editor: fred miller August 20, 2023 #58/8/23
Hello,
I picked up some erroneous info-not my fault-and put it in last issue, about the celebration of the upper vista garden. This is the straight skinny... There will not be breakfast provided for everyone! Yeah I know, crappola, what a disappointment! But for the docents on the Bisbee Bloomer Garden Tour September 2 (see below), they will be well fed and be listening to good music in many of the gardens. Yea for volunteers!
About the trumpie indictments, Xakota Espinoza, a spokesperson for the Georgia-based voting rights group Fair Fight has said it succinctly. “The former president’s election denial conspiracies birthed a new anti-democratic movement that produced anti-voter legislation, threats to election workers, and undermined faith in democracy with lies and false allegations,” Espinoza said. “This indictment should serve as a warning to future anti-voter politicians that the will and voices of Georgia voters cannot be silenced, and there is no place for election-denying conspiracy theorists in our democracy.”
The work of Ali Morse, myself, and others in our county in opposition to the $1million grant to Recorder Stevens is a small part of combating elections conspiracy claims. As detailed below, this grant is a solution in search of a problem. There have been no problems with ballot paper in our county, Arizona, or the nation. It is a made up issue that stems from a small number of conspirators trying to undermine faith in elections. They need to be soundly disputed and defeated wherever their wrong headed views are heard , because at base, election deniers are anti-democratic authoritarians.
A few of us are thinking about doing a postcard mail program to registered independent voters. Would entail peeps writing out a message on a postcard and mailing. There are 27,000 indies in the county. Will likely send to certain precincts at different times not all at once. Would last several months, probably a postcard written every 2-3 months or so. Will not be affiliated with any candidate. In the talking stage about where to get dough for the postcards, volunteers, postage, logistics. If you are interested drop a line and we'll keep you posted. bisbeewire@gmail.com.
So this is dumb thing to ask, but if you aren't reading the Wire would you please unsubscribe. Yeah I know if they don't read how they gonna know...But I'm trying to clean up my mail list. If you get the Wire at two emails, please tell me. Currently I have 807 subscribers with an open rate of about 55%-60%. That's actually a good rate, however it is only a bit over half the subscribers. I've done some cleanup through mailchimp, and can't do much more now than ask.
Haven't done this for awhile....If you like or don't like anything in the Wire, I'm the guy to contact cause I am totally responsible for the content. This is, as you may see, an opinionated newsletter, not a 'both sides' thing.I've been doing this for seven years and hope to for several more. I rely on people referring other folks to subscribe to the Wire, I hope you keep doing it. If you want to unsubscribe, either check the box at the bottom or go to bisbeewire.com and unsubscribe.
Next issue will be focused on the Bisbee Economy. Hopefully out in a week or so.
fred
...............BISBEE STUFF................
MEET REPS FOR MUCH OF THE COUNTY While these are not reps for Bisbee/Douglas, they are influential in lawmaking for Sierra Vista and the rest of county. What: "Community Connect" with elected Republicans Lupe Diaz, Gail Griffin, and David Gowan When: This Tuesday, August 22nd at 5:00 pm Where: Herald/Review press office (located on 102 Fab Ave, Sierra Vista ......... SCIENCE CAFE IS TALKING WATER Whoops missed this one, but go to the site cause stuff is happening. Innoculate yourself with Science! Sunday August 20, 3-5, 519 Melody Lane. More info here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/science-cafe-world-water-scarcity-global-experience-lessons-learned-tickets-695618683207?aff=oddtdtcreator ......... YOU ARE INVITED TO SING SING The Bisbee Community Chorus (BCC) invites old and new members to its first rehearsal of the fall season on Tuesday, Aug. 22, at the Presbyterian annex, 24 Howell Ave., Old Bisbee. Orientation and cake (!) starting at 5:45, then rehearsal of 5 songs. BCC is a non-auditioned chorus, headed up by new Artistic Director Nathan Darus, with new accompanist Timothy Dick. Regular rehearsals will be on Tuesday evenings, 6-8pm, at the annex ......... LOW COST DOG CARE Bisbee Animal Shelter
316 N Washington Ave, (The Dog Park!)
low cost wellness and vaccine clinic!
This clinic will be on Thursday, August 24th, 2023, from 8:00 am to 12:00pm at the Bisbee Dog Park. Please give the Bisbee Animal Shelter a call to schedule your appointment! We are open from 10am to 2pm, and our phone number is 520-432-6020 ........... ALTERED BOOKS! The Friends of the Copper Queen Library present the 12th annual Altered Books event August 26th. Preview 12-4pm, Main event 5-8pm at The Central School Project. Guest bartender at this clever, only in Bisbee event, is....Me! I'll be wearing my drinkie shirt that is sure to work its' subliminal message on you. Give generously or risk a short pour. This event is free to all! Artists from the area create one of a kind pieces from books and donate them to our silent auction. All proceeds benefit programming and materials for the Copper Queen Library. https://www.friendsofthecopperqueenlibrary.org/altered-books ............... COCHISE RURAL ACTION WORKSHOP August 26 8:30-4:003305 Fry/Rothery Education Center For More info and sign up: https://www.mobilize.us/azindivisible/event/568921/ ............... FREEZE VALUATION ON YOUR PROPERTY If you or one of you are over 65, and meet other criteria you could be eligible to freeze the valuation (not the taxes!) on your house for three years. Filing deadline is September 2, 2023. You must be the primary owner and lived at the house for two years. And an annual income-taxable and non-taxable-for the past three years of under $43,872 for one person, $54,840 for two or more owners. Basically if you qualify, you are guessing that the housing market will go up. If it goes down, your valuation is frozen for three years and you may end up paying more. Go to 520 432-85603 the Cochise County Assessor for more info. Remember it does not freeze your taxes. ............... GARDEN TOUR The Bisbee Bloomers Garden Tour 2023 will take place September 2, 10 AM—4 PM in Bisbee, Arizona. This year’s tour will feature gardens that are all certified wildlife habitats. Early ticket sales will be available at Eventbrite, with tickets available in person the day of the tour in Grassy Park and Vista Park’s Bisbee Saturday Marker. There will be live music in many of the gardens, featuring Juniper Djinn, Maha Via, and other wonderful bands. Follow us here on Facebook for updates.https://www.facebook.com/bisbeegardentour/ (This wonderful event is close to my heart cause myself, along with Carol Beauchamp and Jean Buechele, began the Bisbee Bloomers somewhere around 2000 and began the garden tour in 2003.) .............. 13th B/G ANNUAL CAR & BIKE SHOW Saturday September 2nd for the 13th Annual Car & Bike Show! The Boys and Girls Club event will be held in the Warren district of Bisbee, AZ on Arizona Street! Pre-registration $30. Day of show $40 If you have any questions regarding the show, feel free to contact us either by email aflores@bgcbisbee.org or by calling 520-432-3010 ..........
THIRD ANNUAL HALLOWEEN AT MILE HIGH RANCH
October 27, 28, 29 6:30-8:00 pm 901 Tombstone Canyon
Mutants, ghosts, Monsters, Haunted House More info at (520) 432-3866
.........
EDUCATION COORDINATOR POSITION, PORTAL
Friends of Cave Creek Canyon (FOCCC), a non-profit nature organizationbased in Portal, Arizona is seeking an education coordinator. Work from home, available for local meetings to apply https://www.friendsofcavecreekcanyon.com/projects/educational-outreach/ .
COMPENSATION: $35,000-$50,000 depending on experience
APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 31, 2023
............
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT PHONE FOR A POEM? You can step into a phone booth at the Jonquil Moteland dial a poem. Go do it. This is where to get info: https://boingboing.net/2023/08/14/telepoem-booths-let-you-dial-a-poem-in-vintage-phone-booths.html .......... ART IN A VENDING MACHINE Yep, right in the ole convention center building. Put your money in and get a piece of original art. Proceeds split tween the artists and the arts council. Go do this too! .............. MOST BORING TOURIST TRAPS
Tombstone made the list. Wonder why.....
.......
MEDIA MENTIONS
Who knew about this dastardly event...The Bisbee Massacre of 1883. https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/dan-kelly-brisbee-massacre
.......
NEW LOOK FOR CITY WEBSITE
The city's website looks a bit different and definitely more user friendly. bisbeeaz.gov or cityofbisbee.com
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CITY OF BISBEE JOBS
Community Development/Planner, Public Works/recycle coordinator, Police Dept/officer. Fire Dept/EMT & Paramedic, Camp Naco/assistant
...............COUNTY................
UPDATE ON ELECTIONS-RELATED STUFF
It keeps getting weirder—the more we look, the more we see issues of obfuscation, sloppy administration, lack of transparency, and/or incompetence. The following has been added to and edited by Ali Morse.
Two meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, August 22. First is a work session at 9 am to discuss oversight of the Elections Dept, since Recorder Stevens is stepping down as Interim Elections Director. This will either become the responsibility of the supes or revert back to the job of County Administrator Rich Karwaczka. The public will not be allowed to speak but emails to the supes are encouraged. We advocate that Karwaczka oversee the department and that he report to the supes. That was how it was when L. Marra was ED. No decision will be made at this work session but the topic will likely will be an agenda item for the regular BOS meeting August 29.
The second “special” meeting at 2:30 pm is to discuss the $1 million grant for “ballot fraud countermeasures” which, according to the grant agreement, terminated April 30. Now, over three months later, Stevens is asking for an extension until September 30! There are real questions whether the grant should be extended as our research has not produced a paper trail to justify this. The public will be allowed to speak at this meeting and we urge you to sign up and voice opposition to this whole grant, asking them to terminate it. It is not needed—it’s a costly solution addressing a non-existent problem.
Much of the elections-related research has been done by Ali Morse. I've done some. We have co-authored an opinion piece and three letters to the editor published in the SV Herald/Review. We’ve also had letters published in the Arizona Star, and Capitol Times. Ali has spoken at many Calls to the Public and on specific agenda items and I have submitted written comments into the record for the supes’ meeting. We’ve both been busy and will continue at this pace until we get clarity, transparency, and accountability. This is the current arena to deal with election undermining.
Below is a summary of two areas of our research to discover who did what, when,
why, and how.
Our meeting with Bob Bartelsmeyer...
Last issue (#57) I printed one of the letters we’d written. After our letter was
published, Ali and I were invited by Bob Bartelsmeyer, in separate emails, to sit
down and talk. When we arrived, Bartelsmeyer almost immediately asked us to
leave, with his staff ready to usher us out the door. He was upset because he felt
that we had inferred he was incompetent. We said our opinion was based on
publicly available information and assured him we were not doing a hatchet job.
He cooled off after a few minutes, we stayed, and actually had an interesting
discussion. We met his new hires, elections manger Dawn Chaouchi and elections
assistant Amy King (the latter was present for the entire discussion).
Bartelsmeyer cleared up what had happened with the DAMA petitions. He did
accept them, although he did not know they had to be turned in all at once (not in
batches). He was also unaware that they had to have the exact same language on
the both petitions. He did say, however, that Recorder David Stevens told him to
accept the petitions. Bartelsmeyer added that Stevens had talked with someone
in the county attorney's office but he could not say when or with whom.
What became clear is that David Stevens and/or the county attorneys’ office does
not know basic election law. No one has claimed responsibility for accepting the
illegal petitions. Not surprisingly, we have been unable to get various queries
answered.
The $1 million grant for testing ballot paper
The problems of this grant have to do with open meeting law, public monies, and
elections. The supes tabled the issue for a 3rd time (for lack of proper
documentation) but there are so many problematic issues with the grant that it
really does warrant immediate attention. There are several key points:
One of the bidders poised to get a contract, Authentix, has no experience in
ballot printing or elections, with the one exception of a mock-up sample of
a Cochise County ballot, the original of which was provided by Stevens.
Mark Finchem, an election denier and conspiracy embracer, initiated the
drive for this $1 million grant in early 2022 when he was still in the lege.
David Stevens is on the 3-member board of Finchem’s non-profit “Election
Fairness Institute.” Finchem also has business ties with Authentix founder,
Olaf Halvorssen through his company Clean Power Technologies, a now-
defunct company for which Halvorssen was a board member
The deadline for the grant keeps changing. The original award notice
emailed to David Stevens states March 30, 2023. The grant agreement
(written after the board approved the grant) states April 30, 2023 and the
county would have to send a letter at least 30 days before termination to
request an extension. We have not seen a paper trail that indicates there
was a legitimate extension. There has been some talk, but no paper. I am
awaiting response from a public records request asking for any emails or
letters mentioning an extension.
David Stevens has asked for the supes’ approval of two bidders on the
contract, Texas-based and globally marketed Authentix and California-
based ProVote Solutions. The issue was tabled three times because he does
not have the proper paperwork. As far as we can tell, this grant has
terminated and was not properly extended.
Stevens paid a third company (Arizona-based Runbeck Elections Services)
$187,500 of the grant monies (almost 20%) for equipment and supplies,
without the supes’ prior approval for this expenditure of grant monies, as
required by the grant’s RFP.
He did not issue a Request for Proposal (RFP), standard for the county, until
a month after the invoice from Runbeck was paid. Authentix and ProVote
provided paperwork as required by the RFP—Runbeck did not. This would
include a Technical Proposal, Price Proposal, and Past Performance Listing.
Note the similarity of Authentix’s proposal to the RFP’s Contract
Specifications. It appears the RFP specifically catered to Authentix. Note,
too, the former contracts and associated industries of Authentix, including
tobacco and alcohol in Pakistan, Egypt, and Ghana.
If you want to speak at a Supes meeting, either remotely or in person, go here for a speaker request form to fill; https://www.cochise.az.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2252/Board-of-Supervisors-Speaker-Request-Form-PDF
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WHY THERE ARE PECAN TREES IN SULPHUR SPRINGS VALLEY
The United States produces around 80 percent of the world’s pecans, and the nut has seen increased popularity since 2010, which is when demand for pecans in China kicked into gear, rewarding growers and exporters. The rise in production and processing has also made it easier to get pecans into foods in the United States — the number of new products featuring pecans is up 54 percent in the past decade — and the rise of pecans as a snack food led to domestic consumption increasing 36 percent from 2016 to 2021.
...............THE LEGE................
VOUCHER PROGRAM; NOT SO GOOD, KINDA BAD, PRETTY BAD, REALLY TERRIBLE!
This article details the problems with the almost $1billion voucher program.
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IT IS FINALLY A WRAP
The longest legislative session in AZ history. This session has also seen a record number of vetoes issued by Gov. Katie Hobbs, who has nixed a record-setting 143 bills, two of which lawmakers attempted to override but failed. In total, 347 bills were sent to the Governor and of those bills, 202 have been signed into law.
After the first 120 days of session, lawmakers living in Maricopa County collect $10 dollars a day, while lawmakers from rural counties pick up $119 dollars a day
Sen. David Gowan, along with six other extremists senators, voted against ending the session. Guess he wanted to keep that per diem coming! All this for 62 days of work.
...............POLITICS................
THE FOUR INDICTMENTS OF WHATHISNAME I know it is just sooo dificult to keep his crimes straight! So this is an effort to remind you that this past prez of our country has been indicted in two states and two different federal prosecutors. These are some of the charges. The Georgia RICO case may be the most damaging because it is a state court. The sheer volume of charges against this hasbeen is staggering. If you were sick of him before, just wait..... 1. Falsifying business records (New York state) The trial is scheduled for March 2024
alleged payoffs to Stormy Daniels
2. Removing classified documents from the white house (Federal) The trial is scheduled for May 2024
31 counts of willful retention of national defense information,
one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice,
one count of withholding a document or record,
one count of corruptly concealing a document or record,
one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation,
one count of scheming to conceal and one count of making false statements and representations.
3. Four counts related to overturning the 2020 election (Federal) (not set/possible January start date)
Conspiracy to conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding,
obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding conspiracy against rights (specifically, people’s right to have their vote counted).
4. RICO (Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges of participating in a broader criminal enterprise to violate Georgia law to overturn the results of the 2020 election. (not set/possible February 2024 start date) Indictment has charged 19 co-conspirators, 24 unamed conspirators in over a half dozen jurisdictions.
Pushed phony claims the election was stolen
Assembling a false slate of electors
Created false electoral college documents
Harassing an election worker
Steal voter data
Solicited Georgia officials to violate their oaths by changing election outcome
Lots more allegations
You can read a fuller explanation of the Georgia charges here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/15/us/politics/trump-georgia-indictment-annotated.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20230816&instance_id=100182&nl=from-the-times®i_id=55736694&segment_id=142162&te=1&user_id=86133028c618af29dd872b020562ba3e
<><> Tidbits.... ...An article in the Arizona Mirror details funding difficulties for the republicans statewide. It is an interesting read of how the state party funds-or doesn't-door knocking . https://www.azmirror.com/2023/08/11/arizona-republican-partys-fundraising-abysmal-in-run-up-to-pivotal-2024-election/?emci=03a0e003-4d3a-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&emdi=ace27ae0-aa3a-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&ceid=63448 ........... ...The freedumb caucus is derriére deep in election denying but the latest is heebie-jeebie land. Course this is in addition to book banning, drag show dissin, and more. https://www.azmirror.com/2023/08/11/az-freedom-caucus-lawmakers-use-fringe-conspiracies-to-justify-opposing-transportation-bill/?emci=03a0e003-4d3a-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&emdi=ace27ae0-aa3a-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&ceid=63448 ........... ....CBEV is looking for high school students to run voter registration drives at their Arizona high schools. It’s easier than it sounds: we’ll provide training, materials, support, and Democracy in a Box (stickers, posters customized to the school or mascot, pens, clipboards and more) to get the drives going. High school students can https://cebv.substack.com/p/cebv-weekly-august-7-20233 Non-students can share the sign-up link with kids, grandkids, nieces/nephews, neighbors, etc., or pass it to a teacher to share. NOTE: You don't need to be a registered voter to register others to vote — and you can pre-register yourself to vote if you will turn 18 by November 8, 2024. <><> "Alternate Electors' Hey! We've got one right here in our county, Robert Montgomery, the former leader of the Cochise County republican party (who recently incurred leg injuries in a scuffle with the current leader at repub hq in SV) along with 11 others, signed false certificates attesting that he was a legitimate AZ elector. It is possible that at least he and/or some of these preposterous anti-democratic liars may be getting some jail time. Michigan has already indicted 16 of the phonies, and AZ AG Kris Mayes has had them on her radar. With the 4th, and latest, indictment of trumpie, in which alternate electors in several states were coordinated at the national level by his hapless campaign, we may see some action soon. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/13/investigation-2020-election-results-arizona-trump/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert
<><> CORN, MEXICO, AND THE PUSH FOR GMO https://ambrook.com/research/supply-chain/mexico-trade-dispute-gmo-corn?utm_source=Ambrook+Research+Newsletter&utm_campaign=67fa660d75-
.................CULTURE................
NPR tiny desk concerts on youtube have some of the most interesting music around. Go here for a list of their concerts. https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/ There are several concerts from GlobalFest and a slew of others. Below are just a few of the many listed. The Korean band ADG7 in one to listen to. Featuring singing, traditional instruments, and music to shake your booty too. Kpop it is not. Give a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdaOtnuw-Ew Another interesting Korean band is Ssing Ssing unusual to look at and a wild combo of voice and instruments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLRxO9AmNNo
Taylor Swift up close and personal is here. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/16/770318649/taylor-swift-tiny-desk-concert
Four men on one guitar playing Billy Jean. (thanks to JM)
...............TECH................
The Markup tracks the trackers. And you can also. Entering any url into their Blacklight search engine will bring results about: Ad Trackers, third party cookies, session recording, website that tracks your key strokes, facebook pixel, google analytics 'remarketing''. I put in www.amazon.com and this was the result. 30 ad trackers 39 third party cookies Try it for sites you use. htthttps://themarkup.org/blacklight
This is an explanation of the 'privacy policies' on websites. The article tells us what specific things to pay attention to and how to read that dense legalese. "Case study #1 GasBuddy is an app that lets users find the cheapest gas near them. To do this, the app needs access to their location to power a localized map. It shares this information with data brokers Foursquare and Allstate’s Arity, according to GasBuddy’s privacy policy. Those companies, in turn, are allowed to share the data on to others, making the GasBuddy privacy policy an example of how broadly your data can be granted to third parties." Foursquare’s website lists dozens of “partners” including massive data, advertising, and consumer brands such as Amazon Web Services, Oracle, The Trade Desk, MediaMath, Adobe, LiveRamp, Neustar, Procter & Gamble, Google, Microsoft, Tencent, TikTok, Roku, Snapchat, Twitter, Spotify, Hulu, and Uber. It is not clear how much of your data is shared with these partners when you look for the cheapest gas near you. " https://themarkup.org/the-breakdown/2023/08/03/how-to-quickly-get-to-the-important-truth-inside-any-privacy-policy
...............WORD...............
Two quotes from Aldous Huxley that continue to ring true (plucked from an InterceptI interview with Norman Soloman.https://theintercept.com/2023/08/11/deconstructed-podcast-norman-solomon-american-wars/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Intercept%20Newsletter
Aldous Huxley, ominously, in 1946, right after World War II, and he said, “The greatest triumphs of propaganda have been accomplished not by doing something, but by refraining from doing. Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth.”
and a 1936 quote also from Huxley
“The propaganda’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.”
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YOU KNOW YOU LOVE EM...
Knewledge All that stuff you forgotten
Lugeubrious Wallowing in misery and going downhill fast
Cerebrawl A battle of Wits
Plodcast A boring online interview
Typerbole Billions of unwanted texts or the big game for typists
Oblituary Written out of history
Dismangled The result of taking something apart and realizing you can never reassemble it.
Suburbane Not quite suave courteous or refined in manner
Procrastimate Someone who encourages your tardiness
Nanarchy An environment in which grandma rules the roost