Would you buy a gun that was used in the Sandy Hook massacre or one that was used by a small child to accidentally kill his baby brother?
Check out this powerful video that was shot secretly at a gun shop in New York City.
Pamela Powers
Why Don’t Americans Vote? We’re Repeatedly Told Not To (video)
The United States is the world’s largest democracy, we spend an obscene amount of money on elections–more than any other country–and we have the lowest voter turnout. The trend has been: the more money that is spent, the lower the turnout.
Since the 2014 election– which had the lowest voter turnout since 1942– many people have been asking: Why aren’t Americans voting? When you consider the horrible financial mess the Tea Party is making of red states like Arizona, there also been a lot of non-voter bashing and shaming. But does that do any good? I think not.
At a recent John Nichols event, hosted by PDA Tucson and the Pima Area Labor Federation, Nichols shed light onto the inverse relationship between money spent and votes cast.
Nichols told the crowd of approximately 130 progressives and unionists that Americans don’t vote because negative television commercials repeatedly tell us not to. Check out this excerpt from his talk below.
Tucson City Council: Ill-Conceived Ordinances Wiped from Agenda (video)
The Tucson City Council was scheduled to vote on two ill-conceived ordinances at their St. Patrick’s Day meeting this week. The Crowd Management Event ordinance would have given the police chief considerable discretion in controlling groups of 100 or more people. The second ordinance would have outlawed urban camping on all city property, thus criminalizing the homeless.
When word got out via email blasts, Facebook posts, and the blogs, public outrage built against these two measures. Social media posts called for protests and for phone-calling to Council members. A Facebook event to protest the Crowd Management Event ordinance had more than 100 potential attendees on Monday afternoon. An hour before the protest, the Tucson Sentinel reported that the city had taken that ordinance off the agenda.
Before the Tuesday meeting, 20-30 homeless and homeless advocates gathered outside of the Council chambers. When I arrived with my video camera, one of my homeless Facebook friends told us that Councilman Steve Kozachik had talked with them just a few minutes earlier and said the camping ban ordinance would be tabled.
We went into the meeting anyway because my husband and I had both planned to speak against the ordinances. Between us we represent two major progressive groups– PDA Tucson and the Arizona Democratic Progressive Caucus– and we wanted the City Council to know that progressives stood against both of these measures.
Broadway Widening: Citizens’ Task Force Meeting March 19
The Broadway Citizens Task Force (CTF)– the city-appointed residents and business owners who have been working on the Broadway widening project– will meet at 5:30 today, March 19, at the Our Savior’s Lutheran Church at 1200 N. Campbell Ave.
The focus of the meeting is to review the latest round of plans and maps for widening Broadway to six-lanes and knocking down 37 buildings in the process. You’ll remember a week ago, Sustainable Tucson, Blog for Arizona, and others were encouraging everyone to comment on those maps that show staff recommendations. All comments made by the March 11 deadline were sent to the CTF members before today’s meeting, but comments are still being gathered at this address: broadway@tucsonaz.gov.
There will be two calls to the audience at tonight’s meeting, and if an agreement on the maps is not reached tonight, there could be a subsequent meeting next week. Here’s the back story on the current maps. Details, maps and agenda here.
Come on down and speak out for “human scale” improvements to Broadway.
Below is the background and important future dates from the Broadway Coalition (the group of citizen activists who are pushing for modest, less destructive improvements to Broadway).
Proposed Tucson Ordinances Spark Calls for Protest & Attendance at March 17 City Council Meeting
If your first amendment rights are important to you, you should start watching the Tucson City Council agendas very closely.
Embarrassed by the Safe Park quagmire and the subsequent scolding by the district court judge, City Attorney Mike Rankin wants to crack down … on them and on us.
Thanks to a tip and a Facebook event invite from local activists, I learned about two bad ordinances that were scheduled for tomorrow’s City Council meeting. (See items #13 and #14 on the agenda here.)
Ordiance Prohibiting Camping or City Sidewalks and Other City Property (PDF) seeks to prevent another Safe Park or Occupy Tucson from happening. The memo clearly states that “homelessness is not a crime, and only the conduct of camping, and not the state of homelessness, is prohibited by the Code.” So, where are the homeless supposed to go when there aren’t enough beds in shelters? Are they supposed to camp or sleep on private property– like one of those cute front yards in Armory Park?
Ordinance Providing for the Designation of a “Crowd Management Event” for the Purpose of Maintaining Public Safety (PDF) gives the Tucson police chief sweeping crowd control measures. The ordinance defines a “Crowd Management Event” as “a gathering of 100 or more persons that requires the provision of law enforcement services”; allows the chief to set geographic boundaries for the “Crowd Management Event”; prohibits people from entering or leaving the designated “crowd management” area; prohibits people inside the area from wearing masks or protective gear, like a gas mask. (Hmmm… just like shooting fish in a barrel with that pepper spray. What could go wrong?)