right before an election with a surge in mail-in ballots from voters who dont wanna risk their lives at polling stations.

this is straight up banana republic shit.

https://twitter.com/briantylercohen/status/1291891571558715393
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BREAKING: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy displaces the two top executives overseeing day-to-day operations, and reassigns 23 more postal executives, centralizing power around himself as delays grow at USPS ahead of mostly vote-by-mail election.

https://t.co/Jofm3kpRjl?amp=1
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plus theyre rescinding the state bulk rate for mail in ballots and upping the amount to the normal postage charge.

https://twitter.com/crampell/status/1292083608988065794
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"Postal Service has informed states that they’ll need to pay first-class 55-cent postage to mail ballots to voters, rather than the normal 20-cent bulk rate. That nearly triples the per-ballot cost at a time when tens of millions more will be delivered."

https://t.co/M1beM3o2AY?amp=1
-----


trump allies have also begun looking at executive action to curb mail in voting.

https://twitter.com/anitakumar01/status/1292087516292681728
------
NEW: Last week, aides and advisers began pondering possible executive actions Trump could take to curb mail-in voting — everything from directing the postal service to not deliver certain ballots to stopping local officials from counting them

https://t.co/sEOEaFuSZg?amp=1
----


the fact that republicans are so blatant with voter suppression now...and their voters have no problem still supporting them...and the media still acts like the republican party is a legitimately empowered moderate center right political party while dems are lurking too left/extreme...and some people on the left think both parties (or trump and biden) are the same duopolic evil...iont even know anymore fam...

dems sent a strongly worded letter 2 days ago tho. that should do it.
https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1291487953991151616



how is this shit not the top news story on every major news outlet?

45 put a lackey in charge of USPS in one fell swoop.

---

But hell, what do I know?

Suck my dick Donald

-------------------------------------------------
http://www.soundcloud.com/sectachrome

---

But hell, what do I know?

I live in Colorado which primarily uses mail in ballots. I've never actually mailed one. Only a few other states do this.

Not saying these efforts to suppress aren't a major problem.

-------------------------------------------------
http://www.soundcloud.com/sectachrome

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/06/trump-campaign-sues-pa-over-mail-in-drop-off-sites-for-ballots.html

voter suppression just blatant (and sadly expected).

For unemployment has always been in the works. So he can swoop in and extend it and look like he cares.

�If a fat guy falls in the woods and there is no one around to see it, do the trees laugh?

---

But hell, what do I know?

regardless of when they are actually postmarked includes all of the states that are gonna decide this election.
https://twitter.com/nktpnd/status/1289314433152380928

it doesnt matter if the voter isnt responsible for the delay.

We've never had to put a disclaimer like this on our forecast before but ... well, 2020.

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1292947361950564353

https://twitter.com/A_W_Gordon/status/1293953504764203011

https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1293910181156282371

so many folks warned us about him

its gonna get worse

d

soon as you send that vote in the mail, kiss that shit goodbye.

They will for sure intercept and throw them shits in the garbage.

BOOK THAT.

Clown saying it's gonna be widespread voter fraud...yeah by he and his postmaster.

I'm votin' in person...fuck that.

places and make this the hardest election we’ve ever had.

I’m voting early, in person.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

Who is “they”?

Elected local representatives?

https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1294284824325300225

Don't get me wrong, I get Obama has no power.

But that is not "coming for that ass"


We need Dems to "come for that ass" on ever media channel out there. Running ads. Holding hearings.


Whatever is possible.


We need to raise the bar on what we consider "Action"

They’re coming

People way smarter than me gotta be on this.

Last I heard from him twitter lefties were calling for him to fund USPS

Lol they’re adorable sometimes when they’re not also being annoying

After five draft deferments Donald Trump has finally found a war he wants to fight - against the USPS!

If he had served, he'd know veterans rely on the USPS for voting, medication, and employment.

We take this VERY personally, and so should you.

https://mobile.twitter.com/votevets/status/1293916263945707522

into a prominent campaign issue.

mitt romney wanted to get rid of pbs and obama/dem beat him over the head with it by saying he wanted to kill big bird.

usps is more popular and pbs and obviously used by exponentially more people. there should be some races that are won on this issue alone (you notice repubs arent quick to support trump/dejoy on this).

now whether people are actually able to vote (by mail) to support the usps...thats a different story lol.

This is BIG.


And open letters from Nancy/Chuck and tweets from Obama won't cut it.


Yeah the media are garbage, but Dems gotta get on this.


Are they? What is being done?


What can be done?


What can we do?

link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mail-in-ballots-sent-to-trump-first-lady-in-florida/ar-BB17XUzI

swipe:

Mail-in ballots sent to Trump, First Lady in Florida

Kids in the US are eating more fast food, the CDC reports
Here's why this recession has been different from any other
New York Daily News logoMail-in ballots sent to Trump, First Lady in Florida

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has requested a mail-in ballot for Florida’s Tuesday primary election, despite weeks of criticizing the practice.

Ballots were mailed on Wednesday to both the president and First lady Melania Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort, which Trump lists as his legal address, according to online Palm Beach County elections records. Both previously voted by mail for the presidential preference primary in March, according to records.

Following multiple claims that mail-in voting was unsafe and vulnerable to fraud, Trump changed his mind about the practice last week, at least in Florida.

"Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True," Trump tweeted last Tuesday. "Florida's Voting system has been cleaned up (we defeated Democrats attempts at change), so in Florida I encourage all to request a Ballot & Vote by Mail!"

Meanwhile, Trump's campaign and the GOP are suing Nevada over its new vote-by-mail law. Nevada officials joined several states that plan on automatically sending voters mail ballots. Two states, California and Vermont, moved earlier this summer to adopt automatic mail ballot policies.

Five other states have relied on mail-in ballots since even before the coronavirus pandemic raised concerns about voting in person, but there is no evidence to support Trump's assertion that voting by mail leads to widespread fraud.

Florida voters must request a mail-in ballot in order to receive one.

Statewide in-person early voting began Saturday in Florida while the state continues to grapple with a high number of coronavirus cases, highlighted by more than 8,800 fatalities and at least 550,000 known virus cases since the pandemic began.

Voters are mainly choosing party nominees for Congress and the state Legislature. While both parties have pushed voters to cast ballots by mail in recent elections, this year there's been a stronger push during the pandemic.

More than 4.2 million Florida voters have requested a vote-by-mail ballot, and nearly 1.5 million had been returned by Saturday morning, according to a Department of State website. That compares to nearly 1.3 million cast in the entire 2016 primary election.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

people are up in arms over the mailboxes being removed in some places


maybe it's just that I don't live in the city

but I don't think I've ever in my life used one of those blue mailboxes except in the drive through directly outside of the post office

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Not for anything important though. I used it for Netflix DVD returns. There is a blue box at my Metronorth station. When going to take the train it's just easy to drop the mail at the same time.

I see people drive up to drop mail there even though the post office is a few blocks away. But it's easier to drive to that blue box than the post office which is on a busy street with limited parking.

--
Sometimes you have to look reality in the face and say 'No!'
-Ben (Reaper)

If you need any help, don't. Hesitate to ask.

that shows that a lot of blue leaning mail-in ballot activity originates at these clusters of boxes.

they wouldnt be doing this shit if there wasnt some devious advantage to gain by it (3 months from an election too).

that list of boxes they were removing in montana gave the game away...all in the few blue cities with a massive amount being removed from around montana state (colleges vote liberal).

as far as your question...i used to use the blue mailbox at the shopping center i lived across from. mad convenient and never an issue.

gotta assume theyre even more vital in the city where a lot of people dont have the means to be driving to the post office or wherever the nearest box is.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

the postmaster general (louis dejoy) can be held accountable and even removed by the usps board of governors. there are supposed to be 11 members...9 nominated by the prez and approved by congress.

but the bog had been operating without a quorum and stripped bare for years because 5 of obamas nominees were blocked...by senator sanders.
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/311113-post-office-loses-another-51-billion-bernie-continues-to

so much so...that by the end of 2016...all previous bog members terms had run out and there was only *1* person on the board.

dems dont usually kneecap appointees from a president of their *own* party...not just because of partisanship...but because they usually value functional governance over obstruction based on hardline ideological stances (as does the majority of their base). but you know know...bernie.

currently all 7 of the people sitting on the board are trump appointees (6 will most likely serve out their entire *9* year terms regardless of election outcome). so here we are.

>dems dont usually kneecap appointees from a president of their
>*own* party...not just because of partisanship...but because
>they usually value functional governance over obstruction
>based on hardline ideological stances (as does the majority of
>their base). but you know know...bernie.

Not a DEM.

------------


Gone: My Discogs collection for The Roots:
http://www.discogs.com/user/tomhayes-roots/collection

but gutting the entire bog for a repub president to come in and fill is inexcusable. i dont care what the reasons are (theres a reason he was the only one doing it).

perhaps bernie was trying to block the inevitable privatization of the usps or the loss of jobs

quoted from the same article you posted.

"Sanders is said to have placed the holds at the request of postal unions, who particularly object to former Postal Board Chairmen Mickey Cochrane and James C. Miller."


fucking bernie and his prioritizing people over profit.

"They used to call me Baby Luke....but now? The whole damn 2 Liiiive Crew."

not only did bernie not get a single thing he supposedly wanted but he held the door open for trump to come in and completely staff up an empty board of governors with his authoritarian robber barons who are killing the postal workers hours and trampling over their workforce anyway.

theyre making *massive* backbreaking cuts to the usps now and doing a lot of irreversible damage to the infrastructure while bernie was nuking a dem presidents appointments over potentially modest cuts (that he assumed).

the same horrible political instincts that led bernie to get blown out in the primary are the same ones that led him to facilitate the complete destruction of the usps at a rapidly increasing pace with no moderating forces on the board to hold it up.

once again...this is why you dont obstruct presidents of your own party. plenty of dem disagree with their prez appointments for one reason or another but they dont obstruct them like mitch mcconnell or hold their own party hostage like the freedom caucus. but bernie is all ideology and no forethought.

why wasnt he this vehement about listening to unions when they were objecting to losing their hard fought private health insurance plans over medicare for all?

this story is just starting to blow up and now is the perfect time to dominate the airwaves while a lot of new programming is still on hiatus.

https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1294635827339956226

bringing in dejoy in late sep aint gonna cut it.

bring in all of the fired usps executives and members of the postal workers unions (state and federal) now. theyd be willing to cooperate and have already been blowing the whistle.

I don’t think it would go over well if they hold hearings before passing a stimulus.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

and give dems more leverage in any negotiation.

public hearings have always been dems most potent weapon when done right. much better than allowing narratives to be built by a lazy/disinterested media or the right wing disinfo machine.

the president is on video saying he is holding up help for the american people because he doesnt wanna fund the usps.

americans are already seeing 2-3 week delays including vets who get their life saving medicine from the va.

you think people would turn on dems for going to bat for them/usps?

plus repubs really dont wanna pass the stimulus period. they cant even get their own conference to agree on a package. so who knows if we ever get one anyway (especially with another gov spending/shutdown fight looming in sept).

equally among democrats and republicans.
https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1294663874269138945

this is more of a home run than healthcare for dems.

every single democrat in the country better run on saving the usps. if repubs can say all dems wanna defund the police then dems better damn sure paint the entire gop as the party that wants to kill the mailman.

make it a racial issue too. usps is one of the most diverse large scale employers in the country with a 40% non white workforce (this is part of why a lot of repub think tanks hate the usps). trump wants to kill one of the institutions most responsible for building the black middle class.

https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1294685437362155522
https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1294685438528159749

meanwhile kanye is out here running interference for fascists.

that they have to suppress the votes of *white* people too now?

like niggas literally have to shut down mail sorting machines and pull fucking mailboxes out of the ground to win.

that shit is crazy.

https://twitter.com/EricCortellessa/status/1295836307642556419

usps turned a yearly profit before that bill limited its operational capacity and mandated it prefund 75 years of retirement.

i dont even care that some dems cosponsored and voted for it. they better lay it at the feet of collins and hammer her with it during her race right now.

I saw someone pose this question on twitter.

I get the idea that mail-in ballots should, in theory, increase turnout and that's bad for the GOP.

But there are a lot of GOP states who have mail-in ballots, etc.


Is it really that paper ballots can't be hacked??

If you limit the number of polling places in urban areas it will surely frustrate voters and they won’t stand in those long ass lines. But if they can stay home and vote from the comfort of their couch? That’s a problem.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

he never complained about mail in voting before april.

repubs *bragged* about their mail in voting operation for years. even in 2018...they got out to a big lead in some states because of their early mail ballot returns.

but once states made it easier to request an absentee ballot and dems shifted more to voting by mail in the primaries...there was a big shift in turnout level that clearly spelled good things for dems.

then when dems wrote up a bill in the house to shore up the mail in voting infrastructure for states...trump started complaining that dems had stuff in the bill that would increase voting to levels that republicans would never win again. thats when he really started going hard against mail in voting.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xg8k4d/usps-emails-tell-managers-not-to-reinstall-mail-sorting-machines-postmaster-general-dejoy

Shortly after USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy issued a public statement saying he wanted to "avoid even the appearance" that any of his policies would slow down election mail, USPS instructed all maintenance managers around the country not to reconnect or reinstall any mail sorting machines they had already disconnected, according to emails obtained by Motherboard.

"Please message out to your respective Maintenance Managers tonight. They are not to reconnect / reinstall machines that have previously been disconnected without approval from HQ Maintenance, no matter what direction they are getting from their plant manager," wrote Kevin Couch, Director of Maintenance Operations. "Please have them flow that request through you then on to me for a direction." A subsequent email sent to individual maintenance managers across various regions forwarded that request along with a single sentence: "We are not to reconnect any machines that have previously been disconnected."


The emails confirm what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi relayed from her conversation with DeJoy yesterday, that the USPS's stated "suspension" of these new policies does not mean reversing them. It also sheds additional light on the emptiness of DeJoy's promises from his Tuesday press release, since the USPS is apparently not even willing to take the bare minimum step of plugging machines back in even if they haven't been moved.


The email instruction further underscores that, as one postal worker at a maintenance facility in the northwest that has had multiple machines decommissioned told Motherboard, the damage has already been done. "There are a lot of machines targeted or pulled already."

USPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but yesterday spokesperson David Partenheimer told Motherboard they would not be issuing any further comment about DeJoy's suspension of new policies until after his Congressional testimony. DeJoy is scheduled to testify in front of the Senate on Friday and the House on Monday.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

Been talking with someone that also left the Postal Service and one thing that really sticks out is the speed in which all of this is taking place.

It's always taken a LONG time to remove machines, write new sort plans, change them to machines, test them, etc ... before you'd even consider taking a CIOSS or DIOSS offline.

Let alone trashing parts is dumb, when they should be sent to Topeka to maintain your current fleet of machines.

And so it's been stunning for us to see who and how many people will just move with speed over all of this.

------
“There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus

along with other measures

https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1296627473342517248

be safe out there folks

https://64.media.tumblr.com/2aa1d185b33991142fd3071db9a7fb53/94ef53dd59a94975-f2/s1280x1920/4bfc6067776c2db901d7c09c2373731e53a4986b.png
https://64.media.tumblr.com/a96c69f34b39eba51ec5b880a6663d6a/94ef53dd59a94975-02/s1280x1920/a97a8b57cd94934263b7b0e5033a76fea077a783.png

__________________________________________

I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

at this moment it doesn’t matter how obvious they’re being. What are we going to do?

largely due to anecdotal evidence, though there are articles from mid-August through early September confirming what I'm seeing with regards to small business and mail delays.

My clients are getting their bills later and later, sometimes not at all.
Their payments are then arriving later and later, and sometimes not at all.

Personally I had a bank deposit that was mailed out on 6/4. As of early August it hadn't arrived. We asked the vendors to cut checks which we received and mailed out again mid-August. Bank finally got the initial (now cancelled) deposit on 9/3. Replacement checks were mailed a month ago and STILL aren't there.

-------
so I'm in a band now:
album ---> http://greenwoodburns.bandcamp.com/releases
Soundcloud ---> http://soundcloud.com/greenwood-burns

my own stuff -->http://soundcloud.com/lonesomedstringband

avy by buckshot_defunct