NATIONWIDE. Why wasn’t it? I detail the reasons below, and how to stop them in the future. There will be multiple Hatch Act violations coming from Trump Campaign. Will Henry Kerner, at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the agency responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act, be geared up to cite the violators as they make violations? Of course not! He’ll wait for someone to fill out this form exactly then mail it in. Considering the postal sabotage I’d FAX it to them at 202-254-3700. You can alert them via tweet, but I don’t know if the tweeted form to @US_OSC counts.

What if you spot an FEC violation? Is there a FEC SWAT Team that will bust down the doors of the Andrew Mellon Auditorium and rush the stage? Nope! Ellen L. Weintraub @EllenLWeintraub the @FEC chair will wait for your complaint. Details here. In 30-90 days you might get a ruling, usually a warning. Something like, “Don’t do that again!”

The press can point out law breaking violations the moment they happen, but the citing and enforcement process takes months. In real time Trump’s Campaign will probably dispute them (and make a change so they are technically not breaking a law. )

I try to think, write and act strategically so it’s insanely frustrating when I see opportunities for the Democrats to nail Team Trump and their enablers when they break laws, not just norms.

Team Trump always breaks norms, but when they break laws (and we KNOW they are going to based on past performance) BE PREPARED to bust them by anticipating HOW they will try to weasel out of that crime by using another trick, then bust them for that! And then use that action to make news of the multiple bustings.

Rachel comments, “It’s the Trump Era, What does law mean!” It feels like the Dem strategy now is. “Let them break more laws, just vote them out in November!” We need to keep on them for law breaking, because even if we win in November the time between then and January 21 all the usually tricks will be pulled out and adapted to his lame duck status. What actually happens now is that Team Trump tries something, someone pushes back, they figure out some way around it and do it again slightly different. Here’s the process:

  • Legislation: Make up something, get sued, go to court, lose, change the executive order, try again. See Muslim Ban versions 1, 2 & 3.
  • For FEC violations they argue, it’s investigated and they pay a fine, “It’s just the cost of doing business, politics corruption.”
  • Bribes, payoffs, threatening witnesses: They break the law, go to court, lose and a scapegoat gets arrested to take the hit. “We’ll pardon you later if you don’t sing.” (Stone vs. Cohen)
  • Authoritarian acts: The question the wording of laws and actions. “It wasn’t tear gas! They used PepperBalls(™).”

Get ready for more teargaslighting from Kayleigh!
 

Team Trump reuses tactics. As they said on Battlestar Galactica, “All of this has happened before, and will happen again.” But they do learn and adapt–so should we!

HOW THEY AVOID PROOF TRUMP’S RALLIES ARE DEADLY

Because there was no coordinated plan from the Democrats at the time to prove Trump Rallies are deadly superspreader events, we can’t use that for legal and public health pressure to prevent the Trump Campaign from doing it again. As I said, they learn and adapt. They avoid responsibility by using loopholes in different states and situations.

For example, it wasn’t illegal to be maskless inside a Tulsa venue or in Phoenix. It wasn’t illegal to go maskless in South Dakota either, but they held it outside to show they are moving on the issue. But still there was no social distancing, no testing of the whole audience and ONLY the people around Trump like Kimberly Guilfoyle got the 30 minute tests.

I’m hoping some highly-paid Dem strategists or activist group is already thinking like me and doing this, which would be great, but frankly the public health community should have done this to stop in-door maskless, no distance rallies. They didn’t because of pressure from Republican governors and they don’t want to appear partisan. They can say, “”All events like this must be banned, no matter political ideology.”

Why No Rally Pre-Test, No Post Rally Isolation and Testing? Trump Doesn’t Want to Know

The Trump campaign doesn’t want to have proof that people got the virus at an indoor, maskless, no social distancing rally. But state public health could have had proof. It could have been a perfect experiment.
1) Arrange for everyone to be tested–with a fast test– before entry.
2) People who tested negative before the rally would then isolated themselves for 2-5 days post rally to incubate.
3) Post rally testing would be followed by post rally isolation until results are in. 4) If post rally test was positive, the Public health department would be alerted in order to do contact tracing with all the people at the rally.

BTW, this protocol was RECOMMENDED by the Oklahoma Health Department.

“But Spocko,” you lament, “The Trump people weren’t going to cooperate to show you where they got sick! They aren’t going to isolate after a rally! They weren’t going to tell their own Government who they met with before and after they tested positive! And besides, there are so many people at the Rally, contact tracing would be impossible!”

I heard you through my mind mend and I thought the same thing, that is why I wrote to the reporters and camera crews in Tulsa recommending that they ALL do this.


I did this for two reasons. First because I got to talk to several great Tulsa reporters like Whitney Bryen @SoonerReporter, Stetson Payne @stetson__payne, Cory Jones @JonesingToWrite and Trevor Brown @tbrownOKC and I didn’t want them to get sick. Second because if they DID get sick they could have PROOF where they caught it to alert others. Tragically because Oklahoma State Department of Health had no fast testing reporters had to wait days– while possible infected traveled home spreading the virus.

When Oklahoma Watch reporter Paul Monies @pmonies tested positive for COVID after the rally he didn’t have proof where he got it. But It’s not his job to think like a public health person who wanted to prove that the indoor rallies are superspreader events.

BTW, we COULD have hard proof about where Herman Cain caught the virus. If this was a murder mystery using modern CSI and all the data we have on people, we’d know by the end of the episode.

I keep pushing the need to build chriminal, civil and ethical cases and against this group of radicals that violate norms, break laws and don’t care if others die. I can see the future, we need to plan ahead.

Temperature tested before the rally. Masks REQUIRED during testing, then 95% of the people TOOK THEM OFF during the rally. This station COULD have been a COVID testing location, but Trump didn’t want it and OSDH didn’t provide it Image from: Dane HawkinsTV

If I was a news person attending RNC (or a union camera person, I’d demand testing before, isolation afterwards with new testing 5 days after the event. I suggest you tweet this story to MSNBC’s HR dept! (And yes, I would even say the same thing to Fox News and The Apprentice camera operators working the RNC. I’m not a monster!)

Remember that the day of the Tulsa rally, it was announced that some of Trump advance team and Secret Service were infected (we know this because people around Trump get fast tests.) I can anticipate the same will happen at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium and in the venue in Charlotte. What should be the response from the media? 1) Ask the in-person delegates if they were tested. (They might have had temp checks, but everyone should have been tested by now so results are ready before it starts Monday.
2) Ask EVERYONE in attendance at in-person events if they were tested before hand. If not, why not? If they weren’t tested–because they weren’t around Trump–why didn’t they get tested anyway? Because they were asymptomatic? That’s an excuses used to cover made because of lack of testing. Bottom line, Team Trump DOESN’T WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW. The delegates will play along, but what about the workers and media? ASK THEM!
UPDATE: FROM WSOCTV Note they are talking attendees, not convention staff or media

Attendees were asked to practice enhanced social distancing and get tested prior to travel, fill out a pre-travel health questionnaire and participate in a daily symptom tracker. They’re also being tested onsite, have been asked to maintain a 6-foot (1.8-meter) distance from other people and to use face coverings as a condition of participation — though many attendees were seen openly flouting those rules Monday morning. The RNC has also committed to contacting every participant five, 14 and 21 days after the event to check on potential symptoms.

How do you punish the reckless, deadly behavior of the Trump Campaign?
 I spoke to Paul DeMuro, one of the lawyers who sued to prevent the Tulsa Rally. PDF Link to Petition. He told me the case is still open! It’s not against Trump, it’s against the SMG and ASM Global Parent Inc., that company that ran the venue.

He said that it would be difficult to show the direct connection of infection at the event UNLESS someone did exactly as I suggested to the reporters in Tulsa before the event. (Gosh I hope someone in MSNBC’s HR or Tulsa’s News @KJRH2HD Department did!)

If ASM Global gets linked to the outbreak, they will be financial liable and if that happens they will roll on the Trump campaign that broke the protocols that were agreed to before hand. “Hey we put “DON’T SIT HERE!” stickers on every other chair. The Trump Campaign removed them! Watch the video!!!”

I spoke to DeMuro July 30th, right after Cain died, but I didn’t write about it until now. Demuro was very respectful and expressed his condolences to the family. He was clear about pointing out that at that time there was no evidence about where Cain got the virus. He had not heard from anyone from Cain’s estate or family. However, the case is still open! Who sat around him? Might they have proof they were COVID-19 free pre-event?

Make Team Trump pay. Hit them in the wallet.

It’s been proven before how COVID-19 spreads, but hard evidence from this rally could drive nationwide laws banning these events, not just “CDC recommendations.” It’s also important to bust Team Trump FINANCIALLY, because he cares about money first. Then when he goes to a friendly state without a law or a friendly venue like his golf course in a state with a law, like New Jersey, there would be be legal and financial precedent for future cases.usa_today_trump_golf_rallyjpgIt’s important to remember that these rallies spread infections all over the state and country. Maybe you met the criteria! And as they say in the ads, “You might be eligible for financial compensation!”

This week I hope the workers and media attending the events at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium and the Charlotte venue have thought strategically about testing and isolation after the RNC, not just for their own sake, but to help stop Trump’s Campaign from having more potentially deadly in-person events.

Cross posted to Crooks & Liars 

Nebraska’s Gov. Ricketts’ policies are going to kill teachers @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on August 5, 2020

I talked to a teacher today. She lives in Nebraska. It’s one of the states that doesn’t have a mask mandate. Yesterday I learned that Omaha is the largest US city with neither a state nor a local mask mandate.  She’s worried that the schools aren’t prepared to safely reopen for in-person learning. I agree with her.

I’m filled with rage that she is going to be subjected to an unnecessary experiment on the transmission and spread of a deadly virus. We do NOT need another human death data point to prove what the rest of the country has learned over and over again.

I’m trying to channel my anger in a productive way. I want the elected officials in the state to know how long aerosols stay in  in the air. So I’ll post videos showing that.

 

I want them to understand that air handling in rooms makes a big difference on how long aerosols stay afloat and what has to be done to clear aerosols from rooms. See this thread and video.

But what do you do when someone you love lives in a place where the Governor threatens to sue the county health director if they require masks in the state’s most populous county?

How do you help them when their Governor told the local officials in the county with the highest infection rates in the state they wouldn’t get federal COVID-19 money if they required masks?  (Link) (You might remember when Rachel Maddow brought that up about the cases in Dakota County with the Tyson meatpacking plant.)

Ricketts tells local governments they won’t get federal COVID-19 money if they require masks

LINCOLN — At his regular coronavirus press conferences, Gov. Pete Ricketts makes a point of urging Nebraskans to wear a mask when they go to a store.

But when it comes to the state’s 93 courthouses and other county offices, he doesn’t want local officials to require masks. In fact, he’s told counties that they won’t receive any of the $100 million in federal COVID-19 money if their “customers” are required to wear masks.

no masks big circles
Where are the masks? In the staff’s hands. When you control the money you can even get medical professionals to model bad behavior. From Governor Ricketts’ OWN Twitter feed August 4, 2020

“The governor encourages people to wear a mask,” according to his spokesman Taylor Gage, “but does not believe that failure to wear a mask should be the basis for denying taxpayers’ services.” The no-mask mandate has been poorly received in some corners of the state, with officials criticizing the loss of local control. It also runs counter to the advice of public health officials, who have stressed the importance of wearing masks.

In Lincoln, the state’s second-largest city, officials were preparing to require all visitors to wear masks when entering the City-County Building. But the draft rules were promptly dropped when officials were informed that Lancaster County wouldn’t receive CARES Act money if it instituted a mask requirement.

Omaha World Herald  by Paul Hammel June 18, 2020 

I’ve watched dozens of school board and city council meetings around the country discussing mask mandates. I’ve watched helplessly as city council people say they are “following the data” as the reason they won’t vote for a mask mandate. But there is no expert in the room to explain they are looking at outdated or the wrong data for their situation.

I’ve heard school boards quoting studies from Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark & Finland on infection rates in schools to justify in-person schooling.  But they are not comparing the transmission of a virus in societies that wear masks to the US with our anti-maskers.

They aren’t comparing communities that don’t have a high rate of community spread to ones that do. They aren’t doing what Laurie Garrett says must be done to understand the infection rate in their community. First there must be baseline testing and then daily testing with fast results followed by contact tracing.

When they compare reopening the schools in the US to other countries they are also missing a bigger picture. Some other countries had leaders who understood how to use their economic system to protect human lives while they prepared for and fought the virus.

The US COULD have done the same, but instead protected corporate lives & profits. Once THEY were protected the Trump admin stopped seeing the urgency to protect human lives. The phrase “It is what it is” shows that they accept a certain number of people will die.

Ignorance & Incompetence vs Willful Ignorance & Maliciousness

We gave people the benefit of the doubt at certain points in the pandemic. In the beginning we could say, “They didn’t know better.” or “They were doing the best they could with what they understood at the time.” We believed they were acting in good faith.

But now we are seeing people who KNOW how these actions will play out. They can’t say, ‘We didn’t know that people would die!” They will work up multiple rationalizations on why they HAD to push for reopening schools in person. They don’t want to be called irrational immoral monsters because of their decisions and actions.

No one should be running this deadly experiment. What do we do when it’s over? Who do we hold accountable? Who knew better but argued and pushed for this unnecessary experiment to happened?

The group of people I’m raging at now are those who are actively thwarting actions that will save lives. I’m infuriated by those in power doing this, but also angry at those who see this as a experiment to run in their community with the lives of my friends and loved ones.

Walmart mandates masks nationwide, now all retailers should too @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on July 15, 2020

“Starting Monday, July 20th we will require all shoppers to wear a face covering.”

-Dacona Smith, Chief Operating Officer, Walmart U.S., and Lance de la Rosa, Chief Operating Officer, Sam’s Club (July 15th, Walmart press release)

THIS IS GREAT NEWS! This is HUGE!

I could go on about how this should have happened MONTHS ago. I could speculate how their customers will react. But what I will do instead is use Walmart’s action as leverage to GET MANDATED MASK REQUIREMENTS IN ALL OTHER RETAIL STORES IN THE COUNTRY.

Today’s action to stop COVID-19 is to contact all retail stores and ask them:

“When will you be issuing a nationwide mask policy like Walmart?”

If they say they are not, ask why.  Here’s the piece I wrote two months ago on how to get retailers to pass mask requirements even if the state they are in doesn’t require them. I have a lot of good advice, but this Walmart announcement is going to help convince the other national retailers the most.

Tweet, email, post on Facebook and call headquarters. Corporate retail America now has a model from the nation’s largest retailer they can follow.  Their press  release on the mask policy explains why they did it and how they are dealing with customers.

I can guarantee that Walmart’s policy is going to be a huge help to other retailers to implement mandated mask policies. But they need pressure from customers asking for them to do it.

Want To Reopen Retail? Everyone Must Wear Masks