DL Open Thread: Saturday, July 8, 2023

QAnon Cult Leader Has Died–Perhaps Has Been Resurrected As JFK, Jr.:

The leader of a QAnon cult who convinced thousands of people that former president John F. Kennedy and his son JFK, Jr. are still alive has died, VICE News can exclusively report.

Michael Protzman, 60, died last Friday in the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota a week after an accident at the Meadow Valley Motocross track in Millville, Minnesota. Protzman’s death was confirmed to VICE News in a phone call with the Minnesota Department of Health.

Protzman died as a result of “multiple blunt force injuries” after he “lost control of his dirt bike” according to a report from the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, which was obtained by VICE News.

Protzman rose to notoriety in 2021, when the Telegram channel he ran garnered tens of thousands of followers. In that channel, Protzman mixed QAnon conspiracies with a bastardized version of Gematria, a Jewish numerology system, which he claimed to be able to use to predict the future.

Protzman gained national attention in November 2021 when he convinced hundreds of his followers to travel from all across the U.S. to Dallas, where he claimed that JFK and JFK Jr. would reappear at Dealey Plaza, on the spot where JFK was assassinated in 1963.

Shelly Mullinax, who was one of Protzman’s earliest followers but had a falling out with him and other members of the group last year, remains convinced of the conspiracies Protzman concocted about JFK. She believes his death is all part of the plan.

She did however claim that the person who died was in fact just one version of Michael Protzman, “the evil version” and that the good Michael Protzman—who is in fact JFK Jr. in a mask—is still alive and well.

What’s so implausible about that?

Why Native Americans Can’t Get The Water They Own The Rights To.  OK, I know that’s either a split infinitive or a dangling participle, or some other kind of grievous grammatical mistake.  As is the inability of Native Americans to receive the water that is rightfully theirs.  Here and here are why.  Basically, court machinations and the failure of the Feds to provide the infrastructure needed to pump the water.  Absolute must-reading from ProPublica.

More Reasons To Boycott Starbucks.  Other than the fact that its coffee sucks:

In May, Starbucks abruptly shuttered a unionized store in Ithaca, New York. This week, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that Starbucks had violated federal labor law, and ordered the company to reopen the store.

The College Avenue store, near Cornell University, was one of three Ithaca stores that closed after workers unionized, a move that the union characterized as retaliation. In a Thursday ruling, Judge Arthur Amchan wrote that the College Avenue store’s closure “was done in large part to discourage unionization efforts in Ithaca and elsewhere” and that Starbucks hadn’t proved that it wouldn’t have closed the store “absent its animus towards the pro-union employees who worked there,” Bloomberg reports.

As my colleague Noah Lanard wrote, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz had billed himself as a benevolent CEO, but, in coming out of retirement to attempt to quell the growing movement to unionize Starbucks cafes, has shown a different side of his American dream. The company has increased wages and allowed baristas to receive tips by credit cards—but only at non-union stores.

The judge in the Ithaca case ruled that Starbucks should rehire the axed workers with back pay and post notices about workers’ rights in its stores nationwide. Starbucks plans to appeal.

Will Deb Heffernan Do The Right Thing?  Will she stand by her constituents in Edgemoor, or will she once again cave to Delaware’s Bullshitter-In-Chief, Secretary of State Jeff Bullock?  Everything about this Port of Wilmington deal flat-out stinks.  Why anyone should trust Carney and Bullock, who together totally fucked up the last deal, to get this one right, is beyond me:

The Diamond State Port Corp., a state-owned entity that oversees the port, approved an agreement with a 7-year-old shipping company called Enstructure LLC at a board of directors meeting Friday morning. The deal will now head to its final sign-off: an approval by a group of Delaware lawmakers and the state controller general.

The final “concurrence” will come from Controller General Ruth Ann Miller; Senate President Pro Tempore David Sokola; Speaker of the House Valerie Longhurst; and the co-chairs of the Bond and Capital Improvement Committee, Sen. Jack Walsh and Rep. Debra Heffernan.

The deal, of course, was approved in absolute secrecy:

After an executive session, McGonigle opened the public portion of Friday’s meeting with a rundown of what had changed in the term sheet with Enstructure since the board’s previous meeting in May.

Bullock then said the port corporation needed to move forward with Enstructure to improve the conditions at the port, adding that recent estimates of investment needed at the facility are “significantly higher” than he previously expected.

“We can’t wait any longer,” Bullock (the guy who, along with Carney, totally fucked up the last deal) said.

The board soon after approved a resolution finalizing and approving the final terms of the agreement with Enstructure with a yay or nay vote.

The board received public comments only after the successful vote. Port officials declined to provide a copy of the resolution prior to Friday’s meeting.

OK, Deb. Will you ‘concur’ in the continued environmental despoliation of the Edgemoor community you purport to represent, or will you ‘demur’?  Or come up with a proposal of your own?  We’re watching.

What do you want to talk about?