Please Send Us Your Election-Fraud Evidence; How Landlords Are Using AI to Set Rents–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Dec. 2, 2024

Indy Digest: Dec. 2, 2024

To: Citizens of the United States who claim that elections are rigged, riddled with fraud or otherwise full of shenanigans

From: Jimmy Boegle, publisher of the Coachella Valley Independent

Hi! To those of you who have reached out at some point over the last four-plus years with claims of election fraud/tampering/gross incompetence: Thank you. Let me assure you that you’ve been heard, even if what you’ve said hasn’t always made sense.

To those of you who have not reached out: I strongly encourage you to do so … but only if you can provide something that, thus far, your fellow believers have not offered: proof, or at least details that would allow us to look into your claims. Trust me, if there’s a story to break about election fraud, we’d love to be the reporters to break it. We like breaking stories! We like winning awards!

We can all agree that our elections system is far from perfect. Just take this completely bonkers-but-true headline from a Calmatters story earlier from today: “California has a new Legislature—while votes are still being counted.” The story includes this incredible snippet:

As of this morning, election officials statewide still had more than 37,000 ballots to count and more than 96,000 to “cure”—a process to verify voters’ signatures after their ballots had been rejected for missing or mismatched signatures—according to the state Secretary of State’s office. 

But the long wait is almost over: Under state law, counties have until Thursday to certify their results.

In the 58th Assembly District, Republican Leticia Castillo was sworn in, though the Associated Press hasn’t declared her the winner over Democrat Clarissa Cervantes. 

Yep, in California, we’re swearing in legislators before counties certify ballots, even in a case where the outcome remains up in the air. That’s just silly. Here’s hoping that legislation to get counties resources to count ballots faster succeeds.

But as stupid as this is, and as much as it shows our elections system can use some tweaking … it doesn’t mean there’s fraud, or shenanigans, or wrongdoing.

Look: It sucks when candidates who you support lose, and it’s even worse when candidates you fear end up winning. Trust me, I know. It can also seem hard to believe, given that far too many of us put ourselves in echo chambers where we generally hear only voices with which we agree. I can understand the impulse to think the only POSSIBLE way an election could have gone against our desires is that the results are illegitimate. But hurt feelings and impulsive thoughts don’t equal facts.

If you have proof, or legitimate leads, or actionable intel on possible election fraud, please let me know. You have my word that we will investigate, and if we discover wrongdoing or incompetence, we will definitely report on it.

But if your “knowledge” is based on anything other than facts … you may want to avoid spouting off on social media or emailing news outlets, and instead do some self-examination.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Landlords are now using artificial intelligence to set prices for rent—and the state may do something about it. Our partners at Calmatters report: “If you’ve hunted for apartments recently and felt like all the rents were equally high, you’re not crazy: Many landlords now use a single company’s software—which uses an algorithm based on proprietary lease information—to help set rent prices. Federal prosecutors say the practice amounts to ‘an unlawful information-sharing scheme’ and some lawmakers throughout California are moving to curb it. San Diego’s city council president is the latest to do so, proposing to prevent local apartment owners from using the pricing software, which he maintains is driving up housing costs. San Diego’s proposed ordinance, now being drafted by the city attorney, comes after San Francisco supervisors in July enacted a similar, first-in-the-nation ban on ‘the sale or use of algorithmic devices to set rents or manage occupancy levels’ for residences. San Jose is considering a similar approach. And California and seven other states have also joined the federal prosecutors’ antitrust suit, which targets the leading rental pricing platform, Texas-based RealPage.”

• Scott Gottlieb, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration during Trump’s first term, says having Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Health and Human Services secretary will result in lives lost. The Hill says: “‘I think if RFK follows through on his intentions, and I believe he will, and I believe he can, it will cost lives in this country,’ he said during a Friday appearance on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box.’ ‘You’re going to see measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates go down, and like I said, if we lose another 5 percent (of vaccinations], which could happen in the next year or two, we will see large measles outbreaks,’ he continued. Many are worried Kennedy, who would need to be confirmed by the Senate to become HHS secretary, will amplify vaccine hesitancy for children despite his promise not to take away vaccines. … The doctor who resigned from the FDA in 2019 before joining Pfizer’s board of directors, warned that Kennedy could increase the spread of infectious diseases with the ‘stroke of a pen.’”

• In other news about Trump appointments, this New York Times headline says: “Kash Patel Has Plan to Remake the FBI Into a Tool of Trump.” Yikes. Here’s the lede: “Fire the top ranks of the FBI. Encourage Congress to demand testimony exposing ‘every single bit of filth and corruption’ at the agency, and withhold its funding ‘until the documents come in.’ Prosecute leakers and journalists. Replace the national security work force with ‘people who won’t undermine the president’s agenda.’ These are among a long list of changes Kash Patel recommended in his 2023 book, ‘Government Gangsters.’ President-elect Donald J. Trump has now said he intends to make Mr. Patel the next FBI director. Mr. Trump had wanted to install Mr. Patel as deputy FBI director during his first term, but Attorney General William P. Barr, who portrayed him as manifestly unqualified in his own memoir, told the White House that Mr. Patel would become deputy F.B.I. director ‘over my dead body.’” I repeat: YIKES.

• Employees at a state lab that’s key to tracking the bird flu say they’re overworked. The Los Angeles Times says: “On a recent Friday morning, Alyssa Laxamana arrived at a laboratory on the UC Davis campus to continue California’s race against bird flu. … More samples kept popping up in a digital queue as another lab worker logged unexpected shipments. Around noon she had to draw a line. She calculated she could get through about 270 samples that day. The rest would have to wait. ‘I can only do so much,’ Laxamana recalled saying to herself. Laxamana works in the biotechnology department of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, the first line of defense in the state’s effort to track and prevent the spread of the H5N1 virus. Far from working at full capacity, however, the Davis lab has been roiled over the past year by workplace tensions. Understaffing and poor management, Laxamana and other current and former employees say, have left lab employees overworked and struggling to keep pace with testing demands, while creating an environment where mistakes are more likely.”

• A tech issue briefly grounded Alaska Airlines flights today. The Seattle Times reports: “Alaska Airlines grounded flights leaving Seattle for 40 minutes Monday morning due to computer troubles, the company said in an emailed statement. An IT issue caused a ‘significant disruption’ to Alaska’s operations, according to the company. To clear up congestion on the ground, the airline requested a ground stop at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from 11:20 a.m. to noon. … The disruption also hit Alaska’s website. A banner across the top of the airline’s site said it was having issues booking flights. The outage came at the beginning of Alaska’s Cyber Monday sale that runs through Wednesday.” Oops.

• And finally … if you’ve ever wanted to go on a treasure hunt, and you have the time to do so, this CNN story is for you: “What does it take to channel the spirit of Jacques Cousteau and search for secret treasure? For Jon Collins-Black, this question sparked a thrilling journey that led him to hide five treasure chests across the United States. His new book, ‘There’s Treasure Inside,’ offers hints for eager treasure hunters, sending them on an expedition to find hidden chests with a combined prize value of more than $2 million. Collins-Black has been a lifelong fantasy enthusiast, immersing himself in games and mythical adventures such as Dungeons & Dragons since childhood. By 2015, the successful musician and entrepreneur was looking for a change of pace and envisioned a project that would help him reconnect with his younger imagination. Motivated by Forrest Fenn’s infamous treasure hunt launched back in 2010, Collins-Black dreamed of creating something more personal and accessible. Instead of Fenn’s single chest hidden in the Rocky Mountains, Collins-Black envisioned multiple troves allowing every person across the country the opportunity to be in closer proximity to one of the chests.”

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