Year: 2018

Gov. Doug Ducey to participate in Trump middle-finger to Americans on Monday

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The Trump White House is planning a “Salute to the Heroes of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs [and] Border Protection” on Monday, August 20 in the East Room. The ceremony is a politically motivated stunt to provoke ire from opponents of Trump’s zero tolerance family separation policy.

Naturally,  Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey intends to participate in this middle-finger to Americans opposed to the political party of kidnapping and child abuse and making orphans out of innocent children. Way to make us proud, Trump troll.

Daily Kos reports, As hundreds of separated migrant kids remain locked up, White House to honor ICE and CBP ‘heroes’:

As hundreds of separated migrant children continue to remain under U.S. custody and at ongoing risk of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, Donald Trump plans to honor the border agents who kidnapped them from their parents’ arms and locked them up in cages in the first place.

Politico reports the White House has planned a “Salute to the Heroes of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs [and] Border Protection” event for next Monday, coming a few days after Trump claimed that immigration agents “have been absolutely abused.”

All right, if he wants to talk abuse, let’s talk about abuse.

Despite a federal judge’s court order, the Trump administration continues to hold more than 560 kids under U.S. custody, including two dozen kids aged five years old and under. [Contempt of court.] Not only is the administration blatantly violating a court order, it’s continuing to keep kids locked up in facilities where migrant children have already been molested, and are only there because of  Trump’s family separation policy.

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Vote for AZ Candidates Who Support Marijuana Legalization

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By The Downtown Dispensary, Tucson, AZ.

One of the most effective ways to fix federal marijuana laws is to elect candidates who share the same values as those of us who realize that marijuana is the actual solution to the opioid crisis and that the right to choose an alternative medicine is not something that people like Attorney General Jeff Sessions should have a say in. One of the most likely bills to begin solving the problem is the STATES Act that would recognize the legalization of cannabis. However, we need to elect officials who will help make it law.

We must also have a Governor and state administration who support access to cannabis. As some of you are still waiting on sending in your early ballots and with the election just 11 days away, we ask you to review the information below on some of the candidates in Arizona’s 2nd congressional district and the Arizona Governor’s race. We do not believe the 1st Congressional District and 3rd Congressional District will see a change in representation and wish Congressman Grijalva and Congressman O’Halleran the best of luck.

Thank you for exercising your right to vote!
Primary Election – August 28, 2018
General Election – November 6, 2018

ARIZONA CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2

Billy Kovacs – DEMOCRAT

“I fully support medical marijuana. We need to end the federal prohibitions on medical marijuana and allow the possession, production, and distribution of medical marijuana in states with established marijuana laws.”

According to Billy’s ads in the Tucson Weekly and the Arizona Daily Star, he supports the legalization of marijuana for adult use at the federal and state level.

SOURCE:  Billy Kovacs for Congress | Arizona Daily Star – Candidates

Ann Kirkpatrick – DEMOCRAT

Ann Kirkpatrick has voted to protect the rights of medical marijuana patients and dispensaries in 2015 but she does not support the legalization of marijuana according to statements she made at a candidate forum in Green Valley earlier this year.

SOURCE: Arizona Daily Star | Vote Results – Roll Call (Rohrbacher-Blumenauer Amendment)

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Happy Birthday Tucson at La Cocina Restaurant

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Hosted by Presidio San Agustín del Tucson and La Cocina Restaurant & Cantina Monday August 20, 5 to 7:30 p.m. at La Cocina Restaurant, 201 N. Court Ave. “Tucson’s official birthday party will take place in the Presidio District on Aug. 20, the City’s actual birthday, from 5-7:30 pm. Hosted by the Tucson/Pima County Historic … Read more

Donkey Feed, August 19, 2018

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By Michael Bryan

Strap on your feedbag and kick the traces, it’s time for your Donkey Feed.

First, a cool tool: Google has created a database of all the political candidate ads that run on its platform. This is potentially a great tool for researchers, informed citizens, and bloggers like me, turning up recent gems like this ad depicting Kelli Ward as soft on abortion, of all things! And this one claiming she’s soft on terrorism and national defense. Such fun!

Next, some graphical goodness: The odds that control of the House will flip to Democrats. Happy days! But take it with a grain of salt, 538 also gave similar odds to Clinton’s election to the Presidency…

Next, a bad-ass book I think you might like: Hans Rosling, the demographer, physician, co-founder of Medecins Sans Frontiers, and TEDTalk super-stud, has written a book making the case that the world is becoming a better, healthier, and wealthier place, despite your intuitions.

Next, viddy this my droogs: one of the Fox News valkyries thought it would be fun to poke some fun at socialist Denmark. Well, she drew a response from a Danish politician, and it’s a beautiful takedown:

Finally, my standard fundraising pitch for a bit of your filthy lucre:





Support volunteer citizen journalism at the Blog for Arizona with a donation today. Your PayPal contribution keeps the Blog online and sustains a free press in Arizona.

Now, just click on the “Continue Reading” and enjoy the rest of the Feed…

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Democrat LD 15 House Candidate Tonya MacBeth wants to help dig Arizona out of the hole dug by the policies of Nancy Barto and John Allen

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LD 15 State House Candidate Tonya MacBeth

Once upon a time, Republicans in legislative districts like LD 15 (a district that includes parts or all of Peoria, Phoenix, Glendale, Cave Creek, Paradise Valley, and Deer Valley) could run virtually unopposed for election and reelection because Democrats hardly challenged them. For example, current LD 15 State Senator Nancy Barto only had one opponent in 2012 and 2014, a Republican in the district primary before Tonya MacBeth challenged her in 2016. On the House side, incumbents Heather Carter and John Allen ran unopposed in 2014 and defeated single shot candidates Patricia Flickner in 2012 and Brandon Dwyer in 2016.

Well times are changing in LD 15 and other districts previously uncontested or little challenged by Democrats.

2018 is an embarrassment of riches for Democrats as three exemplary and passionate aspiring public servants led by 2016 State Senate Candidate Tonya MacBeth (the others are Jennifer Samuels and Julie Gunnigle) all vie for an opportunity to face off against incumbent John Allen and term-limited in the Senate Nancy Barto in the State House of Representative election on November 6 (Ms. Carter is term-limited in the House and running for the district state senate seat against a fourth exemplary, passionate, and aspiring Democratic public servant, Kristin Dybvig-Pawleko).

At what is becoming the press office for Democratic candidates in LD 15 (the Starbucks at Tatum and Paradise Parkway, Tonya MacBeth gave an impassioned presentation on why she would be an ideal legislator for LD 15 as a mature voice for pragmatic centrist-progressivism.

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