Out d’Coup | Unions and Activists Prep to Defend Democracy; Voter Suppression; OxyContin Makers Pay; PA Blue Wave; AOC on Twitch; Space News; Free Will releases; Star Trek Discovery

“We cannot depend on our institutions to guarantee that our votes will determine the next president” is what a leaked National AFL-CIO PowerPoint stated this week.  The AFL-CIO had a meeting planned with State Federations and union leaders from around concerning a Trump Coup - yes, and we mean Coup - and how unions will mobilize in the days after the election.  However, that meeting was canceled after the slideshow was leaked to the press.  

Randi Weingarten - President of the American Federation of Teachers - told Bloomberg: “There’s many of us that have talked about how we need to count every vote, how we are very concerned that the president - that you take his words seriously when he says he's not sure he’d agree to a peaceful transfer of power. And the labor movement is of the community that needs to prepare.”

Activists around Pennsylvania are planning for massive protests if there is widespread efforts to disrupt the election or if Trump seeks to remain in power with the help of his appointments to the Supreme Court. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that activists, clergy, unions, and liberal advocates are signing on to “Nobody Comes for Philly,” a pledge to vote then “not rest until our state counts every vote.” 

At least 545 children who were separated at the border under Trump’s brutal immigration policies are still without their parents. Worse, immigration advocates say their parents cannot be located. 

According to a report in Politico, Bernie Sanders may be making a play to be Secretary of Labor in a Biden administration. 

There was a debate last night. We’ll check in on that. 

The after-effects of colleges and universities returning to campus amid the pandemic are now manifesting in vulnerable populations in college towns. The Washington Post reports that a month after students returned to college in La Cross, Wisconsin, home of three different colleges, the city is seeing a devastating spike in coronavirus cases, leading to the deaths of at least 19 residents in long-term care facilities. Until this week, no long-term care residents had died due to the virus. Brace yourself, everyone. 

OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma tells the Department of Justice, “Ooops, our bad,” and pleads guilty to three felony counts for defrauding the federal government and lying about the company’s efforts to flood communities with OxyContin in order to reap billions in profits. The company will pay $225 million as part of a $2 billion criminal forfeiture. Purdue still faces a $3.5 billion criminal fine and has agreed to pay $2.8 billion as part of a civil settlement. The owner of Purdue, the Sackler family, will also have to pay $225 million in civil fines. 

AOC goes on Twitch to play Among Us and get out the vote. It becomes one of the biggest Twitch streams ever. And, it turns out, she’s pretty good at Among Us, too. The cred just keeps stacking up!

Is it time to start talking about a blue-wave in Pennsylvania? Cook Political Report moved the Pennsylvania House from “lean Republican” to “toss-up” while groups like Emily’s List dumped a million dollars into Pennsylvania for down-ballot races. 

On the mail-in-ballot front, close to one-million Democrats have returned their ballots giving them a 680,000 voter edge over Republicans.  Of those voting by mail, over 300,000 Pennsylvanians who sat out in 2016 applied for a mail-in-ballot and 70% of those who sat out in 2016 but are voting by mail in 2020 are Democrats.

Trump’s campaign has been videotaping Philadelphia voters at ballot drop boxes, leading to warnings of voter intimidation by Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro. The Trump campaign has claimed that they are photographing and videotaping voters who might be dropping off multiple ballots. 

Fake Proud Boys emails sent to voters saying “vote for Trump, or else!”

Amazon Web Services, AWS, launches a space division called Aerospace and Satellite Solutions. According to the company, the purpose of the new division is to help “government and commercial space entities become more agile and flexible by making use of the cloud.” 

After two non-functioning satellites nearly collided in orbit, there are renewed calls to begin dealing with the millions of pieces of space junk orbiting the Earth. Dr. Moriba Jah, director of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas Austin, has called for space environmentalism, telling Axios, "Orbital debris is not climate change, but the ecosystem requires environmental protection...Whatever narratives we have for maritime, land and air, these environmental protection narratives need to have, 'and space.'"

Free Will Brewing’s Sharing Size release last Saturday was amazing. 

Free Will hosts Sour Sunday, this coming Sunday, October 25 from 11-6. 

Star Trek Discovery rocks.