Manic Monday

Hello readers.  Sorry for some silence, but I had my biggest trade show of the year last week in San Francisco and was simply too exhausted to tap anything out every evening.  My agency did win a nice award by a trade magazine as “the most innovative PR firm for Infosec companies” which makes me very proud of my team.

Some tidbits heading into the week:

• About a month ago, I was a guest speaker at the monthly meeting of Canyon Democrats to talk about Internet security scams and cybercrime and offered practical guidance on how to identify a scam and what to do and not do.  They asked for a link and here it is: https://www.scam-detector.com/article/20-tips-on-how-to-avoid-internet-fraud/
• The January 6th hearings are riveting.  And do pop the popcorn.  Should AG Merrick Garland fail to file criminal charges over this conspiracy, he needs to go.
• The homeless situation in San Francisco has improved over the passed two years.  The streets are cleaner, but there are still many who need support and services to deal with drug addiction and mental illness.  Shame on one Union Square store that blasts loud music under their sidewalk awnings to ward off the homeless seeking a little shelter.
• Failed CA-40 GOP candidate for Congress Greg Raths is telling supporters he just can’t vote for Young Kim.  We urge those voters to sit out the election in November.
• Congratulations to LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano for being the commencement speaker for UCI’s School of Social Ecology last Sunday.  In 2013, he got the wrong date down and missed East Los Angeles College’s comment in 2013.  In 2010, some students and parents at UCLA — one of his alma mater’s — objected to or wondered who he was in 2010 when he was selected to deliver the commencement address for the College of Letters and Sciences.  He admitted to not attending his own UCLA graduation. One out of three is a good batting average for baseball.
• The results of this primary election can finally lay waste to the notion that because Bernie Sanders did so well in the new AD-68 and CA-46 in 2020, that Anaheim and Santa Ana were quickly moving to the far left.  Those districts are Blue but a more moderate shade.  Progressive candidates Boomer Vincente in AD-68 is dead last with just under 4,000 votes as of Monday.  In CA-46, Mike Ortega had just over 6,000 votes and is fourth among six candidates.  Santa Ana/Anaheim and other parts of AD-68 and CA-46 are a moderate blue.
• The power struggle within the Orange County Power Authority continues.  I’ll point to this comment from a VofOC article regarding that “widely-distributed” letter from Irvine City Council candidate Dr. Kathleen Treseder.  “….Kathleen Treseder, an Irvine city council candidate and one of the leading activists who helped start the agency, wrote a widely circulated private letter alleging that Rafiei told her the agency was run by a group of political brokers including Probolsky and Khan, who Treseder says was promised political favors if Probolsky was kept as CEO.”  Rafiei denies this conversation ever took place.   Treseder’s inference alludes to longstanding rumors that Probolsky was named CEO so that he could assist Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan with an appointment to the Coastal Commission, a task that State Senator Toni Atkins is responsible for handling.  We contacted the State Senator’s office Friday and they confirm that she doesn’t even know Brian Probolsky or his pollster brother Adam, which pretty much crushes that rumor.  And it lends credibility to Rafiei’s statement her conversation never took place.  Treseder almost hired Rafiei to manage her Irvine City Council campaign.  If you want to point fingers at why Probolsky is the CEO of OCPA, start pointing them in Irvine Council Member Mike Carroll’s direction.  And Khan, who was urged to apply for the Coastal Commission by DPOC chair Ada Briceno, was not appointed to that body.
• Our pals at the Orange Juice Blog have unearthed a press release for The Eli Home, announcing the availability of sustainable home remodeling products in their store that has my name on it as a media contact along with Lorri Galloway’s daughter, Tami Bradford.  Galloway is a candidate for mayor in Anaheim, and Vern Nelson and his crew showed up to protest (here’s a video of the announcement),  Vern suggests I’m on the payroll for Eli Home as a publicist, demonstrating his lack of any business experience.  My company has a contract with BusinessWire and, as I have done with other charities, I made a charitable contribution to The Eli Home and paid to send their release on the wire for broad distribution.  The Eli Home is my favorite charity and usually its a check or a mattress from my kids old high school fundraiser that goes to the shelter.  I donated my time.  I have no contract with The Eli Home.  And people, like me, who provide professional services benefit from offering pro bono services to charities they care about.  And Vern’s post makes a number of points, that employees of the Eli Home tell me is simply not true.
• The story Nelson encourages readers to Google about Lorri Galloway, him and Libel, falls apart based on his Twitter failings from Easter weekend 2021, and from his wife sometimes taking control of his social media accounts to reveal his previous sexual affairs (no idea if these were before or after he got married and I don’t really care but I do have the screen grabs).  But if her allegation of sexual assault against Nelson comes down to her word against his, who are you going to believe?  The guy with 5 DUIs who’s wife urged female Twitter users to block him for activities in their bathroom and left an apologetic voice mail regarding his continued drinking, or a woman who’s run a charity that have saved the lives of thousands of people over the past 30 years who has a strong, loving marriage and wonderful children and grandchildren?
• A final word on the OJ harassment on Galloway’s campaign, I’m going to suggest she formally file a restraining order to keep him physically away from him.  That won’t stop Nelson from writing about Galloway (or lying about his actions towards her) but it keeps him away from her physically.  Now Nelson is always fast to threaten to sue for libel — and he hasn’t here.  He is also a public figure as the owner of his political blog so he’s have to prove that Galloway deliberately lied with intent to harm his reputation.  I don’t think he has much of a representation to protect.  So file that restraining order Lorri.
• Vern’s wife claim The Eli Home violated her HIPAA rights. HIPAA applies to the privacy of medical records which The Eli Home does not create or store.  What a dumb thing for her to say.