Snoozers. That is the consensus regarding the municipal election this year. There is really very little learn from these races other than how deeply voters seem not to give a crap. Here in Tucson we rang up a whoppingly pathetic, though not unprecedented, 26% turnout. Sad. But the Phoenix run-offs generated a mind-bogglingly low 22% … Read more
Link: Sheriff Arpaio is more than $1 mil over OT budget. Sheriff Joe "Most Spend-Thrifty Sheriff in America" Arpaio is about $1.3 million dollars over-budget for officer over time for the year – just 4 months into the fiscal year! He’s on track to be more than $6.8 million dollars over-budget just for over time … Read more
Link: ACLU official says his arrest was unwarranted. Sheriff Joe "Most Authoritarian and Abusive Sheriff in America" Arpaio is at it again. As if witch-hunting the New Times on trumped up charges, arresting the publishers for harassment value, and crocodile tears over his ‘victimization’ by having his address published weren’t enough. This time, his deputies … Read more
Arizona’s Republican blog crew is having a collective fit of denial over an Arizona Republic article calling attention to the state GOP’s miserable record of fund raising this cycle. The article points out that there is a 3-1 financial disparity between the state parties, and that the same holds true for new party registrations. This … Read more
Interesting documentary: They say Buddhism is the only atheistic world religion. That may be true, but lots of supernatural, metaphysic, and eschatological nonsense has accreted to Buddha’s core message across the centuries of cultural evolution. Despite the many cultural accretions, there is something admirably ingenious about Buddhism’s fundamental reframing of the issue of death in … Read more