USCE Autumn: Well Actually, This IS somethingpedantic.com

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Kale: May 14, 2010

Nice big Republican and probably Russian propaganda therein charge to try to cast Zelensky as some kind of hustler and support of Ukraine somehow bad because literally of course. Surprised they didn't turn that one into a culture war issue much sooner.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 14:29

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# ? May 24, 2024 22:35

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

First new poll out of Arizona by a major pollster shows that Sinema is incredibly unpopular, but the Senate race is still a toss-up whether she runs or not.

Two asterisks:

1) They only polled Ruben Gallego as the possible Dem nominee. There are other people who have expressed interest too, but Gallego seems like the likeliest candidate.

2) They polled Kari Lake as the Republican candidate, but it might be Mark Lamb, who is the Pinal County Sheriff, or Former Governor Doug Ducey.

Favorability:

quote:

Sinema: 31/47 (43/27 favorability rating with Trump voters and 20/69 with Biden voters.)
Gallego: 35/27

In a 3-way race:

quote:

Sinema: 13%
Gallego: 40%
Lake: 41%

In a 2-way race:

quote:

Gallego: 48%
Lake: 47%

Sinema: 39%
Lake: 42%

https://twitter.com/ppppolls/status/1605923428770406401

# ? Dec 22, 2022 15:08

FizFashizzle: Mar 30, 2005

Speaking of Sinema

https://twitter.com/sambrodey/status/1605926666110259200?s=46&t=ikdfk1jlYAL8x-VOpI-2aQ

Lots of the usual stuff about her abusing low level staff. This one is funny.

quote:

The memo is clear that Sinema doesn�t start work before 8:45 a.m. and staffers should not schedule anything after 8 p.m. In fact, it specifies that the senator is �often not reachable� after 8 p.m. during the week, which would make her highly unusual among U.S. senators.

The document also makes clear that much of Sinema�s time outside of �regular hours� consists of exercising and training for athletic competition. �She wakes up very early to work out, and sleep is very important to her,� it says. The memo also specifies that on weekends, she �needs a later start to accommodate her training schedule,� which entails scheduling no work obligations earlier than 1 p.m.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 15:17

Tiny Timbs: Sep 6, 2008

Setting work boundaries is probably the least objectionable thing about her

# ? Dec 22, 2022 15:20

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Speaking of Sinema, someone from her staff leaked an internal document she sent to her new staffers 3 years ago and it is pretty wild.

The most disturbing revelation is that she wants to have a "room temperature" bottle of water available at all times.

quote:

The Incredible 37-Page Guide for Staffing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema

Aides to the Arizona senator were expected to get her groceries, fix her internet, and learn her very specific preferences for airline seats, according to an internal memo.

Always have a �room temperature� bottle of water on hand for her at all times. Make sure you get her groceries. And book her a weekly, hour-long massage.

These are just a few of the tasks, framed in a dizzying array of do�s and don�ts, that have fallen to the staffers for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), according to an internal memo obtained by The Daily Beast.

The 37-page memo is intended as a guide for aides who set the schedule for and personally staff Sinema during her workdays in Washington and Arizona. And while the document is mostly just revealing of Sinema�s exceptionally strong preferences about things like air travel�preferably not on Southwest Airlines, never book her a seat near a bathroom, and absolutely never a middle seat�Sinema�s standards appear to go right up to the line of what Senate ethics rules allow, if not over.

One section of the staffer guide explains that the senator�s executive assistant must contact Sinema at the beginning of the work week in Washington to �ask if she needs groceries,� and copy both the scheduler and chief of staff on the message to �make sure this is accomplished.� It specifies Sinema will reimburse the assistant through CashApp. The memo also dictates that if the internet in Sinema�s private apartment fails, the executive assistant �should call Verizon to schedule a repair� and ensure a staffer is present to let a technician inside the property.

The Senate ethics handbook states that �staff are compensated for the purpose of assisting Senators in their official legislative and representational duties, and not for the purpose of performing personal or other non-official activities for themselves or on behalf of others.�

Craig Holman, a congressional ethics expert with the nonprofit group Public Citizen, said Sinema�s apparent demands that staffers conduct personal tasks amount to a clear violation of Senate ethics rules, and would typically warrant a formal reprimand by the Senate Ethics Committee.

Sinema spokesperson Hannah Hurley told The Daily Beast that �the alleged information�sourced from anonymous quotes and a purported document I can�t verify�is not in line with official guidance from Sen. Sinema�s office and does not represent official policies of Sen. Sinema�s office.�

Hurley added that Sinema�s office �does not require staff to perform personal errands.�

The Daily Beast did not share the document itself with Sinema�s office, and is not printing it in its entirety over concerns that doing so may reveal who shared the memo. However, The Daily Beast was able to independently corroborate the veracity of the document, which is at least a couple of years old but could still reflect current policies.

The Daily Beast sent Sinema�s office a detailed list of claims and quotes sourced from the memo and intended for publication.

While the memo may not represent the most up-to-date scheduling practices for Sinema, the document reflects long-running guidelines as well as commitments of the senator�s that have remained consistent. Moreover, the memo is clear that, even if Sinema and her chief of staff never signed off on the document itself, both were to be alerted when the senator�s executive assistant had procured her groceries�or completed a number of other tasks.

Sinema rarely does interviews or comments publicly about how she approaches the day-to-day work of being a senator. The scheduling memo offers a rare glimpse into how one of the Senate�s most inscrutable�and most scrutinized�members approaches her job and runs her office.

�Kyrsten works hard, but is protective of her personal time,� reads the very first paragraph of the document, which explains that Sinema has �time-consuming commitments outside of this job.� Those commitments seem to be a reference to her extensive schedule of training and competing in marathons and Ironman events�which are referenced numerous times in the memo�as well as her other job teaching classes at Arizona State University.

�Do not schedule anything, ever, outside of �regular� work hours without first getting Kyrsten�s permission,� the document reads. �She will very, very rarely agree to work outside the regular hours, so only ask if it�s a big deal.�

The memo is clear that Sinema doesn�t start work before 8:45 a.m. and staffers should not schedule anything after 8 p.m. In fact, it specifies that the senator is �often not reachable� after 8 p.m. during the week, which would make her highly unusual among U.S. senators.

The document also makes clear that much of Sinema�s time outside of �regular hours� consists of exercising and training for athletic competition. �She wakes up very early to work out, and sleep is very important to her,� it says. The memo also specifies that on weekends, she �needs a later start to accommodate her training schedule,� which entails scheduling no work obligations earlier than 1 p.m.

Apparently, facilitating Sinema�s athletic schedule was a core duty for her official staff. The memo instructs aides to add Sinema�s races to her calendar and to �consult with her� on how much recovery time she will need afterward. �These activities are very important to her and should be protected,� it says.

Another section laid out in detail Sinema�s eating schedule. �Due to her very high level of activity, she is always hungry and needs to consume a lot of protein each day,� it reads, specifying that she has to eat between 12 and 12:30 p.m., 2 and 2:30 p.m., and 5 and 6:30 p.m. It states Sinema brings her own lunch and snack to work, but that she cannot be scheduled beyond 6:30 p.m. without staff �ensuring she has dinner.�

Sinema�s commitment to athletic pursuits also extended into regular hours. The memo explains that Sinema must be scheduled for two 45-minute physical therapy sessions during the week, even specifying that her work calls could be scheduled during those appointments. She also expected to be booked for a weekly hour-long massage, even if it were in the middle of the legislative workday, according to a former Sinema aide who spoke to The Daily Beast and was granted anonymity to describe the workings of the senator�s office.

Sinema was said to be so committed to her workouts that, ahead of trips, she would make aides check if hotels� swimming pools had the exact right dimensions for her training purposes�a task that could consume hours.

A section outlining how to book Sinema�s air travel, meanwhile, is a veritable minefield of opportunities for a junior staffer to get crosswise with the boss.

�KS does not like to fly,� the memo reads, using the senator�s initials. �It is your job to make her as comfortable as possible on each flight.�

Unsurprisingly, some staffers found these instructions�and Sinema�s zeal in ensuring they were followed to the letter�to not only be onerous but detrimental to the overall staff�s mission to serve constituents, craft policy, and communicate that work to Arizona.

�When I look back, it�s unbelievable the amount of time staffers spent just to accommodate her,� said the former aide.

Capitol Hill has no shortage of bosses with sky-high expectations for staff, or with expectations for the perks they are entitled to as a member of Congress. The Arizona senator is also not the only lawmaker whose very specific instructions to aides have been made public.

In 2017, Politico published an eight-page memo for aides to former Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN) that included almost comically elaborate and detailed instructions for staffing him, such as avoiding talking with him and refraining from �sudden acceleration� while driving him, as well as ensuring he always had a toothbrush, toothpaste, gum, and Kleenex on hand.

In recent years, other lawmakers, such as Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), have been subject to formal House Ethics Committee probes for, among other things, making official taxpayer-funded congressional staff conduct personal errands.

But the apparent level of time and effort from aides that went into ensuring that Sinema�s specific needs and preferences were met�on everything from when she eats to where she sits on a plane�makes her an outlier among members of Congress, especially those not in any position of leadership.

There is, for example, an entire section of the staffing memo devoted to explaining how to meet Sinema�s hydration needs:

quote:
�KS drinks A LOT of water. Make sure to always have a room temperature bottle of water for her, whether she is in the office, at call time, or in someone's car. When someone is picking KS up from the airport, they should ALWAYS have a bottle of water for her� It is your job to remind whoever is staffing KS to have water for her.�

On Capitol Hill, it is common to see even high-ranking lawmakers walk alone to and from their offices, or even stand in line alongside staffers for coffee or lunch. For many, flying in coach is a badge of honor�or political necessity. Occasionally spotting lawmakers doing their shopping at the neighborhood supermarkets is an amusing quirk of life in Washington.

But Sinema is not a typical senator�in many regards. In the last two years, her opposition to key aspects of the Democratic Party�s agenda have proved immensely frustrating to her colleagues. With her relationship to the party frayed�and facing a potentially daunting primary ahead of her 2024 re-election�Sinema announced this month that she would leave the Democratic Party and become an independent.

At the same time, Sinema�s last two years have been especially productive for a relatively junior senator. She was at the center of a bipartisan group that helped broker the $1 trillion infrastructure law and helped shepherd the first meaningful gun reform in decades through Congress. Along with Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Thom Tillis (R-NC), Sinema helped to get legislation codifying the right to same-sex marriage on President Biden�s desk last week.

�As her colleagues on both sides of the aisle will attest to, and her legislative track record makes clear, Senator Sinema is among the most hardworking and effective members of the U.S Senate,� said Hurley, Sinema�s spokesperson, in response to questions for this article.

The senator scrambles the common stereotype of a demanding Capitol Hill boss. She does not, for example, demand aides be accessible at all hours of the day and night, unlike some of her colleagues revealed to be particularly punishing bosses.

Instead, the memo paints a picture of a boss who expects the hours she does keep to be choreographed perfectly. �Kyrsten is very efficient and HATES wasting time,� it reads.

Sinema is described as so hyper-focused on the task at hand that staff need to constantly remind her exactly when to keep moving. �KS focuses wholly on whatever work she is doing at the moment (call time, meeting with constituent, etc) - it is your job to tell her when to transition to the next obligation,� it reads.

But her desire for to-the-minute efficiency for work obligations�compared to the time she set aside for other pursuits�leaves some questions about her priorities.

The document outlines that Sinema should keep all meetings with constituents in her D.C. office limited to a block on Wednesdays. Her former aide told The Daily Beast that Sinema would stack as many constituent meetings as possible, usually no longer than three minutes, into a half-hour period on Wednesdays.

That meant that Sinema likely spent more time during the work week in physical therapy appointments and massages than with constituents. The document also outlines that scheduling �coffee meetings with lobbyists and donors are fine� and to allot those 15 to 20 minutes�a comparatively lengthy stretch of time for a senator routinely scheduled down to the second.

The memo also describes Sinema�s intense fundraising activity, through both in-person events and making calls to donors. �Call time is incredibly important to KS,� it says, stating that Sinema asks for two to four hours of it on the schedule weekly. It also instructs staff to schedule fundraisers for Sinema in D.C. �within the regular work hours.� (�Kyrsten dislikes dinners because they run late and are expensive,� it explains.)

The need to dial for campaign dollars and press the flesh at D.C. receptions is a near-universal chore for members of Congress, and the amount of time Sinema spent fundraising is likely comparable to that of other senators.

But at home, Sinema has been criticized for skirting appearances with constituents while making time for donors and for the business community. In the last year, for instance, significant details about her attitude on key bills were revealed to press by Arizona business leaders who met with her privately.

quote:
"KS has Executive Platinum status on AMERICAN AIRLINES and sometimes receives an automatic upgrade to first class. Do not rely on this; in the event that she does not get upgraded, it is important that she have a seat she is comfortable with.

First choice: KS prefers an aisle seat as close to the front of the plane as possible, except that she DOES NOT want the bulkhead row. Those seats are smaller than regular seats and are crowded. She also doesn't want the seat next to/directly in front of the bathroom on planes where there's a bathroom in the middle of the plane. Look at the seat map for every flight you book, or ask the booking agent about the flight map if you're reserving over the phone.

KS generally prefers to be closer to the front in a window seat, than further back in an aisle. It saves her time getting off the plane earlier.

Next choice: if you can't get an aisle seat, get a window seat using the same guidelines as above. This shouldn't happen often, since you're booking most flights six weeks in advance.

Last resort: Do everything in your power not put her in a middle seat. If the circumstances are such that a middle seat is the ONLY option, make sure you email KS to let her know and also provide some information about other flights she might be able to take instead that have better seating options. Don't book so late that middle seats are all that's left.�

In at least one small respect, however, staffing Sinema isn�t so intense. "Call her Senator when referring to her to a third party,� the memo reads. �When speaking directly to her, call her Kyrsten."

https://twitter.com/MEPFuller/status/1605928960570757120

Edit: Slightly beaten!

# ? Dec 22, 2022 15:23

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

FizFashizzle posted:

Speaking of Sinema

https://twitter.com/sambrodey/status/1605926666110259200?s=46&t=ikdfk1jlYAL8x-VOpI-2aQ

Lots of the usual stuff about her abusing low level staff. This one is funny.

christ, what a piece of poo poo. i am so glad i have fetterman and casey as senators because they actually mostly a give a poo poo and do good.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 15:35

Main Paineframe: Oct 27, 2010

It seems like the "George Santos lied about basically everything on his resume" scandal isn't just stopping at his resume - it's extending to much of his actual biography too.

First of all, he claimed his maternal grandparents were Ukrainian Jews who fled Ukraine to escape communism and then fled Europe to escape Nazism, changing their religions and even their last names in the process. But an examination of historical and genealogical records indicates that his maternal grandparents were born and raised in Brazil, and that the family had used that same last name for generations. Additionally, he only started claiming Ukrainian descent after Russia invaded Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1605745601542356992

It doesn't end there, either. He's put a lot of emphasis on being an "openly gay" candidate who's "never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade", but failed to mention that he divorced his wife two weeks before he launched his campaign.

Normally, I wouldn't make a big deal about this one. People can discover stuff about themselves at any age, and there's been plenty of genuine gay men who've entered heterosexual marriages for one reason or another. But that kind of flies in the face of his claims that he's been out-and-proud for a decade and never felt pressured. And most importantly, this motherfucker has been caught in so many lies at this point that I honestly wouldn't be surprised if an article drops tomorrow saying his name isn't actually George.

https://twitter.com/MarisaKabas/status/1605930806572204034

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:13

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

The Jewish, veteran, business, and parents lies were pretty wild. Especially when all of them were combined coming from one person.

But, lying about being gay and divorcing your wife two weeks before you start your campaign takes this story/guy to an all-time great level.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:16

Randalor: Sep 4, 2011

How do Sinema and MTG feel about each other? The government could probably pay off a decent chunk of the debt by pitting them against each other in the wrestling ring and putting it on PPV.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:20

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

I think this whole thing is a huge indictment of the NY Dems� failure to even try to look into this guy

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:21

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

None of this is at all likely to get him kicked out of congress, is it? If so, who would appoint his replacement?

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:37

Scipiotik: Mar 2, 2004; "I would have won the race but for that."

FlamingLiberal posted:

I think this whole thing is a huge indictment of the NY Dems� failure to even try to look into this guy

Oh for sure, as an investigator at a law firm this guy's history would have been unraveled in less than a day of work.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:38

7c Nickel: Apr 27, 2008

FlamingLiberal posted:

I think this whole thing is a huge indictment of the NY Dems� failure to even try to look into this guy

They did, and they put out a release with the stuff they found and no one in the media cared at the time.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:38

evilweasel: Aug 24, 2002

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

None of this is at all likely to get him kicked out of congress, is it? If so, who would appoint his replacement?

nobody. representatives can only be replaced by special election.

and given how narrow the R majority is, there's no way in hell they let him resign

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:38

Mooseontheloose: May 13, 2003

FlamingLiberal posted:

I think this whole thing is a huge indictment of the NY Dems� failure to even try to look into this guy

I am not sure if its the NY Dems or the firm they likely used on the campaign.

It might also be on the candidate for setting what to look or not look at.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:41

Cranappleberry: Jan 27, 2009

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

The Jewish, veteran, business, and parents lies were pretty wild. Especially when all of them were combined coming from one person.

But, lying about being gay and divorcing your wife two weeks before you start your campaign takes this story/guy to an all-time great level.

They may have just been in a dead marriage or have been separated for a long time and never bothered to get divorced or whatever.

I'm not saying he definitely didn't lie, or that he didn't get divorced for the campaign, just that it's bad to make these assumptions even if he lied about a bunch of other stuff.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:51

Bel Shazar: Sep 14, 2012

Cranappleberry posted:

They may have just been in a dead marriage or have been separated for a long time and never bothered to get divorced or whatever.

I'm not saying he definitely didn't lie, or that he didn't get divorced for the campaign, just that it's bad to make these assumptions even if he lied about a bunch of other stuff.

It is the highest of virtues to assume the very worst about anyone who identifies as a republican.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 16:57

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

7c Nickel posted:

They did, and they put out a release with the stuff they found and no one in the media cared at the time.

Makes sense. New york media far too busy talking about whatever bright idea eric adams had on the toilet yesterday I'm sure

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:04

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

evilweasel posted:

nobody. representatives can only be replaced by special election.

and given how narrow the R majority is, there's no way in hell they let him resign

Any chance any of this could get him arrested?

such a christ-awful indictment of our entire society that this guy is just gonna . . . get away with it

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:04

selec: Sep 6, 2003

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Any chance any of this could get him arrested?

such a christ-awful indictment of our entire society that this guy is just gonna . . . get away with it

�for what? It�s not illegal to lie on your resume. This country is built on it!

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:08

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

selec posted:

�for what? It�s not illegal to lie on your resume. This country is built on it!

He's wanted in Brazil for fraud. Maybe we can work out an extradition.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:12

lobster shirt: Jun 14, 2021

i think its still an open question about whether he lied on any of his FEC filings, like i think i read somewhere that he claimed charitable giving to organizations that either don't exist or have no record of him ever having anything to do with them. so he might still get in trouble! just not for making stuff up about his life.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:13

Paracaidas: Sep 24, 2016; Consistently Tedious!

In today's edition of owngoals and foot shootery:
https://twitter.com/ddayen/status/1605958070093238272

The backstory, from February:

quote:

Oshkosh Corporation Seeks Non-Union Labor to Build Postal Trucks
The controversy over locating a manufacturing plant could impact upcoming postal legislation, White House climate goals, and a high-profile Senate race.

BY DAVID DAYEN FEBRUARY 14, 2022

USPS awarded a ten-year contract worth up to $10 billion to Oshkosh Defense, a subsidiary of the Oshkosh Corporation, to build postal vehicles.

This afternoon, the Senate begins debate on the Postal Service Reform Act, a bill that once and for all would end the absurdity of the U.S. Postal Service, unlike any public agency or private business, having to prefund retirement benefits 75 years out. Between that and enrolling postal retirees in Medicare, the bill would save the agency about $50 billion over ten years, while also mandating delivery performance standards. The bill earned 344 votes in the House, and the Senate companion has 14 Republican co-sponsors, so it�s likely to pass.

But a separate fight over a contract for the Postal Service�s next-generation delivery vehicles (NGDVs), and where they will be built, could affect this legislation, as well as economic development in the Midwest, the Biden administration�s climate goals, and a high-profile Senate race in Wisconsin.

A year ago, the USPS awarded a ten-year contract worth up to $10 billion to Oshkosh Defense, a subsidiary of the Oshkosh Corporation, founded in 1917 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The defense unit would build the new fleet of postal vehicles, with an initial order of 5,000 trucks that could ramp up to 165,000.

The Biden administration envisioned this as a fleet of zero-emissions electric vehicles, part of its green-energy procurement strategy. By 2035, the U.S. fleet is supposed to be all-electric.

But the Postal Service, an independent agency that doesn�t have to abide by the executive order, decided to have Oshkosh deliver gas-powered trucks to replace 90 percent of one of the largest vehicle fleets in the world. Only 10 percent would be electric.

At a USPS Board of Governors meeting this week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy blamed the decision on the agency�s �dire financial condition.� Of course, staying with inefficient gas-powered vehicles, with an estimated fuel economy of only 8.6 miles per gallon when the air-conditioning�s running, would cost billions more to fuel in the long run. For the up-front investment, the Build Back Better Act earmarked $6 billion for postal electric vehicles, but that bill has stalled.

The Oshkosh vehicles would benefit from a loophole by weighing just enough to count as a �heavy-duty truck,� enabling them to have lower fuel economy standards than an SUV. Even so, the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality have argued that the USPS decision violates federal environmental laws. The fight could end up in court. And it could also bear on DeJoy�s future as postmaster general, even though he maintains the support of a majority of the Board of Governors.

Oshkosh Defense plans to move the facility producing the vehicles to the anti-union state of South Carolina.

But separate from this is another issue: Oshkosh Defense plans to move the facility producing the vehicles to the anti-union state of South Carolina, away from the United Auto Workers�organized employees of Oshkosh in northeastern Wisconsin.

Oshkosh told UAW workers for years that the USPS contract would not be through Oshkosh Defense, whose facilities are based in Wisconsin. When it was awarded to the defense unit, though, they assumed it would be located in their community. �When this first came out, the feedback from our members was, �Hey, ten-year contract, this will get me to retirement,�� said Tim Jacobson, a painter and chief steward of UAW Local 578.

Ultimately, that plan changed. Members had to find out through the media that Oshkosh was outsourcing the work to South Carolina. �Once it got awarded to Oshkosh Defense, we weren�t told the complete facts,� said Bob Lynk, president of Local 578.

Both Lynk and Jacobson testified before the USPS Board of Governors last week, urging them to work with Oshkosh Defense to keep the plant in Wisconsin.

In recent statements, Oshkosh has said that the facility where it�s planned to do the work, a former Rite Aid warehouse in Spartanburg, South Carolina, �ranked highest in meeting the requirements of the NGDV program.� At the same time, Oshkosh has said that it �could not identify an existing building that was viable� in Wisconsin for the project, and just last week the company said �our existing facilities in Oshkosh are fully occupied.�

But workers told the Prospect that two facilities in Oshkosh are lying empty right now. Union membership has been cut in half over the past decade, and shifts and hours have also been cut, so there�s a workforce that�s available and eager to build the truck. Meanwhile, the new plant in South Carolina wouldn�t be up and running until next spring.

Lynk, the local president, said that Oshkosh has claimed they need a building big enough for an in-house warehouse to store parts, but that has never been how the company has operated. �We�ve built trucks here for 100 years, 84 of them unionized,� Lynk said. �We can build in our South plant facility. But that building would have to be UAW workers.� The Spartanburg facility would not, and the federal contract does not stipulate that the vehicles must be built with union labor.

Union steward Jacobson added that he�s been painting prototype parts for the vehicles, and tool and die makers have been creating some of the tooling. But all of that would be shipped to South Carolina. A technical center for the NGDV program, located in Oshkosh, will employ around 100 workers. But the plant would have over 1,000, and because other businesses would supply the truck factory, the economic impact could be three to four times greater than that of the plant itself.

Meanwhile, Oshkosh Corp. received $8 million in state tax credits four years ago to keep their headquarters in the city.

Labor leaders argue that the USPS contract with Oshkosh was signed on the basis of the current unionized workforce.

The issue has spilled out into a critical Senate race in Wisconsin. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who is up for re-election in November, lives in Oshkosh, but has refused to get involved in the controversy, arguing that Oshkosh knows best where to locate the plant. �It�s not like we don�t have enough jobs in Wisconsin,� Johnson said. Not surprisingly, his political opponents have been pummeling him with those words ever since.

�You�re talking about a $10 billion investment in a community of 60,000; this would be transformative,� said Tom Nelson, Outagamie County executive and one of several Democrats vying to face Johnson in November. �The way this industry works, it has dozens of companies in its supply chain, a lot of them in the I-41 corridor, an area that covers 30 percent of the state�s population. What�s really frustrating here, people like Ron Johnson, even though he�s a self-touted manufacturer, wouldn�t know economic development if it bit him on the back end.�

All four major Democrats running in the August primary have condemned Johnson�s comments and asked Oshkosh to keep the plant in Wisconsin. Johnson�s Democratic counterpart in the Senate, Tammy Baldwin, has also been vocal. But Nelson, who faces three main competitors in August�s primary, is calling for an amendment to the postal reform bill to ensure that the Oshkosh contract honors its current collective-bargaining unit and stays in Wisconsin.

That�s not likely to happen, because the bill�s bipartisan agreement, which took over a decade to negotiate, is precarious, and Republicans would be liable to oppose any amendment that improved the labor situation. Democrats have an interest in keeping Johnson in the spotlight, however. Since his comment about having enough jobs in Wisconsin, he�s gone on local radio to do damage control, accusing Democrats and labor of working to �kill the Oshkosh contract.� But Johnson also said he would work with the UAW in Oshkosh, a sign that he�s feeling the heat locally.

Labor leaders argue that the USPS contract with Oshkosh was signed on the basis of the current unionized workforce. �The contract was awarded to Oshkosh, off the backs of our workforce, our workmanship, our on-time delivery,� said Bob Lynk. �They pushed our facilities. They get the contract and then tell everybody, �We�re doing it in South Carolina.��

Oshkosh, which didn�t respond to a request for comment for this story, has said that it could build the vehicles all-electric if asked. Its contention appears to be more with the cost of union labor. Nelson argued that this is an effort to split the �blue-green coalition� that has been at the heart of efforts to ensure the energy transition brings with it good-paying jobs.

�They�re trying to take the environmental issue and drive a stake through the labor movement,� Nelson said. �They are using this to divide Democrats from labor.�

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:17

Prism: Dec 22, 2007; yospos

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Speaking of Sinema, someone from her staff leaked an internal document she sent to her new staffers 3 years ago and it is pretty wild.

The most disturbing revelation is that she wants to have a "room temperature" bottle of water available at all times.

Edit: Slightly beaten!

I want to know what's wrong with this. There are way worse and weirder things in this very list than 'please keep a bottle of water out of a fridge for me'.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:42

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Prism posted:

I want to know what's wrong with this. There are way worse and weirder things in this very list than 'please keep a bottle of water out of a fridge for me'.

Room temperature water is scientifically the worst water for drinking.

Cold is better and even hot water can be used to make delicious tea or coffee.

I would not trust anyone who said they needed to "wait for it to warm up" in response to getting a bottle of water.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:46

Hawkperson: Jun 20, 2003

Prism posted:

I want to know what's wrong with this. There are way worse and weirder things in this very list than 'please keep a bottle of water out of a fridge for me'.

Room temp water is better for your voice because it�s a mild stressor for your vocal folds to get all cold and then immediately start rubbing together while you talk. politicians talk a lot so it just made me think a voice coach or speech therapist had told her to drink it instead of cold water to make sure her vocal quality remains pleasant while she says all her rear end in a top hat stuff. So yeah, not very weird imo

Edit: on googling I�ve learned room temp water is one of those things �wellness� types think heals your soul or whatever so it probably is evidence of Sinema being all woo and bizarre after all, mb

Hawkperson fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Dec 22, 2022

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:48

Prism: Dec 22, 2007; yospos

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Room temperature water is scientifically the worst water for drinking.

Cold is better and even hot water can be used to make delicious tea or coffee.

I would not trust anyone who said they needed to "wait for it to warm up" in response to getting a bottle of water.

Dunno about her, but I broke a couple teeth as a teen and had them put back together. They are now real cold sensitive. I don't like drinking fridge-cold water either and I don't put ice in my drinks - it hurts if I drink it any way but tiny sips. I wouldn't even have noticed it if you hadn't pointed it out; there are way more oddball things in that report.

Coffee, on the other hand, is always good.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:52

Goatse James Bond: Mar 28, 2010; If you see me posting please remind me that I have Charlie Work in the reports forum to do instead

it also improves retention of that water - you would prefer not to give cold water to a dehydrated person - but that's probably not a dire concern during senatorial office hours

and anyway my own solution is to just drink arbitrarily large amounts of cold water

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:52

Randalor: Sep 4, 2011

I've also been told by people who work out frequently that room-temperature water was better to drink after working out. Dunno how true that actually is, but if she spends as much time at the gym as the memo implies, it's possible she has the same mindset.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 17:55

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

Optimizing the temperature of your drinking water is aughts-era Bodybuilding.com forums stuff, basically just evidence that she's been like this forever. Now I'm wondering what her supplement stack is and how many friends she's lost over it

# ? Dec 22, 2022 18:02

lobster shirt: Jun 14, 2021

cold water gives me indigestion

e: perhaps sinema has this problem as well. i sympathize!

lobster shirt fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Dec 22, 2022

# ? Dec 22, 2022 18:07

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

the_steve posted:

I can't remember where I read it, but I remember this one story not long after they started putting Kylo Ren actors into the park, he was doing his bit and the woman he was "interrogating" kept doubling down on the "Harder daddy" act until he couldn't take it anymore and stormed off.
IIRC, the OP was trying to make Kylo sound like the rear end in a top hat for being "unprofessional" about it.

I also recall hearing stories of really gross human pubic hairs stalking cast members playing Rey across the park and just being generally creepy to them or harassing them because the fictional character from the movie they were portraying made them mad and they can't distinguish fantasy from reality.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 18:37

Gumball Gumption: Jan 7, 2012

None of that seems that odd to be honest when you remember that Senators are primarily figureheads who are having everything run by their staff. The same reason someone like Feinstein can function without issue while having dementia, it's 90% her staff managing everything.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 18:47

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

Gumball Gumption posted:

None of that seems that odd to be honest when you remember that Senators are primarily figureheads who are having everything run by their staff. The same reason someone like Feinstein can function without issue while having dementia, it's 90% her staff managing everything.

This was my thought too at first but , wait, no, gently caress that, the problem is she's treating being a senator like a part time job. I work longer hours than that and all I'm trying to do is get people out of jail.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 18:52

HPanda: Sep 5, 2008

Not to say there�s not bad stuff in there, but the Sinema article seems to keep focusing back to the least objectionable stuff. Like okay, she doesn�t want to fly Southwest and really doesn�t like middle seats. She likes to keep a bottle of water on hand. But the article makes it sound like she�s terrible for that for some reason.

She�s terrible for other reasons. Focus on those things.

Like was said, setting work life balance boundaries is like the most relatable thing about her. True, my work life balance is way worse at my much shittier job, and I don�t represent anyone, but giving her crap about that specifically feels like crab bucket mentality.

No, she�s lovely because she helps out the lawmakers who want to take away work life balance from everyone else. That�s the lovely aspect of that. Not setting the boundaries itself.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 19:15

Gumball Gumption: Jan 7, 2012

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

This was my thought too at first but , wait, no, gently caress that, the problem is she's treating being a senator like a part time job. I work longer hours than that and all I'm trying to do is get people out of jail.

I mean, I definitely think that's part of the problem but I don't think it's terribly unique among Senators. She's definitely not the only one booking personal appointments in the middle of the day, she's not the only one teaching classes, nothing about the water or the plane seat is very shocking if you've been involved with those sort of logistics for people at her level. Bernie is a lot less picky but it's not like he doesn't have explicit instructions for his staff and travel arrangements.

She's a really bad Senator but nothing in that article is surprising for someone who has their life scheduled like Senators do. I mean, one of the things they outline is call time and if you asked the party, if she's hitting her call time she's actually doing the most important job she could be doing. You're staff can handle a lot of stuff but call time and glad handing is one of the number one jobs of candidates/politicians in office.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 19:19

yronic heroism: Oct 31, 2008

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

First new poll out of Arizona by a major pollster shows that Sinema is incredibly unpopular, but the Senate race is still a toss-up whether she runs or not.

Two asterisks:

1) They only polled Ruben Gallego as the possible Dem nominee. There are other people who have expressed interest too, but Gallego seems like the likeliest candidate.

2) They polled Kari Lake as the Republican candidate, but it might be Mark Lamb, who is the Pinal County Sheriff, or Former Governor Doug Ducey.

Favorability:

In a 3-way race:

In a 2-way race:

https://twitter.com/ppppolls/status/1605923428770406401

Sinema probably does get votes from �I hate both parties� people and temporarily embarrassed Republicans, which I guess is 13 percent of voters. I think most of the Democratic support left with her will keep evaporating once name recognition of Gallego (or whoever) goes up.

yronic heroism fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Dec 22, 2022

# ? Dec 22, 2022 20:54

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

U.S. life expectency dropped for the second time in nearly 50 years in 2021.

The average was dragged down by people over 65 dying earlier due to covid and a big increase in people under 65 dying from drugs. 2/3 of all drug deaths in the U.S. were from fentanyl - the first time a single drug has been responsible for such a large percentage.

Heart disease related to diet and exercise continues to be the biggest source of early death in Americans.

Alcohol and liver-related disease has replaced pneumonia in the top 10 biggest causes of early death as well.

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1605998865173385225

quote:

U.S. life expectancy continued its steady, alarming decline in 2021, as covid-19 and illegal drugs took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans, according to final government data released Thursday.

Even as some peer nations began to bounce back from the toll of the pandemic, life expectancy in the U.S. dropped to 76.4 years at birth, down from 77 in 2020, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. That means Americans can expect to live as long as they did in 1996 � a dismal benchmark for a reliable measure of health that should rise steadily in an affluent, developed nation. (In August, using preliminary data, the agency had pegged life expectancy in 2021 at 76.1 years.)

Notably, every age group in the U.S. � from young children to seniors 85 and older � saw a rise in its death rate. Men, women and most racial groups lost ground. In some previous years, even when overall life expectancy declined, some groups advanced.

�This one, it�s sort of across-the-board bad news,� said Eileen Crimmins, a professor of gerontology at the University of Southern California who studies life expectancy around the world. �We�ve gone since 1996 without improving. That�s incredible, given how much we�ve learned about medicine, how much we�ve spent.�

The government reported last week that health care spending in 2021 reached nearly $13,000 per person.

The data reinforces a trend line of American longevity declining relative to that of its peer nations. A child born in the United States in 2019, for instance, could expect to live to 78.5, according to the World Health Organization, while a Japanese child born that year had a life expectancy of 84.5, Belgians lived to 81.4 and Swedes lived to 82.4.

In all, 3.46 million people died in the United States in 2021 � 80,502 more than the previous year. Covid killed 416,893, and drug overdoses were responsible for 106,699 deaths � slightly fewer than the more than 107,000 the government had cited based on preliminary data. At birth, women could expect to live 79.3 years in 2021, and men could expect to live to 73.5 � life spans that declined sharply from 2020.

In 2021, heart disease and cancer, the two leading causes of death in the United States, saw little change. The top ten causes of mortality remained the same except for flu and pneumonia, which dropped from the list as parts of the U.S. population wore masks to protect against the coronavirus. Diseases of the liver, often related to alcohol use and viruses, replaced flu and pneumonia.

The 2021 decline was the second consecutive drop for the United States and the continuation of a trend that began in the middle of the last decade, when �deaths of despair� � those caused by drug overdoses, suicide and alcoholism � rose markedly.

It also contrasted with rebounding life expectancy rates in some other nations as they brought the covid pandemic under greater control with vaccines and masking. A study of 29 countries published in August in the journal Nature Human Behavior found that eight experienced significant life expectancy �bounce backs� in 2021.

They included Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, France and other mainly Western countries, The United States was among the 12 where life expectancy continued to drop. They included Germany, Chile, Bulgaria, Greece and Estonia, among others.

�With the vaccine available, and other pandemic control measures, a lot of other countries did recover,� said Steven Woolf, a professor of family medicine and population health at Virginia Commonwealth University�s School of Medicine. �The fact that it has happened in other countries tells us it�s possible to do.�

But few other countries faced hundreds of thousands of deaths from covid, coupled with an unrelenting drug overdose epidemic largely caused by the illicit synthetic opioid fentanyl. Drug overdoses rose by 14 percent last year and have quintupled in two decades. Those overdoses took more lives last year in every age group 25 and over, and in every group except Asian men.

Fentanyl did about two-thirds of the damage. The Drug Enforcement Administration reported Tuesday that it had seized 379 million doses of fentanyl in 2022, enough �to kill everyone in the United States,� according to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. Still, authorities estimate they are catching just 5 to 10 percent of the illegal fentanyl that crosses the southern border.

Deaths from methamphetamine and cocaine also rose sharply last year. Experts have speculated that fentanyl may be implicated in some of those fatalities because it is laced throughout the drug supply, causing some users to ingest it unknowingly.

Magdalena Cerda, a professor in the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said people who believe they�re consuming cocaine or methamphetamine may not be taking precautions. such as having naloxone, an antidote to opioid overdoses, or fentanyl test strips on hand.

�People think they�re taking just cocaine or just methamphetamines, but they�re taking fentanyl as well,� she said.

Many people who die of overdoses have multiple drugs in their systems.

�This is certainly heartbreaking,� said R. Kathryn McHugh, chief of psychology at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts. �This is 106,000 people with families who aren�t here anymore.�

The data show that fentanyl appears to be replacing heroin, a much less powerful opioid. Deaths from that drug fell 32 percent over the previous year, the government reported.

As they have for years, experts cited the anomalies of life in the United States as they tried to explain the country�s declining life expectancy. These include the lack of universal health care, the huge number of deaths from gun violence, the widening income gap between rich and poor, consumption of unhealthful foods, poor government support for housing and child care and many other social and economic factors.

�My contention is that there are choices we make as a society, and policymakers make in the United States, that other countries aren�t making,� said Woolf, the VCU professor.

McHugh and Cerda called for stepping up treatment efforts to combat the ever-worsening drug epidemic by boosting access to medications such as buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone. They also said the U.S. must expand the use of harm reduction techniques by widening distribution of naloxone, syringe services and fentanyl test strips.

�Many of the tools that we need, we already have,� McHugh said. �We just need to be deploying them better.�

# ? Dec 22, 2022 21:04

Sir Kodiak: May 14, 2007

7c Nickel posted:

They did, and they put out a release with the stuff they found and no one in the media cared at the time.

Do you have a link to the release or any information on it? As in, what exactly they put out a release on, did they run advertisements on it, etc? I'm not saying I don't believe you, just curious about the details, and doing a search for it at this point is completely dominated by recent articles.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 21:11

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# ? May 24, 2024 22:35

Discendo Vox: Mar 21, 2013; We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

Sir Kodiak posted:

Do you have a link to the release or any information on it? As in, what exactly they put out a release on, did they run advertisements on it, etc? I'm not saying I don't believe you, just curious about the details, and doing a search for it at this point is completely dominated by recent articles.

At a minimum, the below material from the DCCC (a lot of the stuff in the report wasn't known until after the election).

https://dccc.org/the-case-against-george-santos/

# ? Dec 22, 2022 21:36

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USCE Autumn: Well Actually, This IS somethingpedantic.com

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