Month: January 2019

Trump manufactures a ‘national emergency’ to abuse the power of his office

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“Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man.” – General George S. Patton

Donald Trump has shut down the federal government over his demand for $5 billion (now $5.6 billion) for his “big beautiful wall” on the Mexico border, a monument to the stupidity of this man. The amount of money being fought over is a rounding error in what it would actually cost to build his wall. See the Brookings Institute, The Wall: The real costs of a barrier between the United States and Mexico.

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This is a “crisis” manufactured by the Trump administration in an effort to extort money from Congress, which has routinely rejected his request in appropriations bills. Trump himself has agreed to these appropriations bills until he reneged on the latest deal in December after right-wing propagandists in the conservative media entertainment complex attacked him for agreeing to the appropriations bills. Do we really want right-wing propagandists like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity dictating public policy?

Oh, and Mexico is not paying for this monument to the stupidity of this man, you will.

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Beyond Tucson 2019 on Jan. 12

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BEYOND IS ABOUT MOVING FORWARD—AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS A COMMUNITY.

“What started out as a single day of commemoration has grown to a year-round commitment to public health.

Following the tragic shooting on the morning of January 8, 2011 in Tucson, Arizona at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ “Congress On Your Corner,” the Southern Arizona community spontaneously came together to honor, remember, and show solidarity for those that were killed, injured, or traumatized by the event.

As the first anniversary of the tragic day approached, Family members of slain congressional aide Gabe Zimmerman saw an opportunity to not only pay tribute to their son and the other victims, but to provide meaningful activities for community members to reconnect with each other while participating in health-related outdoor activities.

In January of 2012, they launched the inaugural BEYOND event, which included as many as 36 individual events spread across the entire greater Pima County region on a single day—including hikes, fun runs, bike rides, scavenger hunts and outdoor dance opportunities.  The annual tradition has continued each year thereafter.

Since that time, through the growing support and collaboration of its community partners, BEYOND has evolved—literally going “beyond” its initial mission—and has now formed into its own 501c3 organization whose mission is to promote the use of good science and rational analysis to improve individual and community health.

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A Spirit of Bipartisanship, Inclusiveness, and Community at Arizona’s Inauguration Ceremonies

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Kathy Hoffman being sworn in as Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. Photo courtesy of Thomas Tingle of the Arizona Republic.

The spirit of bipartisanship, inclusiveness, and community filled the atmosphere and themes in the comments conveyed by the speakers at today’s inauguration ceremonies for Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Mark Brnovich, State Treasurer Kimberly Yee, State Superintendent of Public instruction Kathy Hoffman, and Mining Inspector Joe Hart.

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Enough of Trump’s Sh*tdown!

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Ever since Trump announced his candidacy, up has been down, black has been white, wrong has been right. That trend continues as a man who is viewed by his supporters as a populist (seeking to represent the interests of ordinary people) obviously cares nothing about the 800,000 federal employees (about a quarter of all government employees) who are not being paid during this partial government shutdown.

This Trump Shutdown is now in its 16th day and some 420,000 government employees designated as “essential” (in some cases, the lowest paid) are being forced to work without pay. The New York Times writes,“This includes upward of 41,000 law enforcement officials [including FBI and DEA], 54,000 Border Patrol agents, and 53,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers”.

It can be no surprise that now some of those TSA employees have begun to call in sick in protest. According to CNN,“as many as 170 TSA employees called out [sick] each day this week” at New York’s JFK International Airport. At the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, “call outs have increased by 200%–300%.” And, union officials are predicting call-outs will increase when agents miss their first paycheck, forcing them to find other jobs to put food on the table, or pay their rent, or to stay home with their young children because they can no longer afford child care. What will happen is largely unknown though, since as TSA Administrator David Pekoske said, “We’ve never had a situation where officers did not get paid” since recent shutdowns have been of a duration that didn’t result in pay delay.

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