Month: November 2012

TUSD Unitary Status Plan: Multiple ways to comment (without leaving your house)

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Post-unitary-sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

Parents, students, teachers, and activists have been abuzz in recent weeks about the new Proposed Desegregation/Unitary Status Plan for Tucson Unified School District (TUSD).

Mexican American Studies (MAS) advocates see the new plan as a potential way to bring back the program that was killed a year ago by the TUSD Governing Board, after it was found by the State of Arizona to be in violation of HB2281 and, therefore, in the opinion of the government… illegal. 

This week, three pulbic forums will be held, and after those meetings, the plan's public review and comment period will end on Nov. 28, 2012. Information about the forums and other ways to comment on the proposed plan (without leaving your house) after the jump.

The Insidiously Seductive Nature of Libertarian Philosophy

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Posted by Bob Lord

Libertarian philosophy is beautiful in its simplicity. It also is ugly in its simplicity, because, well, things aren't that simple. It's a shame Libertarians are unwilling to stray from their rigid doctrine. It might allow them to capture more of a following. Certainly, on matters of civil liberty, their platform is superior to that of either the Republicans, who seek to legislate morality, or Democrats, who don't have a coherent philosophy. The Libertarian philosophy on foreign affairs also has a lot to say for itself. And the Libertarian philosophy in military affairs contains an element utterly lacking in both the Republican and Democratic philosophies — a shred of human decency and morality.

I've had significant exposure to Libertarian thinking. My sister was the Libertarian candidate for Vice-President in 1992. We've had numerous conversations on the topic. She knows her principles cold. She can apply them to virtually every policy question that arises, with dependable, predictable results. But when peppered with questions about details and nuance, she has no answers. 

Wal-Mart Black Friday protests statewide in Arizona (video)

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Huelga209-sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

Wal-Mart workers, unionists, and supporters protested Wal-Mart's unfair labor practices and low wages in Arizona and across the country on Black Friday, Nov. 23, 2012. In dueling press releases on Saturday, representatives from the United Food and Commercial Workers reported 1000 protests nationwide at Wal-Mart stores, while the retail giant said they had the largest Black Friday ever and that the protests didn't hurt their business.

In Tempe, protesters nearly blocked the flow of traffic in and out of a Wal-Mart parking lot. Representatives from the Unitarian Universalist Church– dressed in their Standing on the Side of Love t-shirts– tried to peacefully deliver a letter a letter to the store manager but were quickly stopped by Wal-Mart security, who called in police. (Interestingly, when I was shooting my video on Black Friday in Tucson, store security hopped out of an unmarked beater car in the lot and stopped me from filming by threatening to call the police.)

After the jump, watch Phoenix videographer Dennis Gilman's video of protests in Maricpoa County. Tucson video is here.

Fissures appear in the ‘solid red’ Republican South

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Posted  by AzBlueMeanie:

Take another look at this map of the popular vote for the 2012 election that I have previously posted.

Popular-vote-graphic

Notice that blue arc through the heart of the "solid red" Republican South? Those blue counties largely correspond to the most populated urban centers of the South.

The Washington Post reports today GOP faces unexpected challenges in South amid shrinking white vote:

Election Day in the South told a newer and more surprising story: The
nation’s first black president finished more strongly in the region
than any other Democratic nominee in three decades, underscoring a fresh
challenge for Republicans who rely on Southern whites as their base of
national support.

Obama won Virginia and Florida
and narrowly missed victory in North Carolina [which he won in 2008]. But he also polled as
well in Georgia as any Democrat since Jimmy Carter, grabbed 44 percent
of the vote in deep-red South Carolina and just under that in
Mississippi — despite doing no substantive campaigning in any of those
states.

When the media carries water for the Arizona GOP – Voting Rights Act edition

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I have already been over how we have a GOPropaganda echo chamber in the Arizona media in the previous post. So let's get to the other election news this week, from the Arizona Republic(an), Ariz. seeks Supreme Court relief on Voting Rights Act:

Three days after the Nov. 6 election, when many Americans happily made voting a memory, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that some legal experts say could lead to the biggest shake-up in voting law in nearly a half-century.

The court will weigh a key portion of the Voting Rights Act, a law that has changed little over 40 years and for decades has placed Arizona and eight other states under federal scrutiny for suspected discrimination.

Supporters of the lawsuit, which involves an Alabama county, say their efforts could once again put every state and locality on equal legal footing and evaluate anew whether minorities are treated unfairly anywhere.

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The case has special relevance to Arizona, which is one of nine states that must get federal approval for any changes that could affect voting rights of minorities, such as Hispanics and Native Americans.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has filed legal papers supporting the Alabama challenge of the requirement. Because of the provision, every conceivable change affecting voting in Arizona must run through Horne's office, which he said is a constant drain.

"I don't have any numbers at my fingertips, but I would describe the burden as huge," Horne said.