Featured Stories
Medea Benjamin on drone warfare: Aug 2 in Tucson
July 31, 2012
by Pamela Powers Hannley
Remote-controlled warfare with flying drones is the United States' new no-muss, no-fuss way to minimize US casualities and maximize remote destruction.
Although around the world the US is using drones to destroy lives and property, here at home, there is increasing concern over the use of drones to spy on US citizens.
Drones are also big business; thousands of jobs nationwide are attached to drone building, drone training, drone research and development, and drone flying.. In recent months, both Tucson and Phoenix have vied for pieces of the drone killing war machine. As cities and airforce bases compete for drone jobs, activists have been rallying against the killing machines.
To learn more about drones, drone warfare, and how this seemingly remote problem affects your life, come hear author and activist Medea Benjamin at a free event on August 2 at the Main Library downtown.
Benjamin is the co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, founding director of the human rights and social justice group Global Exchange, and author of Drone Warfare, Killing by Remote Control.
For background on drone-related activities at Davis Monthan Airforce Base and other bases, check out this document.
More details about Benhamin's talk after the jump.
Open Elections/Open Government Act initiative oral arguments this Friday
July 31, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Open Elections/Open Government Act initiative (.pdf) is presently scheduled for oral argument before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Brain on Friday, August 3 at 9:30 a.m.
The Plaintiffs, Save Our Vote Opposing C-03-2012, have filed their Opening Brief (.pdf).
The Real Party in Interest, Open Government Committee, has filed its Opposition Brief (.pdf).
Let's break it down.
This is a "separate amendment rule" aka "single subject rule" challenge to the initiative. Arizona Const. Art. 21 § 1. Plaintiffs argue first that "In addition to proposing a top-two primary system, the Initiative seeks to rewrite scores of statutes that, among other areas, govern the conduct of elections, nomination procedures, nomination signature and other ballot access requirements, campaign finance regulation, political party organization and conduct, and Voting Rights Act compliance."
Second, Plaintiffs argue "Complicating matters is that the Initiative fails to propose these amendments in black-and-white language for voters to evaluate."
Third, "the Initiative's 100 word statement that appears on the petition signature sheets grossly misstates what the voters are being asked to approve."
What do we want, high test scores or creativity and entrepreneurship?
July 31, 2012
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by David Safier My headline may have created a false choice between high standardized test scores on the one hand and creativity and entrepreneurship on the other. But maybe not. Yong Zhao, associate dean for global education in the college of education at the University of Oregon and author of works about global education, creativity … Read more
Minneapolis charter takes over public school, kicks out special needs children
July 31, 2012
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by David Safier Here's a cautionary tale. Cityview Elementary in Minneapolis was closed because of low test scores, and the school and its students were given to the charter school, Minneapolis School of Science. The school's special ed children — students with autism and Downs syndrome — were supposed to stay. But after one year, … Read more
Federal District Court Judge grants temporary injunction for defunding Planned Parenthood
July 31, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports that U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake has temporarily blocked Arizona from implementing a new law that prohibits public funds from going to Planned Parenthood. Court blocks recent Arizona abortion law targeting Planned Parenthood’s funding: The law bars the state from contracting with or making … Read more
Michael McNulty: ‘The NRA has abandoned the sportsman in every practical sense’
July 31, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Washington Post published this opinion last Friday by Michael McNulty, an attorney in Tucson, and the chairman of the Gabrielle Giffords for Congress campaigns in 2006, 2008 and 2010. I am surprised that it has not been republished by our Arizona newspapers, so I will post in full here. Why killing is a profitable enterprise – The Washington Post:
It is easy to ignore the issue of gun control, given the perfect leaderlessness it enjoys in Congress. Then again, it becomes harder to ignore when your relatives or friends are murdered in the company of someone you idolize, which describes thousands of us in Tucson.
I have owned guns, continuously, since I was 6. I still own my grandfather’s pump-action Winchester, carried for decades in a scabbard behind his saddle as he rode the range where he ranched, in Wikieup, Ariz. All the guns I’ve owned have been what are quaintly called long guns. I began my brief assault on local fauna at age 12, and I had “taken” four white-tailed deer, a couple of javelina and innumerable quail and dove by the time I got my driver’s license at 16. A driver’s license is a far greater liberator than a hunting license, and thereafter, trekking around in the wilderness killing things lost its luster. It has been decades since I engaged in those adventures.
There are, today, few who hunt with handguns or assault rifles equipped with 100-clip magazines. There are even fewer reasons to do so. But the National Rifle Association’s principal focus has evolved mostly to those. It is news to no one that the NRA has abandoned the sportsman in every practical sense; if the group were honest, it would change its name. Speaking as a rifleman, I think it’s an embarrassment.
The NRA not only dependably opposes limits on assault-rifle sales but even opposes reporting bulk sales of assault rifles. Last year, the NRA went to the mat to prevent anyone from cross-checking the names of those on the terrorist watch list against the names of those buying guns. These two actions clarify beyond argument that the safety and welfare of you and yours have simply dropped from the NRA’s list of priorities. The NRA represents gun manufacturers, end of story.
Matthews Makes Mincemeat of Mitt
July 30, 2012
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This may have been Chris Matthews best rant ever about my buddy Mitt:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_matthews/#48408123
If you have five minutes or so, click on the link and check it out. Besides the hilarity of it, Matthews' rant is worth watching for his delivery, vocabulary and facial expressions, all extraordinary. Political commentary just doesn't get any better.
Federal District Court Judge rules Arizona’s abortion law to take effect, appeal planned
July 30, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: A conservative activist federal district court judge ignored case law precedent and went with his own views on abortion in permitting Arizona's abortion law to take effect on Thursday. Judge to let Arizona's abortion ban take effect: In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge James A. Teilborg said the Legislature cited "the … Read more
