Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas rightly have received public scrutiny and criticism of their political activism in recent months. It is unprecedented, and it undermines public confidence in the rule of law and impartiality of justice by the nation's highest court. Advertisement But political activism by conservative judges is … Read more

by David Safier This from the Arizona Senate Democratic Caucus: Arizonans call for closure of “gun show loophole” STATE CAPITOL, Phoenix – Sen. Steve Gallardo, Arizonans for Guns Safety, gunshot survivors, medical professionals and community leaders will hold a news conference to call for the closure of the “gun show loophole” on Tuesday, Feb. 1 … Read more

by David Safier

This is from a week old press release I didn't get around to posting when it came out.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns today announced support from a broad range of leaders from Arizona for its two-step plan to fix the national gun background check system and fulfill the intent of the historic 1968 gun law. The full plan is available at www.FixGunChecks.org.

“If the right information was in the background check system the Arizona shooter wouldn’t have been able to buy a gun, neither would the Virginia Tech shooter who went on to murder 32 people,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The time has clearly come to finally fulfill the intent of the 1968 law and the Brady Bill, by creating a genuine, credible background check system for the sale of firearms. I welcome the support of so many Arizonans for our plan to fix the background check system.”

Unfortunately, the officials listed in the release all have "former" after their name except Grijalva. Such is the state of Arizona today. Here they are:

• Jim Kolbe, former Congressman from Arizona’s 8th district, the seat of Rep. Giffords
• Daniel Hernandez, Rep. Giffords’ intern, present at the shooting
• Raul Grijalva, Congressman from Arizona’s 7th District,
• Bruce Babbitt, former Governor of Arizona
• Dennis DeConcini, former US Senator representing Arizona
• Grant Woods, former Attorney General of Arizona
• Terry Goddard, former Attorney General of Arizona
• Neil Giuliano, former Mayor of Tempe

You can read the full press release, complete with a statement from each of the people listed, after the jump.

by David Safier I see all kinds of TV ads from groups pushing agendas. The ads against taxing sugar drinks come to mind. So do the pro-oil/pro-coal ads. I know there are countless others. But if the NFL Players Association want to run an ad called "Let Us Play" against a player lockout if negotiations … Read more

By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings From an announcment from Kirk Adams, Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives – House Speaker Kirk Adams announced today his selection of Scott Freeman to serve on the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. “Mr. Freeman is exceptionally qualified for this important role. I am confident he will execute his … Read more

By Karl Reiner The war being waged by the competing Mexican illegal drug cartels to control the supply routes to the lucrative U.S. market continues unabated.  The Mexican government has announced that violence related to drug-trafficking killed 15,273 in 2010. This is a sharp increase over the 9,616 people reported killed during 2009. The extension … Read more