Blog For Arizona

Appalling treatment of rape victims in Missoula, Montana reveals what a big old suckfest conservative "values" are

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Right wingers are forever going on about how the sexual revolution has brought about the decline of civilization and has been simply terrible for women due to us no longer being able to use pregnancy to force reluctant men to shotgun marry us, among other things. But this Mother Jones report from Missoula, MT clearly illustrates how antediluvian attitudes toward sexuality and women held by the prosecutors there are causing rapists to go free, tormenting female victims, and causing some victims not to even bother trying to get justice.

There's something eerily familiar about Chris Christie

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

 

So it’s been revealed that NJ Gov. Chris Christie probably knew about the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge last year. Shocker! What this means is:

1. It is Christmas in February over at MSNBC

2. There is an important lesson in this for Dems who turn into big, wobbly piles of goo at the slightest sign of decency in a Republican.

Christie famously hugged President Obama after Hurricane Sandy and then bamboozled the public and credulous pundits desperate for a Moderate Republican Savior^TM for months after. He won his reelection for Governor easily – getting one third of the Democratic vote in the state – last November. Since taking that office in 2009, Christie had taken a sledgehammer to unions and public pensions and been a total dick to public school teachers but none of that mattered. Christie’s PR machine worked overtime to portray him as a likable guy with the “common touch”.

Former Virginia 'Governor vaginal probe' and his wife are charged

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It's been a long time coming, but today prosecutors charged former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell aka "Governor vaginal probe" and his wife Maureen were charged Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond-area businessman who sought special treatment from state government. Former Va. Gov. McDonnell and wife charged in gifts case:

The two were charged with 14 felony counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obtaining property under color of their official office and conspiring to the do the same.

They were also charged with making false statements to a federal credit union.

McDonnell was also charged with making a false statement to a financial institution, and Maureen McDonnell was charged with obstructing the investigation.

* * *

Authorities alleged that McDonnell and his wife received gifts from executive Jonnie R. Williams again and again, lodging near constant requests for money, clothes, trips, golf accessories and private plane rides.

In exchange, authorities alleged that the McDonnells worked in concert to lend the prestige of the governorship to Williams’s struggling company, a small former cigarette manufacturer that now sells dietary supplements.

Why "reinventing" CPS might not change anything

Today was the first day of Arizona's legislative session and also the day that Governor Brewer delivered her State of the State remarks. One of the highlights of her speech was her announcement that she was "abolishing" Child Protective Services via executive order. The agency will be spun off into a standalone, cabinet-level department. It will no longer be part of the Department of Economic Security (DES). I'm relieved that the Governor didn't put the agency under the aegis of law enforcement, as some conservatives have suggested, due to the chilling prospect of Arpaio's deputies demanding "papers" before investigating reports. 

But I don't see it changing much, if anything. At best, there could be some minor improvement initially due to hypervigilance but I predict things will return to exactly the way they were so long as CPS remains chronically underfunded. Defenders of Brewer's administration and Republican rule of the state will claim that cuts to CPS were inevitable due to the recession and that government agencies are bloated anyway. Isn't it funny, though, how child abuse prevention and enforcement had to be cut (along with education, health care, and social services) while prisons were spared? Obviously shrewd private prison lobbyists and their profit motive play a role in that but Corrections eats up 10% of the state's budget (which is about as much as we spend on higher education, by the way) and private prisons are only a fraction of that. The majority of state prisoners are in state-run prisons. Seems like it would be a ripe target for spending reductions and there are numerous effective alternatives to imprisonment at our disposal but they weren't considered. No, we had to hold prison spending harmless even though the actual number of prisoners in the state has decreased slightly. 

It's really easy to dismiss this as "that's Republicans for you" but this interview by Joshua Holland on Bill Moyers' site sheds some light on why certain things in government are prioritized over others. 

A growing body of academic research suggests that the wealthy see the world differently than the rest of us.

These studies are more than a matter of passing interest. Last week, the Center for Responsive Politics released a report that for the first time ever, a majority of those representing us in Congress are millionaires. And studies by political scientists Larry Bartels at Princeton and Trinity University’s Thomas Hayes have demonstrated that lawmakers vote to advance the interests of the wealthiest Americans. So in an effective plutocracy, the worldviews of ‘high-status’ individuals translate directly into public policies that affect us all.

Building on earlier research that found that those at the top tend to see themselves as being inherently more deserving than average working people, UC Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner and Michael Kraus, a colleague at the University of Illinois, looked at how those views might influence the way they view our criminal justice system in astudy published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

The researchers found that the wealthier the subjects were, and the wealthier they perceived themselves to be in relation to others, the more likely they were to attribute their good fortune to their innate superior qualities. Keitner and Kraus also found that wealth correlates with what they called a retributive versus restorative model of criminal justice.  

What we’ve learned in this study is that if you think that there are just bad people out there, because of their genes, because of their temperament, because of their biological makeup, you won’t have much hope in restorative justice or restorative punishment. You won’t think there’s really any opportunity for them to change.

And what we’ve found is that because they have this belief that the people who aren’t doing well aren’t doing well because of their genes, upper-class individuals — or people put into this upper-class mindset — are more likely to endorse harsher, more retributive forms of punishment. That’s true when thinking about crimes and also kids cheating in schools — all manner of transgressions. I think that’s really worrisome.

Our state government is not full of elected officials or bureaucrats of considerable wealth but that does describe many of the people with the most influence over it - the lobbyists, advisers, board members, etc. 

Keltner:

And I’m not only worried about our punitive tendencies. I’d also extend this analysis to other policy areas. For example, the idea of devoting resources to those in need, people who are struggling, is a foundational element of a strong state. And our data would suggest that the well-to-do, who are more likely to be in office, won’t have that intuition about directing resources to those in need. I think there are many applications of this work.

Most CPS reports are for neglect, not abuse. While abusive parents are found at all socioeconomic levels, neglect is probably more often a function of lack of resources rather than malice. But if wealthy people are likelier to believe that poor parents are simply constitutionally inferior than to see them as worthwhile people who need help, you can see how this could put abused and neglected children from poor families in a double bind. Prisons might be taking precedence over assistance to poor households for reasons people designing those policies haven't even given much thought to. 

The Real Welfare Queen

Remember that "welfare queen" from Chicago with all the dead husbands and the fake Social Security numbers whom Ronald Reagan made famous in 70s and 80s? It turns out she wasn't a figment of his overheated imagination after all. I'm not going to give more away than that because Josh Levin's investigative report about her in Slate is so beautifully written and the story itself is so shocking.

Jennifer Longdon interview on Canadian TV

I've had the good fortune of knowing a fair number of Canadians in my time. When I was stationed in Japan in the Navy twenty years ago (!) I hung out with a pack of expats in Tokyo most weekends, several of whom were Canucks. From 1995 to 1997, I was stationed at Keyport, Washington where I was part of a unit that did weapons training ops, mostly off the coast of Vancouver Island. We spent most of our off duty time in a town called Nanaimo, hanging out with locals. I developed a fondness for Tim Horton's that I still have to this day. 

Based on my experience, there are a couple of generalizations about Canadians I can safely make: 1. they think our for-profit health care system is insane and 2. they think we are completely batshit crazy with the all guns and the shootings down here, eh.

Red light runnners and illegal campaign signs

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Tucson Weekly today explores a dead-letter issue in the Tucson City Council race now that Tucson's political gadfly, John Kromko, and his political committee Tucson Traffic Justice failed to qualify a ballot measure banning traffic cameras for the November ballot.

The report itself is relatively innocuous, pointing out that Democratic city council members support the red-light cameras at designated intersections because they have substantailly reduced the number of accidents (the number of collisions at the monitored intersections has decreased from 188 in 2006 to 74 in 2012) and prevented injuries. It's fair to say the cameras have probably saved lives. The Tea-Publican candidates have doubts about the red-light cameras because "freedom!" to run red lights and to jeopardize other motorists on the road, or some such nonsense. Candid Camera Conflict.

One comment from Tea-Publican candidate Mike Polak jumps out:

"How do you know it didn't malfunction?" Polak asked. "They do malfunction, because our roads are in such poor condition here."

Polak's initial question is fair. I have challenged the cameras in court, to no avail (Arizona's courts treat the calibration of the cameras as proprietary and a trade secret not subject to discovery).

But Polak's statement that cameras malfunction because our roads are in poor condition? Damn, Dude. "Mr. Science" you are not. There is no cause and effect between a malfunctioning camera and poor road conditions. And by the way, our roads are in such poor condition because your Tea-Publican friends in the Arizona Legislature have been sweeping stealing HURF funds and state revenue sharing from the City of Tucson for years to "balance" the state budget with gimmicks. Maybe you should demand that your friends in the Arizona Legislature give back the money they stole from the City of Tucson.

Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio's Birther attorney and groupie, Larry Klayman, calls for a 'coup' against President Obama

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio's Birther attorney and groupie, Larry Klayman, who represented Citizens to Protect Fair Election Results, the Birther front group that sued Respect Arizona, the committee that tried to recall Arpaio, Birthers of the World Unite: Larry Klayman to Represent Group Defending Joe Arpaio, is back in the news again.

Judicial Watch founder Larry Klayman, who has previously called for an armed revolution in his WorldNutDaily column, is again calling for a "coup" against President Obama. Conservative Attorney Larry Klayman Sets Date For Coup Against Obama:

The conservative attorney and birther who called for a coup against President Barack Obama earlier this month has scheduled what he's describing as a "day of reckoning." 

Larry Klayman wrote Monday in Renew America that he's established Nov. 19 as the date that Obama will be forced to answer for his "criminality" and "Muslim, socialist, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, anti-white, pro-illegal immigrant, pro-radical gay and lesbian agenda."

Klayman said he hopes his supporters will "descend on Washington, D.C., en masse, and demand that [Obama] leave town and resign from office if he does not want to face prison time."

As he did earlier this month when he first floated his coup proposal, Klayman invoked the example of Egyptians toppling President Mohammed Morsi.

AIRC Update: Are Nixon's Plumbers back in business?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I don't know . . . the cops may want to interview G. Gordon Liddy to see if he alibis out. This sounds an awful lot like Nixon's White House Plumbers. I wouldn't put anything past the Tea-Publican operatives who are behind the effort to destroy the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC). Thieves steal computers from redistricting panel:

Burglars hit the offices of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission over the weekend, stealing portable computers, paperwork and a staffer’s personal effects.

Ray Bladine, the commission’s executive director, said staffers discovered the burglary Monday morning, when they arrived at work. The burglar or burglars entered through a ground-floor sash window on the north side of the commission’s office, which is in a 120-year-old Queen Anne-style building. An alarm system apparently did not work.

“Some of the files were turned over on the floor,” Bladine said. “All of the portable computers but one were stolen.”

He said he didn’t suspect any political motivation for the break-in, although the commission has been at the center of heated partisan debate for more than two years and is the subject of three ongoing lawsuits challenging the new political boundaries it drew for Congress and the Legislature. The state Department of Public Safety’s major-crimes unit is investigating.

New Research: 'Guns Do Not Make a Nation Safer'

by Pamela Powers Hannley

With each massacre of innocent citizens, the demand for action on gun control by the US Congress intensifies.

After the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012,  it appeared as if the national outrage over the massacre of 20 children and 6 school staff would finally push the Congress into action, but sadly, in April 2013, the most recent attempt at common sense gun control was thwarted by a Republican Party filibuster (which included both Arizona Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain.)

This week, a lone gunman opened fire in a Washington DC naval facility, killing 12 people and injuring 8 others before being killed by authorities. Within hours of the shooting, Senator Diane Feinstein, who sponsored gun control legislation earlier this year, called on Congress to revive gun control efforts.

Serendipitously for gun control advocates, The American Journal of Medicine released Gun Ownership and Firearm-related Deaths by Drs. Sripal Bangalore and Franz Messerli today.

More Guns Don't Make a Nation Safer

Read the details of the study after the jump and then forward it to your state legislators and your Congressional representatives.

The 'sovereign citizen' editorial the Arizona Republic should write

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There was an editorial opinion in the Arizona Republic today that harshes on a couple of yahoos recently arrested last month on U.S. 60 south of Wickenburg who called themselves "sovereign citizens." Our View: A word for 'sovereign citizens':

[They have] supercilious interpretations of the U.S. Constitution that supposedly permit citizens to declare themselves part of a “sovereign-citizen movement” that considers adherents beyond the reach of federal or state law, or any authority more distant than that of county sheriff.

* * *

The sovereign-citizen movement promotes a lot of what most of us call crime. Besides encouraging paper crimes such as creating bogus mortgages and liens, it also promotes hostility toward the police. Two “citizens” are on trial in Las Vegas on suspicion of conspiring to kidnap a policeman.

Sovereign citizens generally believe the minimalist government envisioned by the Founders has been replaced by an illegitimate government that holds no authority over them.

This is a conspiracy theory. It presumes that the choices of other citizens at the ballot box are meaningless and sovereigns alone are able to correctly interpret the Constitution.

That’s not politics. It’s narcissism.

They're baaack! Energy deregulation in Arizona?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Many of the states that went down the path of deregulation in the 1990s did an about-face when the results, typically, were not what was expected. The California Energy Crisis of the early 2000s and the Enron scandal -- remember them? -- led some states to reconsider deregulation. In Arizona, the Court of Appeals in 2004 ruled parts of the state’s deregulation rules were unconstitutional. Quick Reference Guide to Electricity Deregulation - Arizona's Energy Future (APS).

Unbridled greed and market manipulation in the commodities market is endemic. The banksters of Wall Streetare not to be trusted. Just last week, Goldman Sachs was disclosed to be manipulating the price of aluminum. Goldman Sachs's Aluminum Pile - NYTimes.com:

Unlike investors in the past that bought up the commodities they were trying to control, Goldman is not buying the world’s aluminum. Rather, it is storing the metal for other banks, traders and aluminum producers in a complex of warehouses outside Detroit that it acquired in 2010. The problem, as described in The Times by David Kocieniewski, is that since the bank entered this business, the time it takes buyers to get the metal from those warehouses has shot up to more than 16 months, from 6 weeks. Goldman has attributed the delays to a shortage of trucks and forklift drivers. But Goldman also pays incentives to owners of the metal to keep it in the bank’s warehouses.

Where is FAUX News outrage over GOP voter suppression?

Posted  by AzBlueMeanie:

Remember during the 2012 election, Colin Small, who worked for Pinpoint Stafffing, hired by the Republican Party of Virginia to register voters, was arrested for throwing away voter registration forms? Small previously worked for an Arizona firm called Strategic Allied Consulting -- run by a man named Nathan Sproul -- which was paid $1.3 million by the RNC to do voter registration work this cycle [2012]. The RNC fired the firm after reports came out that it had submitted hundreds of suspicious registration forms in Florida.*

Well, it turns out that Colin Small has been allowed to walk by the court in Virginia. WTF? Republican Who Tossed Voter Registration Forms Let Off The Hook:

The young Republican who grabbed national headlines after being arrested for throwing voter registration forms into a dumpster before the 2012 election won't be facing any legal consequences.

A judge in Virginia dropped several misdemeanor charges against Colin Small on Wednesday, meaning the 23-year-old will not face any penalties for discarding a number of voter registration forms. Felony charges were dropped back in April, but Small was still facing five misdemeanor counts until this week.

Attorney General Eric Holder's speech to the NAACP convention

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the annual convention of the NAACP on Tuesday, and in the wake of the George Zimmerman trial in Florida, he addressed the legitimate concerns of African-Americans that simply being a black male in America renders them a "criminal suspect." Attorney General Eric Holder denounces ‘stand your ground’ laws:

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. strongly condemned “stand your ground” laws Tuesday, saying the measures “senselessly expand the concept of self-defense” and may encourage “violent situations to escalate.”

* * *

“These laws try to fix something that was never broken,” Holder told cheering delegates of the annual convention of the NAACP, which is pressing him to file civil rights charges against Zimmerman. “The list of resulting tragedies is long and, unfortunately, has victimized too many who are innocent.”

The attorney general, who is the first African American ever to hold that position, drew parallels between his own life and the claims of many here that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin after spotting the teenager walking through his father’s neighborhood in a hooded sweatshirt. Martin was African American. Zimmerman’s father is white, his mother Peruvian.

Holder recalled being pulled over twice by police on the New Jersey Turnpike as a young man and having his car searched, “when I’m sure I wasn’t speeding.” Another time, he said, he was stopped by law enforcement in Georgetown while simply running to catch a movie after dark.

NRA apologists defend 'stand your ground' laws

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I posted about this the other day: the Washington Post reports, Everything you need to know about 'stand your ground' laws:

The National Rifle Association lobbied hard for the measure, while law enforcement officials like Miami’s police chief opposed it.

* * *

Since Florida became the first state to pass an explicit stand your ground law, more than 30 others have passed some version of it, with the help of a group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a organization that promotes conservative bills. Here’s a 2012 map of stand your ground laws nationwide.

In the wake of the Florida case, we can expect an increase in calls to repeal or at least revisit the laws across the country.

I have been waiting to see how long it takes before the push-back begins from the "happiness is a warm gun" crowd at the NRA. Today we hear from "Ms. NRA," Governor Jan Brewer in the senior division, and from "Miss NRA," Arizona Republic columnist Joanna Allhands, in the junior division.

Prediction: Zimmerman Serves Time, Eventually

Posted by Bob Lord

I'm not referring to the potential Justice Department case. If the Justice Department pursues Zimmerman for a civil rights violation, this post is a moot point.

But assume that doesn't happen.

Zimmerman right now is telling himself he better clean up his act, because next time he may not be so likely. His father, his older brother and his wife likely are telling him the same thing. But deep down inside, Zimmerman knows he just got away with murder. And in his mind of minds, he thinks he can get it away with it again.  

Remember, this was not Zimmerman's first brush with the law, or even his second. Zimmerman has a criminal bent. Short term, his trial will cause him to be more careful. Long term, it will cause him to be more brazen. One day, the animal in Zimmerman will act out again. It may not be another murder, but it will involve violence. 

It may take awhile, but one day Zimmerman will spend time behind bars. 

UPDATE: Tammy saw this and had a different prediction: Zimmerman will be the next Fox News Host. The smart money likely is on her. 

A license to kill

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

No, I am not referring to James Bond, 007. Any American living in a state that has lax gun laws and stand your ground laws, and which permits its citizens to engage in vigilante justice (like Arizona) has the tacit approval of the state for a license to kill. It is a sickness in our culture.

There are two good opinions on this topic that I have read. The first is Ed Kilgore at the Political Animal Blog, who writes, Licenses to Kill:

[T]he more I think about it, the real aberration in law and society that’s been exposed by this case involves the incentives offered to Zimmerman and people like him—not just in Sanford, Florida, but in much of the country. At TAP, Scott Lemieux nails it:

Carrying a deadly weapon in public should carry unique responsibilities. In most cases someone with a gun should not be able to escape culpability if he initiates a conflict with someone unarmed and the other party ends up getting shot and killed. Under the current law in many states, people threatened by armed people have few good options, because fighting back might create a license to kill. As the New Yorker’s Amy Davidson puts it, “I still don’t understand what Trayvon was supposed to do.” Unless the law is changed to deal with the large number of people carrying concealed guns, there will be more tragic and unnecessary deaths of innocent people like Trayvon Martin for which nobody is legally culpable. And to make claims of self-defense easier to bring, as Florida and more than 20 other states have done, is moving in precisely the wrong direction. And, even more importantly, no matter how self-defense laws are structured the extremely unusual American practice of allowing large number of citizens to carry concealed weapons leads to many unecessary deaths. (All 50 states, it’s worth noting, permit concealed carry.)

George Zimmerman verdict: let's change the law

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It is simply too easy to assert that the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial was due to racism, although racial profiling and stereotyping, and appeals to racial prejudice were certainly part of the defense strategy in this case.

In the end, the defense successfully put Travyon Martin on trial rather than George Zimmerman. The defense made Travyon Martin the perpetrator rather than the victim of the crime. They were able to do so because of Florida's perverse criminal laws.

I was deeply offended by defense counsels' statements after the verdict, when asked if the race of the individuals  had been reversed, would the outcome of the trial have been the same? Defense counsels asserted that there never would have been a trial because civil rights organizations would not have pressured prosecutors into bringing charges against an African-American -- a perverse claim of "reverse racism" that the race-baiters at FAUX News Fraudcasting have been hyping incessantly to their white grievance audience. (FAUX News was promoting the possibility of post-Rodney King verdict race riots breaking out after the verdict in this case. FAUX News is a malignant cancer in American journalism). As defense counsels tell it, George Zimmerman was the innocent victim of a lynch mob of civil rights organizations and the media. This is an alternate reality designed expressly for consumption by the conservative media entertainment complex. Defense counsels are shameless.

Shake up in the Arizona Senate

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This past week may portend a shake up in the Arizona Senate with two members leaving, and two more members potentially leaving under the threat of prosecution and ethics complaints.

Sen. Richard Crandall (R-Mesa) is leaving to run the Wyoming Education Department. Crandall is considered a "moderate" in the modern-day Tea-Publican Party of wild-eyed crazies, and is likely to be replaced by a Tea-Publican less pragmatic and willing to compromise than he is. This bodes ill for the bipartisanship that helped to pass the Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration/expansion plan.

Sen. Jack Jackson Jr. (D-Window Rock) is leaving to take a job at the State Department as the liaison to Native American tribes on environmental issues. I have not heard any speculation on who his replacement might be. If you know any scuttlebutt, post it in the comments.

NSA leaker comes forward

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Washington Post is reporting Edward Snowden identified as source of NSA leaks:

Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old system administrator and former undercover CIA employee, unmasked himself Sunday as the principal source of recent Washington Post and Guardian disclosures about top-secret NSA programs, denouncing what he described as systematic surveillance of innocent citizens and saying in an interview, “it’s important to send a message to government that people will not be intimidated.”

* * *

Snowden, whose full name is Edward Joseph Snowden, said he understands the risks of disclosing the information, but that he felt it was the right thing to do.

“I intend to ask for asylum from any countries that believe in free speech and oppose the victimization of global privacy,” Snowden told the Post. The Guardian was the first to publicly identify Snowden. Both media organizations made his name public with his consent.

“I’m not going to hide,” Snowden said Sunday afternoon. “Allowing the U.S. government to intimidate its people with threats of retaliation for revealing wrongdoing is contrary to the public interest.”

“I’m not going to hide” and “I intend to ask for asylum" are contradictory statements, Mr. Snowden. True courage means turning yourself in to stand trial in the U.S.

Louisiana Senator Proposes Openly Racist Amendment Kicking Ex-Cons Off Food Stamps

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Many of us are wise to the racist private prison pipeline for people of color in the US. Black men have been incarcerated at higher rates than white men for decades. Thanks harsh immigration laws, brown men and women now make up the highest proportion of our federal prison system.

To add insult to injury, Senator Vitter has proposed an amendment to the farm bill which would prohibit anyone convicted of a crime from ever receiving food stamps during their lifetimes.

So, a 19-year-old man who serves prison time and returns to society rehabilitated would never be allowed to get subsidized food while he is trying to rebuild his life. What is his likely course of action? More crime? It could happen.

This amendment is openly racist. The only benefit would be to the private prison industry.

Read more about this in this story from Colorlines. Then call Senators Flake and McCain.

West, Texas disaster a regulatory failure

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The West Fertilizer Co. explosion in West, Texas last week put an exclamation point on the need for government safety regulations and enforcement. The "free market" philosophy of no regulations and the mythical honor system imposed by the market place gets people killed.

This company appears to have pushed the envelope to see how much it could get away with -- and due to lax regulations and enforcement by "business friendly" Texas regulatory agencies, it got away with quite a lot.

There is plenty of blame to go around here, from the company, to state regulators, to the local planning & zoning board of West, Texas (assuming it had one).

The Dallas Morning News reports today, West Fertilizer Co.'s environmental compliance problems go back decades:

West Fertilizer Co.’s problems complying with Texas environmental rules go back decades, state records show.

In 1984, the company moved two large pressurized tanks of liquid anyhydrous ammonia, a potentially lethal poison, from a site in nearby Hill County to its current location in West without notifying state authorities.

Seven years passed before Texas regulators took notice and told the company to fix its paperwork. The tanks had sat at their new location, near homes, schools and a nursing home, with little or no state oversight for all that time.

The company’s regulatory history going back to 1976 comes to light as investigators seek the cause of last week’s fertilizer explosion that killed at least 14 people.

Rand Paul down with using drones to summarily execute American citizens

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Just last month the village idiot Aqua Buddha, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), led a filibuster against the notion of using drones on American soil. Wingnuttia went wild with "I Stand with Rand" hashtags on twitter, fund raising emails, and even a line of merchandize online. There was a brief "Paul bump" in Beltway media villager speculation about 2016.

So this is fun. On Monday, Aqua Buddha told FAUX News that he is down with using drones on American soil and using them to summarily execute American citizens without the niceties of constitutional due process. Oh yes he did. John Aravosis reports, Rand Paul favors using $12m drones to kill liquor store robbers (video):

In a weird moment of macho bravado, Rand Paul told Fox the following:

I’ve never argued against any technology being used when you have an imminent threat, an active crime going on. If someone comes out of a liquor store with a weapon and fifty dollars in cash, I don’t care if a drone kills him or a policeman kills him…

Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham: Screw the Constitution

Posted  by AzBlueMeanie:

Remember just a few weeks ago when the right-wing was all in a tizzy about the village idiot Aqua Buddha, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan for CIA Director over the use of drones in the U.S.? There was a lot of highfalutin talk from these right-wingers about the constitutional rights of American citizens on American soil -- when they thought they were talking about far-right fringe groups like white supremacists, Christian nationalists, the militia movement, and gun worshipers and fetishists.

Then came the Boston Marathon bombing.

The 19-year old Boston Bomber suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is a naturalized American citizen. He possesses the same constitutional rights as any natural born American citizen. A naturalized American citizen does not lose his constitutional rights any more than a natural born American citizen who is a terrorist, Timothy McVeigh for example, loses his constitutional rights.

But the "war on terror" twins, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, are once again seeking to redefine the constitutional rights of American citizens under the rubric of their Neocon "war on terror." They would declare criminal actions an "act of war" for convenience sake and to declare American citizens on American soil an "enemy combatant" in order to deprive American citizens of their constitutional rights.

Americans have more to fear from the "war on terror" twins, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, than any wingnut conspiracy theory about President Obama using drones to kill American citizens on American soil. This pair of assholes actually wrote their bastardization of the Constitution into law, and the U.S. Supreme Court took a pass on its constitutionality. This threat is genuine.

Boston reacts to the capture of the Marathon bomber

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Today's front page of the Boston Globe.

Boston rejoiced after news of the capture of the Marathon bomber. It reminded me of the celebration after their beloved Red Sox won the 2004 World Series and ended the curse of the Bambino after 86 years. It's famously been said that "Boston cares about three things: sports, politics and revenge." These terrorists picked the wrong friggin' city! Video below the fold.

BREAKING in Boston: One suspect dead, one being sought

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

From the Boston Globe:

The Boston Globe reports, People in Boston, surrounding communities, told to stay indoors as hunt for Marathon bombing suspect continues in Watertown:

WATERTOWN — A massive manhunt is underway this morning in Boston and several surrounding communities for one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon terror bombing attacks. A second suspect has died in a confrontation with police, while one police officer has been killed and another has been seriously wounded.

At 8:45 a.m., a SWAT team and armored car had been summoned and police were surrounding a home and a car near the intersection of Willow Park and Quimby in Watertown, the community that officials said is the focus of their search.

“They’re pointed across the street. Guns are pointed across the street. There have been hundreds of cops here throughout the day,” said Natalie, a resident of Willow Park, who declined to give her last name.

FBI manhunt for Boston Marathon suspects

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The FBI held a press conference this afternoon and released photos and video of two suspects the FBI wants more information on and to take into custody for questioning.

From the FBI (h/t Business Insider):

From the posters:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking information about the individual shown in the above surveillance photos which were taken near the bombing sites at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.

This individual may be able to provide additional information related to the bombings, which resulted in the deaths of three victims and the injuries of more than 170 people.

The photo below with unknown suspect #1 and #2 was taken as the individuals were walking east at the intersection of Boylston and Gloucester Streets within proximity of the finish line.

SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS

If you have any information about the identities of the individuals depicted above, please call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit information at https://bostonmarathontips.fbi.gov/.

Video below the fold.

Update on Boston Marathon bombing

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I really hate doing breaking news stories because the media invariably gets so much wrong. While I checked multiple sources yesterday, even multiple sourcing proved to be wrong. Even Boston's police chief got it wrong in his first press conference.

So here is the latest update from the Boston Globe today correcting earlier reporting. Investigators find bomb circuit board:

Investigators combing through the aftermath of the deadly Boston Marathon terrorist attack have recovered a circuit board in the area of one of the two blasts that they believe was used to detonate the bombs, according to an official briefed on the investigation.

Investigators have also recovered components of the bombs, enabling them to determine what they consisted of: two 6-liter 'Pressure cooker' bombs packed with nails, ball bearings, and other metal. The makeshift bombs were placed in black duffel bags, the official said.

The one that exploded first was placed on the ground on Boylston Street, across from finish-line viewing stands where dignitaries, including Governor Deval Patrick, had been sitting earlier. The second bag was placed on the ground about 75 to 100 yards down the street, outside the Forum restaurant at 755 Boylston St., according to the official.

The bombs, detonated about 12 seconds apart, killed three people and injured 176 others, including 17 who are still in critical condition.

It's time to hold the architects of illegal torture accountable for their crimes

Posted  by AzBlueMeanie:

Can we seat a Nuremberg Tribunal-style panel of judges now to hold the architects of illegal torture accountable for their crimes in the name of America? (Statutes of limitations do not apply to war crimes).

The New York Times today reports  "A nonpartisan, independent review of interrogation and detention programs in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks concludes that 'it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture' and that the nation’s highest officials bore ultimate responsibility for it." U.S. Engaged in Torture After 9/11, Review Concludes:

The sweeping, 577-page report [Document: Constitution Project’s Report on Detainee Treatment] says that while brutality has occurred in every American war, there never before had been “the kind of considered and detailed discussions that occurred after 9/11 directly involving a president and his top advisers on the wisdom, propriety and legality of inflicting pain and torment on some detainees in our custody.” The study, by an 11-member panel convened by the Constitution Project, a legal research and advocacy group, is to be released on Tuesday morning.

UPDATED with New Events: Progressives, Mark Your Calendars for April Events!

April3 Update: New events have been added for April 6 and 9.

It’s only April 1, but already there is an impressive line-up of progressive events taking shape this month. In addition to these educational events, there are multiple fund-raisers for candidates, parties, and causes in April.  The list below is not meant to be all-inclusive. (Check out Facebook and the Pima County Democratic Party calendar or the calendar on Blog for Arizona for other events-- including multiple opportunities to donate.) The Tucson events included here are all free and are related to one or more Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) core policy issues: economic and social justice, universal healthcare, clean elections, ending corporate personhood, clean environment, or ending the wars.

April 2: Community Vision for the Ronstadt Bus Center

The Tucson Bus Riders Union and the Primavera Foundation are sponsoring a community forum to gather Tucsonans’ ideas on what should be done with the Ronstadt Transit Center on Congress Street. For several years, developers have been eyeing the Ronstadt Center for demolition and relocation out of downtown. If you believe that it is important for a sustainable city to have a bus terminal downtown—near restaurants, retail shops, major employers, and the new street car line—come to this meeting at the Rialto Theater, beginning at 5:30. For more information, call 624-0312 or email [email protected] or go to the event’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/events/496939023698809/.

April 3: Solar Energy Efficiency vs the Status Quo

The Tucson Chapter of Drinking Liberally is sponsoring a joint presentation by Bruce Plenk, City of Tucson Solar Energy Coordinator, and Russell Lowes, Sierra Club Rincon Group Energy Chair and Research Director forwww.SafeEnergyAnalyst.org. The DL social hour begins at 6 p.m., with the speakers beginning around 7 p.m. on the patio of The Shanty. For more information, check out DL’s Facebook event http://www.facebook.com/events/104680899727634/.

More events after the jump.

Tucsonans Fight to Keep City Safe for Guns-- Not People (videos)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

If only Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik had kept his big mouth shut about this whole gun control thing...but, no, he dared to discuss gun control at a public forum, he sponsored a local gun-buyback-and-destroy program on the anniversary of the Tucson Massacre, and he pushed for (and passed) an ordinance requiring gun show background checks.

Now to combat Koz's jack-booted attempts at sensible gun control laws to take away their freedoms, Tucson gun nuts patriots Charles Heller and Sean McClusky are working hard at make Arizona a safer place for guns-- lots of guns.

Heller opposed Koz's gun buyback because innocent guns were destroyed. Instead he supported fromer State Senator Frank Antenori's parking lot gun sales which allowed private citizens to freely sell their guns to strangers, which held on the same day at basically the same location. More recently, Heller appeared on the Daily Show touting the merits of a new law in the Arizona Legislature which would bar law enforcement from destroying guns.

McClusky-- working with The Armed Citizen Project-- also wants to break down barriers to gun ownership-- by giving them to Tucsonans who live in high-crime areas-- specifically the Pueblo Gardens Neighborhood, the Midvale Park Neighborhood, and midtown Tucson neighborhoods. (What could go wrong?) Videos and details after the jump.

The NRA undermines enforcement of gun-safety regulation

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A new Center for American Progress report details how the NRA has quietly made enforcing existing gun laws nearly impossible by sneaking so-called “riders” into annual appropriations bills funding various government functions in order to avoid scrutiny in the regular legislative process. How The NRA Secretly Protects People Who Commit Crimes With Guns:

The CAP report outlines several key riders the NRA has used to cripple gun regulation, mainly by weakening the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives:

Banned the ATF from managing its own data. Through riders, the NRA has stripped the ATF of its independence and limited the agency’s ability to manage its own data. Since 1979, the ATF has been banned from consolidating its gun sales records into a centralized database, making it extremely difficult for the agency and law enforcement to track guns in crimes. As the CAP report notes, “ATF receives an average of 1.3 million records from out-of-business dealers each month, and it is forced to keep these records in boxes in warehouses or on microfiche.” In 2004, the ATF was further restricted from disclosing any data on guns found at crime scenes to the public. Research indicates that real ATF prosecution can deter gun dealers from selling to criminals; currently, one percent of gun dealers sell half the guns used in crimes. Obama’s gun prevention plan, smeared as “tyranny” by gun advocates, would finally appoint a director to the ATF for the first time in six years and give the agency better resources to create a gun trafficking database.

Brewer on Immigrant Prisoner Release: Misplaced Blame

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is pissed off at President Obama for releasing immigration prisoners from jail. She believes that the administration is playing some sort of high school payback game to punish Arizona. Puleeezzz.

If Brewer wants to blame someone for the nationwide immigrant prisoner release, she should blame Arizona Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain who stood with all of the other Republican Senators and allowed sequestration budget cuts to move forward.

You'll note that Brewer is not complaining about the tens of thousands of jobs that will be lost in Arizona, or the $17.7 million that Arizona's primary and secondary education programs will lose, or the empoverished Arizona children who will be tossed out of Head Start. She only cares about losses to Corrections Corporation of America's bottom line. 

Arrests, deportations, protests: Is Tucson an immigrant-friendly city or not?

by Pamela Powers Hannley

On Sunday, Tucson Police and the Border Patrol arrested Rene Meza Huertha, in front of his wife and children, and arrested activist Raúl Alcaráz Ochoa, who was trying to prevent the arrest of Huertha. This action by TPD is in direct violation of the City Council's vote in August 2012-- making Tucson an "immigrant friendly" city. From the Arizona Daily Star...

"We don't want people to feel fear when traveling to work, to school, to the store," [City Councilwoman Regina] Romero said before the meeting. "We also don't want people to be afraid to call the police to report a crime."

She said a conversation now will begin among the city, immigrant communities, businesses, the Tucson Police Department and others about how to make the city more welcoming.

Activists are calling for a protest and press conference today, Monday, February 18 at 4 p.m., outside of TPD. 

On a related note, the American Friends Service Committee, Border Links, Derechos Humanos, and other immigrant supporters, including the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, will hold a press conference and protest of Operation Streamline on Tuesday, February 19, at 12:30 at the Federal Courthouse. The Operation Streamline action leads up to a Congressional hearing on this policy on February 22 in DC. Details and background on both of these actions after the jump.

No sympathy for the devil

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Joseph Ratzinger aka "Joey Rats," better known today as Pope Benedict XVI, announced that he is resigning from the Papacy on Monday. I didn't even know that was a possibility, I had to look it up. The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415 as part of a political settlement to end the Western Schism when there were three claimants to the throne: the Roman Pope Gregory XII, Avignon Antipope Benedict XIII, and Pisan Antipope John XXIII.

Canon law does not specify any particular individual or body or people to whom the pope must manifest his resignation (Judy Blume's book title immediately popped to mind: "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret" -- I quit), but Pope Celestine V in 1294 issued a solemn decree declaring it permissible for a pope to resign, and then he immediately resigned -- "I'm outta here!"  Since Celestine's decree was never revoked, he set a precedent for a valid papal resignation. Who knew? They didn't teach us Vatican palace intrigue in my Catholic catechism classes.

"Joey Rats" was the Vatican enforcer for Pope John Paul II -- who is no saint -- before ascending to the throne himself. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as  the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition (yes, that Inquisition). It was his job to cover-up the numerous pedophile priest sex crimes and to reassign these priests to enable them to avoid criminal prosecution. "Joey Rats" had compassion for the sinner priests, but apparently not so much for their innocent victims. (I went to Catholic school with some of these victims).

Tucsonans Voice Opinions on Background Checks at Gun Shows (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Last week, in an historic move, the Tucson City Council advanced a resolution to require universal background checks on all sales at gun shows on city owned or city managed property. 

This action was taken during the afternoon study session. Council chambers were filled to capacity later that day for the regular meeting. By far, proponents of gun control outnumbered the people against it. This was obvious because they were wearing "Common Sense Gun Laws" buttons. During the call to the audience, 20 people volunteered to speak in favor of the gun show resolution; three volunteered to speak against it-- two Tea Party representatives and one gun show promoter, whose family has profited from shows at the Tucson Convention Center for 20 years. After the jump, watch the video from the call to the audience.

How many gun shows is too many?

 

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Gun Show Trader boasts the "largest gun show list" in the US. According to this website, there are 1137 gun shows currently scheduled. 

Given the recent Tucson City Council decision to require background checks of any gun show conducted on city property, I looked up the number of gun shows coming up in Arizona. As of today, February 6, 2013, Gun Show Trader shows 30 gun shows scheduled for Arizona in 2013 and 2 so far for 2014.

For 2013, there are 7 gun shows scheduled for Tucson, 6 for Mesa, 5 for Phoenix, 3 for Glendale, and the other 9 are everywhere else in Arizona. To put this into perspective, one must compare the number of gun shows scheduled for Arizona with other states. Which state has the most upcoming gun shows? Texas, of course, with 103. (That was too easy.) The spread of scheduled gun shows nationwide is 0 to 103. Check out the data by state after the jump.

Gun Appreciation Day: Did it backfire? (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Gun Appreciation Day was observed nationally on Saturday, January 19. Gun owners were encouraged to hold rallies, go to gun shows, go to shooting ranges, or participate in other activities in support of lax gun regulation ... er... unfettered gun ownership.

In Phoenix, a motley crew of gun nuts ...er... group of patriots rallied at the state capitol. I can't think of a better place for the rally, since Arizona Republicans are proposing a bill that would make any federal laws aimed at curbing gun violence... er... limiting 2nd Amendment freedoms unenforceable in Arizona. 

Here in Tucson, there was no Gun Appreciation Day rally, but KGUN managed to find a few guys on the shooting range. 

For me, the biggest news coming out of Gun Appreciation Day are the stories of shootings at gun shows held that day. Five people shot themselves or someone else at three different gun shows (accidently, of course). And they think guns make them safer?

Did Gun Appreciation Day backfire? (Videos after the jump.)

Border Patrol removes blankets, water left by humanitarian aid volunteers (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Border Patrol agents have been caught on video destroying water jugs and removing clean blankets that No More Deaths humanitarian volunteers left in the Arizona desert for border crossers. 

From No More Deaths...
 

Tucson, AZ- A hidden camera video released by Tucson-based humanitarian organization No More Deaths shows an agent of the U.S. Border Patrol removing clean blankets and food intended for migrants in distress. 

Videos of Border Patrol behaving badly and more details after the jump.

Evil twins ALEC & the NRA: Working to keep America safe for capitalism

by Pamela Powers Hannley

While many Americans are clamoring for gun control legislation on multiple levels, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the National Rifle Association (NRA) are working hard to maintain the status quo-- which ensures the safety of gun manufactures and sellers-- to the detriment of the American public. Tea Party minions-- like former Legislator Frank Antenori [So, doesn't Raytheon find this employee's antics a bit embarrassing?] and the nuts behind this event-- are marching in lockstep behind their corporate masters. 

For another look at the evil twins-- ALEC and the NRA-- check out this story from ColorOfChange.org...

Pressed hard for a response to the tragic shooting deaths of 20 young children and 7 adults in Newtown, the National Rifle Association (NRA) finally broke its silence to announce that the solution to gun violence is more guns. It just doesn't make any sense — unless you're in the gun business.

As a long-time funder of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — and co-chair of its Public Safety and Elections Task Force — the NRA has directly authored dozens of "model" gun access laws that fly in the face of commonsense efforts to reduce gun violence.¹

And now, despite the wave of bad publicity ALEC's received for pushing Florida's NRA-drafted "Shoot First" law out to 25 other states, it's clear the NRA isn't prepared to clean up its act. 

More commentary and lots of links after the jump.

New US immigration report reveals 'formidable' & expensive machinery to secure border

by Pamela Powers Hannley

A detailed new report release by the Migration Policy Institute reveals the sophistication and cost-- both human and monetary-- of the United States' immigration policy in recent years.

According to the nearly 200-page report, the US system is based upon 6 pillars: border enforcement; visa controls and travel screening; information and interoperability of data systems; workplace enforcement; intersection between criminal justice system and immigration enforcement; and detention and removal of noncitizens. Each area is described in detail. 

The report includes a wealth of information about the intricacies of the Department of Homeland Security and how immigration enforcement intersects with the criminal justice system, the FBI, and the CIA. Probably the most dramatic finding is:

The US government spends more on its immigration enforcement agencies than on all its other principal criminal federal law enforcement agencies combined. In FY 2012, spending for CBP [Customs and Border Protection], ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], and US-VISIT reached nearly $18 billion. This amount exceeds by approximately 24 percent total spending for the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Secret Service, US Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), which stood at $14.4 billion in FY 2012.

Judging by resource levels, case volumes, and enforcement actions...immigration enforcement can thus be seen to rank as the federal government's highest criminal law enforcement priority.

Whoa. More key findings after the jump.

The 'less-than-do-nothing' Tea-Publican 112th Congress leaves work unfinished

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A couple of items the "less-than-do-nothing" Tea-Publican 112th Congress, the "Worst. Congress, Ever.", left unfinished last night.

First, was Hurricane Sandy relief which has Northeast politicians from Rep. Peter King (R-NY) to Governor Chris Chrisitie (R-NJ) fuming today. Gov. Christie lambastes ‘toxic’ House Republicans over Sandy aid delay:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) condemned House Republicans Wednesday afternoon for failing to pass a $60 billion package of funding for Hurricane Sandy relief. In the strongest terms, he accused House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) of letting “toxic internal politics” impede necessary storm relief. 

“There’s only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these victims: the House majority and their speaker,” Christie said. “It was disappointing and disgusting to watch.”

* * *

President Obama has called on the House to immediately pass the aid package.

The governor said that the lawmakers had failed to put the country before their own political careers, showing “callous indifference to the suffering of the people of my state.”

The package “could not overcome toxic internal politics of the House majority,” Christie said. ”Shame on you, shame on Congress.” He went on to criticize lawmakers who suggested there was  too much unnecessary spending in the bill as “know-nothings” who “should spend a little less time reading the political talking points put together by their staff.”

Christie said he called Boehner four times late last night, and the speaker did not return his calls.

Economics analysis of mandatory liability insurance for gun ownership

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I have posted about this previously, Public Policy of Personal Responsibility: Require Mandatory Liability Insurance for Firearms. Brad Plumer at Ezra Klein's Wonkblog has some economics analysis of this idea in The economics of gun control:

First, here’s a recent paper (pdf) by Duke’s Philip Cook and Georgetown’s Jens Ludwig trying to quantify the “external cost” of gun ownership. The two economists wanted to figure out precisely what sorts of costs gun owners impose on the rest of society.

That’s not an easy question to answer. For starters, there aren’t even airtight estimates of how many people actually own guns in the United States. So Cook and Ludwig created a data set that used the number of suicides by firearm in a county as a proxy for gun ownership — and checked it against a variety of existing survey data.

The next step was to figure out the “social cost” of owning a gun. The two economists determined that a greater prevalence of guns in an area was associated with an increase in the murder rate, but not other types of violent crimes (guns, the authors argue, lead to “an intensification of criminal violence”). Why does this happen? One possibility: The two economists found evidence that if there are more legal guns in an area, it’s more likely that those guns will be transferred to “illegal” owners.

Our society must move beyond violence against women

by Pamela Powers Hannley

This week the story of domestic violence charges against former Mexican American Studies (MAS) Director Sean Arce bubbled up on the Arizona Daily Independent (ADI) blog and on Facebook, where discussions continue to roil. Prior to ADI's initial blog post on December 27, 2012, rumors were swirling around regarding what happened on December 9, 2012, the night Arce and his compadres celebrated his birthday. Now we have ADI's account-- written from the police report and reaction from people across the political spectrum, including this blogger. Unfortunately, none of the lame stream media outlets have chosen to cover this story.

Did Arce aggressively confront his ex-wife in a local restaurant? Did he follow her home, break into the house, and break windows-- causing Essence Arce to flee? That is for the courts to decide, but, in my opinion, the police report (which alludes to dried blood on Arce's hands when he was arrested) is very damming. 

My goal here is not to try Arce's case in the court of public opinion, but to point out that IF the domestic violence charges against him are true, we have yet another local case of a powerful man abusing his power and acting in a violent or at least highly inappropriate manner toward women. In recent months, Arizona has seen SIX powerful men charged with domestic violence or sexual harassment.

Women are murdered every day in this country by husbands, lovers, and former partners. In the workplace, women are subjected to harassment and discrimination. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. For more details, continue reading after the jump.

Our Dysfunctional Political System and Gun Violence

By Michael Bryan

Ask Ron Barber to lead on sensible gun policies.

Let me preface this post by stating a few facts: I am a gun owner, I am a sportsman (though much more so when I was younger, than now), I had a concealed carry permit (when such a thing was still required in AZ), and I am a prosecutor who has seen first-hand the tragic results of guns in the wrong hands.

The growing epidemic of mass shootings in this country now stands at 62 incidents since 1982, according to a Mother Jones magazine investigation. The nexus between gun laws becoming ever-more lax and poor mental health care and invervention has been and remains a major public safety issue in this country.

Yet Congress has done almost nothing to address the very real and present danger to public safety posed by the combination of madness and easily available weapons designed to kill many people very quickly.

Our political system has become so dysfunctional that even a problem that is murdering innocents on a regular basis cannot seem to be addressed. Our policy-making systems are so captured by special interests, so riven by ideological extremism, and so paralyzed by an unconstitutional and anti-democratic super-majority requirement in the Senate, that it seems naive to even hope that our leaders can propose and pass reasonable policies to slow the carnage.

Jimmy Carter calls for legalization of marijuana (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Former President Jimmy Carter has given a "full throated endorsement" of states' efforts to legalize marijuana.

Alluding to a 1979 speech in which he called for decriminalization of marijuana, Carter said the US has gone backwards in its policies. (He called for decriminalization in 1979? How did I miss that? Oh, yeah, 1979, I ... er... must not have been paying attention ... for some reason.)

In an interview with CNN (video here), Carter also said that the nation's marijuana-related incarceration laws discriminate against blacks, Latinos and the mentally ill and are unnecessarily imprisoning far too many US citizens. For every person imprisoned in 1979 for marijuana, there are 8 in jail today, according to Carter.

More details, check out the CNN video, this story in the Huffington Post, or this story from ABC News. After the jump, watch the documentary Breaking the Taboo, in which Carter says the War on Drugs has failed, and the US should rethink its drug policies. (Well, duh. I'm glad a well-respected elder statesman like Carter spoke up. President Obama, the ball is in your court.)

UA students & activists ask DeConcini: 'Why did you sell your soul to CCA?' (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Today, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) is meeting on the University of Arizona campus. One of ABOR's most infamous members is former Senator Dennis DeConcini.

Why is DeConcini being villified through social media and the blogs? Because he's also a stockholder and member of the Board of Directors of the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which builds, owns, and manages private prisons across the country.

Arizona has multiple CCA prisons-- thanks to close ties between CCA and Governor Jan Brewer, former State Senate President Russell Pearce, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) boosters in the Arizona Legislature, and DeConcini. More background and a video shot on the UA campus, after the jump.

'CCA, go away': Florida residents say 'no' to nation's largest deportation center (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Private prisons are a "infecting our nation like a virus," according to Florida activists who are fighting against the construction of one of the nation's largest immigrant deportation centers. 

From their website...

We do not agree with the federal government privatizing our immigration detention centers throughout the nation when there is clear evidence that privatizing our prisons creates a clear public safety threat. For ICE to continue to privatize these institutions and bring this safety threat through their "secure communities Initiative" to our community is unacceptable. Depriving someone of their liberty is a non-delegable governmental function and privatizing of such a function is infecting our nation like a virus.

What about Arizona? Governor Jan Brewer and many in the Arizona Legislature are loyal private prison boosters-- to the detriment of our residents. Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) runs six private prisons in Arizona. In addition to the well-know immigrant detention centers, CCA also runs DUI prisons. CCA likes to have all of their beds full. Is it any wonder, then, that Arizona has some of the toughest immigration laws and toughest drunk driving laws? Watch anti-CCA protesters in Florida after the jump.

Bradley Manning and Julian Assange: Free speech warriors or terrorists?

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Yesterday and today, Private Bradley Manning testified in his own defense in a military court. Manning has been imprisoned for 921 days without a trial because he allegedly sent secret US documents to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who published thousands of pages of previously classified material.

Are Assange and Manning free speech warriors who wanted the world to know about the secret dealings of the US government (as well as other governments)? Or are they terrorists?

Whatever your viewpoint, it will be fascinating to see how this story unfolds now that Manning is allowed to talk.

Check out this very detailed Huffington Post story by Assange, who is in exile in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Two Years of Cablegate as Bradley Manning Testifies for the First Time

Immigration reform: What role will Ron Barber play?

by Pamela Powers Hannley

The Republican vs Republican-lite Congressional District 2 race has finally been called. Congressman Ron Barber defeated Colonel Marthy McSally in a very tight contest.

With the special election primary, the special election, and the general election, Barber has been running for office for 10 months of this year. Now, he can finally relax into his new Capitol Hill seat.

But, wait, there's more... now, he has to stand up and be our Congressman.

And immigration reform-- a hot-button Southern Arizona issue, for sure-- is at the top of President Barack Obama's priority list, after his rainbow-hued election win. With his delayed deportation for Dreamers and his focus on deporting undocumented criminals (and not your housekeeper), Obama has been inching forward on immigration reform. 

What will the role of Baja Arizona's new Congressman be? Find out after the jump.