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Arizona's First Political Blog
E-mail Anonymous Mike at zonitics4-at-yahoo.com By Anonymous Mike, pseudonymously.
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Friday, August 31, 2007
Welcome to Arizona I am sorry but this story made me laugh and I can laugh because: a) the person is okay b) it perpetuates the myth to outsiders that Arizona is riddled with black widows and rattlesnakes around every stairwell Of course I am not sure how much the resort in question maintains its property... best not tell her about the scorpions The Healing Power of Light Rail I may be on a wild goose chase here but bear with me… Target announced the other week that it will be closing its store at 7th Avenue & Camelback and opening a Super Target over at the old Chris Town Mall. On the surface this is good for, I do shop at the Wal Mart Super Center and having both stores in the same area can only mean good things for a shopper like me? However what about the soon-to-be abandoned site at 7th & Camelback? Here’s where the difference between a shopper and a local resident come in; as a Phoenix shopper I benefit from this but if I was a resident near there I have the distinct possibility of a large, empty store standing there for a long time causing a situation of possible blight. There are 2 problems with the site and to get some insight I walked the property with a friend of mine who works for a development company in the East Valley. First is the size, while the store may not be a big box it’s big enough so that it will hard to fill with a comparable tenant. My friend also doubts with the distance between the site and the light rail line, even with the proximity of a station, that there will be a lot of foot traffic between the two. In other words it was an ideal site for what was built on it, a large discount retailer that served a customer base that used cars for transportation with superior access due to its location at a major intersection The second problem is the light rail line itself. Before its construction, access from 7th Avenue was already partially blocked during rush hour due to the elimination of the turn lane during those times. With the light rail line eliminating the turn lane on Camelback, east-bound drivers on that road have no immediate access into that property; they would have to turn left on 7th Avenue and then turn left into the property. In other words access has been fundamentally altered. He added that when Target vacates, the Fry’s supermarket at the far end would look like an orphan In short it may be a long time until something substantial (meaning something more than a $1 dollar store) goes in there. Now there are a few pieces of information missing which are critical and the truth is I took enough of my friend’s time (the promised retainer of beer at Sonoran Brewing Company was already exceeded) and this isn’t his commercial beat so he didn’t have immediate knowledge. What was the current retail picture for the corner with the Target, Fry’s, and smaller stores along the frontage? He assumes that access with the light rail construction is already at its worst so if he had access to business metrics he could get an ideal of the current commercial potential. Second is the lease situation, go by the corner of 16th & Bethany Home where the site was abandoned by Basha’s several years ago but remain undeveloped because the company still holds the lease on the property So what happens there next? My friend did make a telling remark to the effect that with plans to extend light rail further out from Tempe and downtown Phoenix, this situation will occur more and more as the commercial viability of nearby property will change as businesses built on easy vehicular access will suffer. The question is what happens next… blight or redevelopment? Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Story Behind History You may think the only time "historic" is used in the context of the Valley would be with the terms "heat wave" and "Arizona Cardinals" incompetence. You would be wrong. The Arizona Preservation Foundation has released its 2007 list of Arizona's most endangered historic places. Compiled by preservation professionals and historians, the list identifies critically endangered cultural resources of major historical significance to the state. "Each of the sites we have named are important historic landmarks in Arizona, but unfortunately are in grave danger of collapse, demolition, or destruction," said Vince Murray, APF Board President. "It is critical that residents and government officials act now to save these elements of their cultural heritage before it's too late." Let's see some of the choicer picks the list: Buckhorn Baths: In 1939 Ted and Alice Sliger established the baths unknowing that their efforts to make a living of the natural mineral waters would help to establish the East Salt River Valley as a mecca for spring training. In 1947, the New York Giants made the Buckhorn Baths their spring training home and continued to do so for over twenty-five years. Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Gaylord Perry, Leo Durocher and others were regulars at the Baths... ... Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the location of the Buckhorn Baths makes it a prime target for development, and speculation is rampant that this part of Mesa and Arizona’s early history will soon be replaced by a Wal-Mart. Hokey Smokes... a Wal-Mart! Well to heck with everyday low prices, this is one of the many, many places int he Valley where professional baseball players hung out therefore it must be saved and enjoyed for future generations. White Gates House: ...previous owners gutted the interior and scraped the landscape from the property. Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, the house now sits vacant and neighbors are complaining about the blight it is creating for the area. The homes in the neighborhood sell in the seven figures and the property is valuable for redevelopment. If action is not taken soon, the owner may be required by the city to demolish the house and sell the property. What to one man is a blight that is driving down his property value is to another man who lives elsewhere and doesn't have to look at it on a daily basis, an historical treasure. Camp Naco: This adobe compound was constructed by the U.S. military between 1919 and 1923, as part of the War Department's Mexican Border Defense construction project -- a plan to build a 1,200-mile barrier along the border. No comment here except to say that after nearly hundred years of trying they still haven't built that darn border fence Yep, when you hear the term "major historical significance" you think something along the lines of "Washington slept here" and not 40 year-old bank buildings and decrepit suspension bridges but I would say that if these are the most endangered spots in the state then the work of the Arizona Preservation Foundation is about done. Wednesday, August 29, 2007
.... and Carmela Soprano is Well Known for her Charitable Giving Love this article in today's in EV Trib: The day Sonia Falcone has been dreading has finally arrived. The Paradise Valley philanthropist and socialite is leaving the U.S. today with her three young children. Her departure is part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, stemming from a misdemeanor charge of hiring foreign workers not legally authorized to work for her. Sonia Falcone is the wife of billionaire Pierre Falcone which might explain the juice that enables her social and philanthropic career. Nothing wrong with that in theory but where did the money come from? Pierre Falcone has been at the center of international turmoil for nearly a decade, linked to the shipment of Soviet-bloc tanks and helicopters to war-ravaged Angola in return for future oil profits. Critics say the corruption and armaments added misery to Angolans as they endured poverty and civil war. The nation's president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has cast Falcone as a hero who saved his countrymen from genocide by rebel forces. Global Witness, an international human rights organization, identified Falcone as a key player in the "gruesome tale of money laundering and state robbery at the expense of the long-suffering Angolan people." The Franco-Brazilian entrepreneur repeatedly has denied wrongdoing. He was jailed in Paris during 2000-01 while prosecutors investigated the case known as Angolagate. After his release on $15 million bail, Falcone left France and was appointed by his friend dos Santos to the U.N.'s Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization , securing diplomatic immunity. So let's get this straight.... you supply the arms to a former Soviet client so he can crush the other side in a civil war, in return you get a nice chunk of the country's oil profits. When you get arrested in another country for the deal, you use those profits to post an obscene bail, skip town, and then get appointed by the crony you supplied with weapons to be the ambassador from that African country to the great kleptocracy known as UNESCO, thus ensuring your diplomatic immunity. But the former international beauty queen, described by friends as a gracious and generous benefactor... Spare me. I know Mrs. Falcone did none of the things her husband stands accused of doing but it's not she doesn't like the lifestyle that those things help fund. Temptations of the Soul In the 14 years I have participated in fantasy football leagues, I had never picked first during the allotment draft. Never Until this past weekend. In the Arizona Sun League with our own Arizona blogger Thomas as commissioner, I had the first pick and I was faced with temptation. Do I do the expected thing and pick LaDainian Tomlinson or do the memorable thing and pick one of the Vick brothers? Any idiot can pick LT, only a special kind of idiot can waste the first pick of the draft on Michael Vick Footnote: This is the same mentality that leads to people agreeing to go on reality TV shows and the People's Court. Craig-O-Rama A few thoughts about the Larry Craig affair, which if you're not up on the details go read elsewhere. First, one of the sub-plots of the whole affair was what exactly did Craig do that was so bad? Instapundit links to a piece that reviews the evidence (note that Craig was brought to court on an obstruction, not an indecency charge) and finds it wanting. The problem with this is that it treats the court of public opinion as the same as a court of law... and that's not how the real world works. The courts have the ability to deprive you of life, liberty, and property; for that reason the rules of evidence are strict and you are presumed innocent. Try to operate that way on the outside on the street and they'll write a sitcom about you. Related to this was the presumption that he was soliciting for sex, why was that so wrong? After all it's done all the time in bars, schools, and the Borders at 24th & Camelback... why not a men's room in the Minneapolis Airport? Well if you went up and asked for sex and then went elsewhere with your new found friend, then the bar analogy holds true. However if you decide to consummate the deal, as it were, in a public place then it falls apart. Try it this weekend at a night club in Scottsdale... go ahead and you'll see what I mean Back to the first point, you have a U.S. Senator who had just previously fended off questions about another alleged incident of anonymous gay sex in one public men's room acting very strangely in another public men's room that was notorious for anonymous gay sex. So notorious that it was staked out, as it were, by a police officer looking for just such a thing. Apparently there wasn't enough to charge with public indecency, that legal/court of law thing again, but any reasonable person would jump to the very logical conclusion that Senator Craig was looking for a special way to pass the time. If you didn't, or are still trying to rationalize, then I cannot help you. If you were either one of his constituents or one of his colleagues you would then be on very solid ground to ask why would a man who holds such a trust as a public representative, and representative government is built on a bedrock of trust, would not only betray his family but also engage in such reckless conduct. This is probably not a legal question, though he certainly put himself in a position for blackmail, but it definitely is a political one. I know Craig is up for re-election next year, but he could recognize the damage to his ability to continue as a public representative and resign. Second is the gay angle. I don't mean why in 2007 where gays can be married in parts of the US the fascination with anonymous gay sex in public places whether it's a bathroom or a park. Or even why the gay dimension has overshadowed the fact that a guy in public trust engaged in adulterous behavior in public spaces with people he just met (substitute straight for gay in this story and tell me this doesn't creep you out) I am talking about what Johnny Utah wrote in his post on the subject. I don't know all of Mr. Craig's work but he is being accused of hypocrisy for engaging in homosexual conduct while voting against "gay rights" dealing with the military and gay marriage. Craig is already indicted with the hypocrisy of adultery, keeping up the appearances of a family man, while betraying them with his conduct. Perhaps also he has spent time denouncing homosexual conduct while engaging it in himself, as did Ted Haggard. However to a dimension of you as a person, whether race or sexual orientation, leads naturally to certain specific public policy positions and legislation seems to me just part of some insidious identity politics. There are gays who don't want gay marriage... I am not saying they represent a majority but they are out there and they have some points worthy of debate. To sugegst a certain group think is just plain ugly. Monday, August 27, 2007
Opus Mocha I was following an online debate about the Washington post blocking publication of yesterday's Opus comic when one poster made the connection between the content of the offending Opus and the Post running the far more racy Liberty Meadows. Here's an archive of past Liberty Meadows that have been censored by various newspapers. Friday, August 24, 2007
Phoenix and Singles This is sort of cutting-edge stuff you can only get during a hotly contested mayoral election. Today the AZ Republic reports that Phoenix is the 15th best US city for singles as ranked by Forbes based on criteria such as "nightlife, culture, job growth, number of singles, cost of living alone and online dating. " Apparently this year, Forbes added a feature where it names the most eligible bachelor and bachelorette for each city, this year naming Matt Leinart and Jenn Hoffman. It also helpfully adds that Mr. Leinart once dated Paris Hilton and Ms. Hoffman is currently linked to KMLE-FM (107.9) personality Scott "Shappy" Shapiro. I think someone needs to tell Ms. Hoffman to dump Shappy and upgrade to someone better. However right before this dignity-enhancing moment, the Republic quotes Mayor Phil Gordon on why Phoenix fell from #3 on the same list last year. "The ranking from last year to this year simply shows that a lot of those single people are now married," reasons Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. Ahh Mr. Mayor? The list is about best place for singles, not most singles. You know, since the Valley cities are busy trying to attract young, hot creative class talent with light rail and downtown subsidies and I assume such people are single... why is Phoenix sliding backwards in this all-important category? At the rate Phoenix is sliding, by the time light rail opens up in late 2008 we could be Cleveland-like in our rating Vick (Again) The other day, there was an article on MSNBC.com that quoted Al Sharpton as writing on his personal blog: "If the police caught Brett Favre (a white quarterback for the Green Bay Packers) running a dolphin-fighting ring out of his pool, where dolphins with spears attached to their foreheads fought each other, would they bust him? Of course not," Sharpton wrote Tuesday on his personal blog. The problem was that Mr. Sharpton wrote no such thing with the fore-mentioned quote coming from a parody site. For the record Mr. Sharpton denounces dog-fighting. Shame on MSNBC.com, but the following is no parody or hoax: White said the Atlanta chapter supports Vick's decision to accept a plea bargain if it's in his best interest, but he questioned the credibility of Vick's co-defendants, saying an admission of guilt might be more about cutting losses than the truth. "At this point, you're not looking at guilt or innocence," White said, referring to the possible harsher sentence Vick could have received had he taken his case to trial and been found guilty. "You're thinking, 'What I better do is cut my losses and take a plea.' But if he saw this as the best thing to do at this point for his future, then I think he made the correct choice." White said he regretted that the plea deal will mean all the facts of the case might never be known. ..... White said he does not support dogfighting and that he considers it as bad as hunting. "His crime is, it was a dog," White said. The Mr. White is R.L. White, head of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP. Remember the NAACP? Led the fight against segregation and the Jim Crow laws? When black people weren't allowed to sit at the same lunch counter as white people? While the NAACP has come out strongly against Mr. Vick, Atlanta was one of the leading centers of the civil rights movement and an important place in black culture. I love the conspiracy theory angle. However even better than that is that "all the facts of the case might never be known." You know who has all the facts in the case? Michael Vick and he's not talking so saying "never be known" isn't like a History Channel special dealing with the lost cities of the Incas. All the facts of the case are available as soon as Mr. Vick decides to make them so. Right up there is the hunting angle. I don't hunt, I know many people who do. The idea that people who prowl Cabelas and stock up on ammo at Bass Pro Shop is on the same moral plane as dog-fighting is well... well I shouldn't say more after all the fish my kids caught the other week sure flopped around a bit before he died. On top of that it was tasty. Expect my plea agreement at district court next week Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Worst Post Ever Building on what SAJU posted about, though he is far more eloquent and serious than what I'm about to say, regarding thoughts that keep me up at night... If Bandit the police dog piloted one of those choppers that crashed last month in Indian Steele Park, would Phoenix ever be able to recover? However my worst blog post ever is nothing compared to the worst editorial cartoon ever given that its creator is the "The Arizona Republic's Pulitzer-Prize Award Winning-Cartoonist" Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The Vick Schtick Nothing like kicking a man while he is down but... I have to admit to enjoying some karmic justice, or whatever you want to call it, regarding the feeding frenzy surrounding Michael Vick. Because to me his whole career was one big hype machine. Look at Vick's stats; his career high in passer rating was 81.9% and that was 5 years ago. His career completion percentage is 53.8%. Career high in touchdowns was last year with 20, well 22 if you include his rushing touchdowns. Decent but not great. Intangibles that help his team win? He has had 3 singular games or "winning moments." The 2000 Sugar Bowl when he emerged on the national stage by making the Florida State defense look like they were playing on ice, when he beat Green Bay in Lambeau during the the wild card game his second year, and when he took his team to the NFC championship game 3 seasons ago. That's it.. a few playoff appearances after 6 years in the league. If Atlanta could have done it all over again, would they have made the trade with San Diego that got them the Vick pick when it cost them Ladanian Tomlinson? What he has done is create a human highlight reel, the "Michael Vick" experience. He translated fancy play, if not legendary football performance, into a massive $100 million+ contract and gobs of endorsement dollars. He rode the wave of success based on his marketability and hype , not his achievements. That's not a bad thing and I harbored no grudges against Vick about it, football is an entertainment business and good for him for cashing in on what he sells. Alot of people made money off him, glad some stuck to him. However those who think his treatment over the past 6 weeks has been unfair, keep in mind that his career lived by the.... well you know the rest, especially how career will die by the same means as well. Monday, August 20, 2007
Great Moments in Federalism Yet another sign that I no longer live in Congressional District 6... In the mail was a constituent letter from my Congressman, Ed Pastor. There was an article about Mr. Pastor leading a delegation to meet with Mexican lawmakers and another about easing nursing shortages in fast-growing states but the rest are real pork-barrel charmers: Page 1: "Congress Addressing District Needs" Well okay, I might disagree with the rah-rah message that the Democrats are bringing a new direction to Congress but at least the message is national in character Page 2: "$90 million for light rail" " $12.8 million for Salt River Restoration project" "$300,000 for college bilingual nursing programs" "$100,000 for Laveen Community Center" "$100,000 for Maryvale Revitalization" Just in case you missed the point; a footer at the bottom of Page 2 "Rep Ed Pastor has been instrumental in securing House support for these projects" Page 3: "More Local Projects Receive House's Okay" Page 4: "Ground Breaks for New Pedestrian Bridge for Safety of Isaac Middle School Pupils" Thank goodness this bridge wasn't built in Alaska Page 5: "Rep. Pastor: Carver Museum would Get Funding Under House Bill" Page 6: "Rep Pastor Recognized for work in Congress for equality and leadership" Ah yes, leadership.... Rep Pastor bringing home the bacon and ensuring that the country pays for what Arizonans won't pay for themselves Can You Say Football? How about Fantasy Football? How about Arizona bloggers and fantasy football? Thomas from Bear Droppings writes: Once again I'm running a Fantasy Football league and this year I am also opening the door to AZ bloggers, if anyone is interested email me thomas_vincent(at)yahoo(dot)com Stakes are cheap, losers have to buy the winner a beverage of choice, preferable at a blogorama or some other social event. Trash talk not just allowed, encouraged. I'm in... how about you? Draft day is Saturday so hurry That's It I need to change the brand of whiskey I drink at night, especially when I watch TV with the kids. The other night I dreamed that Patrick Star was Darth Vader, with the whole dream sequence punctuated by the Imperial March Theme From now I'm moving Powers into the evening rotation and will relegate Booker's back to the morning hours where it belongs. Friday, August 17, 2007
The Nadine Dilemma Earlier in the week I posted about the drop in cigarette tax revenue and its possible linkage to last November's boost in the state tobacco tax that was pushed by Nadine Basha's campaign to get more money for early childhood education. At the end I asked: So here's the next , next story. If the feds succeed in boosting the federal tax on tobacco, further driving down consumption, and therefore state tobacco tax revenue... what happens to Nadine Basha's early childhood programs? Well here we go. The Heritage Foundation has published a report on the effects that Congress's proposed tobacco tax to fund an expanded SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program.) Heritage finds that all states would experience a reduction in state tobacco tax dollars as the increased federal tax will depress demand; Arizona will lose an estimated $9.6 to 13.4 million depending on which tax version is implemented. However Arizona will also gain as much as $327 million in net inflow (difference between SCHIP funding minus loss in tobacco dollars.) So if you are Nadine, do you go for early childhood education or increased child health care? Ahhh.... the wages of sin. Arguments Against Prop. 1 Proposition 1 is an initiative on next month's Phoenix ballot which would raise the city sales tax by .2%, 2 cents of every $10 spent, to be spent solely on the hiring and equipping of 500 new police officers and 100 new fire fighters within 24 months. Nifty. I am sure there is a comprehensive argument with alot of statistics and the like for the proposition, besides the fact that no one likes crime, the city is growing, and there is still justice to be done. If there is such an argument, I haven't seen it from the supporters. There is however an implicit promise that children will safe city-wide, but no word yet on puppies or kittens. A concern would be if there really are sufficient funds in the proposition for the job. The proposed increase would boost the general city sales tax from 1.8 to 2%; the City estimates a haul of about $468 million for this fiscal year under the existing rate. So let's estimate a take from Prop. 1 of about $51 million or about $85,000 to hire, train, and equip each fire and police recruit, give or take. Of course, these new officers represent a boost of 16% in the number of sworn police officers and would need to be on the job within 24 months. On top of that the Police Department just boosted the starting salary for new officers by $8,000, has trouble filling 1,000 needed new officers over the next 3 years, and is recruiting candidates nation-wide with trips to Detroit and California. Given all of those problems with 1,000 new officers, could the City be effective with recruiting 1,500? That's just an implementation concern, supply and demand and all of that. However here are my 2 big questions: 1) Given the large increases in the City of Phoenix's budget over the past few years, why wasn't such a supposed pressing need funded out of existing revenue? What more pressing needs does the City have than expanding the force? Estimated General Fund increase for 2007-08 is 9.4% or $96 million. 2) Currently Phoenix has a ratio of about 527 residents to every sworn officer, with Phoenix's population increasing at about 30,000 residents per year (based on Census estimates for the past 5 years) by the time the new 500 officers would come online in 2009, that ratio would be about 476 residents. If population growth remains steady and Phoenix doesn't create one new full time officer position beyond those funded by Prop. 1, the ratio would drop to back to the old number of 527 within 6 to 7 years. So what guarantees do the residents of Phoenix have that if they raise their taxes to add 500 new officers to the police force that the City would work to keep the police force at the new level instead of using the new revenue to displace existing police resources to other city departments? None, as far as I can see. Pick 1 of the 2 or both if you wish, but until there some answers there are too many questions. Thursday, August 16, 2007
Even the Dead Shall Rise to My Aid There must be a ballot initiative somewhere designed to raise my taxes to fund You may have read a July 28 column by Roy Miller urging Phoenix voters to reject the citizen-organized public safety initiative, Proposition 1, in the September election. As if on cue, events of that day made it clear why Proposition 1 enjoys the support of citizens from across the city and why it is so badly needed. The day before Miller suggested we set aside public safety priorities, Valley citizens witnessed two incidents that underscore our desperate need for additional police and firefighters in Phoenix. First, an hourlong automobile hijack-pursuit led to the crash of two TV news helicopters and the deployment of dozens of public safety personnel across the city. Later that evening, a Phoenix police officer was shot and killed after being called to the scene of a fraudulent check-cashing incident. Who can argue that public safety personnel are not worth an additional 2 cents on every $10 we spend? I have very deep reservations, given the way the City of Phoenix's budget has increased the past two years, about the necessity of Proposition 1. However linking the need for a tax increase to the death of a Phoenix police officers and the collision of two news choppers is well... faulty logic. Would more police on the street mean those choppers wouldn't have collided? What it mean that Officer Cortez would be alive today? The writer of the piece? Alex Tauber, "co-chair of Phoenix Safety First, the campaign to support Proposition 1" I'll come up with a counter-argument against Prop. 1 later. Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Byung-Hyun Kim 2.0 is Over The D'backs cut the man loose after 2 disastrous starts. I was at the game last week when he made his first start and the only man who was ever booed like that from start to finish was Barry Bonds. The thing about Kim was that when came up in 1999, he was a great story; young (20) middle reliever with dynamic stuff. When Mantei went down as the closer in 2001, Kim stepped up into the role and we all know what happened during that World Series. I don't think Kim had the make-up to be a closer, though he did alright during the 2002 season. He's tried starting for a few teams and it looks like he has hit the end of the line. Had Mantei never went down in 2001, I bet you Kim would have found a niche as a middle reliever, swing starter and had a nice career. Too bad how it worked out. Maybe he get together with Nick Anderson and Scott Norwood and come up with some sort of play on Broadway Happy Anniversary Exurban League, the blog that makes the East Valley (Heaven on Earth) tick, celebrates their first blogging anniversary. Drop by and give them your regular patronage- you won't be sorry Gut Reactions Since I have been blogging, I have spent a decent amount of time beating up on the various columnists and editorials over at the Arizona Republic for their poor work and crude stereotypes. Other bloggers have done like-wise, and in a much more eloquent manner, and taken the additional step of linking such behavior with the decline in the paper’s circulation. The truth is such poor writing isn’t new as a recent piece by a Republic alumnus makes clear. Yesterday former Republic columnist Ruben Navarette Jr., now a nationally syndicated columnist and a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune, wrote a piece for CNN.com concerning a proposal of allowing the military to recruit foreign nationals who are not currently US citizens or permanent residents. Mr. Navarette labeled such a proposal as …"turning illegal immigrants into cannon fodder" and makes a gratuitous pass at lumping in all immigration restrictionists with racists. He then polishes up by wondering about the inherent hypocrisy of said restrictionists and racists who worry that illegal immigrants are “prone to all sorts of violent and criminal behavior” but then want to give them military training. Navarette uses the example of an illegal immigrant from Peru who committed multiple murders and raped a 5-year old. He concludes with: If half the things they say about this creep are true, Carranza belongs on death row. But guess what? He sure doesn't belong on an Army recruitment poster, or handling heavy artillery. Navarette makes several logical and factual errors: 1) His use of the term “cannon fodder” which I will refer to the Wikipedia definition as “regarded or treated as expendable…” and “The term derives from fodder - food for livestock - however in this case soldiers are the metaphorical food sent against cannons.” Usually referred to those sent to die under hopeless odds for pointless objectives. Does he mean that all military personnel are cannon fodder, a slur on which he has no basis to make, or does he mean that only such personnel who would be recruited under such a program, which was never implied? 2) His implicit linking of the proposal's proponent, Max Boot, with “restrictionists and racists” Perhaps Navaraette didn’t mean Mr. Boot but rather the person who called from upstate New York, but that’s like critiquing the Democrat’s anti- Iraq War policy strictly on the basis of Rosie O’Donnell and that 9/11 was an inside job. 3) His suggestion that the military would recruit someone like Mr. Carranza would not only be allowed to serve but eagerly sought out. This point was taken down by an e-mailer to Mr. Boot: Non-citizens have been permitted to enlist in the United States Army for decades, and on the whole, they have been better behaved than their native-born US citizen counterparts. There’s a study on this issue, found on the Center for Naval Analyses website (Non-citizens in the Military, April 2005). But all non-citizens who enlist must meet stringent enlistment requirements, including passing background checks, being fingerprinted, and undergoing physical, medical, and psychological exams. During wartime, undocumented immigrants have been permitted to enlist in the U.S. military—provided they meet the standards that every other recruit must meet. If they serve honorably, they can obtain expedited US citizenship. Please note the requirement that they serve honorably–which includes not being convicted of crimes while they are serving. And they are not permitted to enlist at all if they are criminals. Note the credentials of the e-mailer, both in terms of education and military profession. So there you are. Of course anyone is entitled to a mistake or a bad column but let’s see if Mr. Navarette admits his error and apologizes. There may be many reasons to critique Mr. Boot's proposal but I don't think Navarette quite has it. Then again I'm not sure the proposal was his true target anyway. You can take the man out of the Arizona Republic, but it’s clear from Navarette's writing that you cannot take the Republic out of the man. Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The Menace SAJU mentions a menace that has long concerned... well since June when my 8-year old started asking for a pair. Of course I'm talking about Heelys You've probably seen them, kids shoes which look normal but with a quick flick of the wheel in the heel turns them into instant roller skates. The problem is not with the product, which is innovative, but how its target market makes use of them. Cannot tell you how many times in a public setting, crowded setting, you see a kid weaving in and out using one of those things. There are never pleasant feelings left in the wake of those things. In fact they are banned from many schools. Please don't tell Father John but I noticed one kid gliding back from communion and his locomotion wasn't due to the power of the sacrament. I was about to take abrupt action when I thought I saw Sister Mary David looking at me, I'm in enough trouble with her already. Monday, August 13, 2007
Nadine, Call Your Office I doubt few things in life are as predictable as this story which was in today's AZ Republic: "Cigarette Sales Off Since Tax Hike" Seems the big cigarette tax hikes approved by voters last November are beginning to bite as the Republic reports that "sales were down 23 percent in May and 15 percent in June from a year earlier." Now it's unclear if declining sales is measured in cigarettes sold or tax revenue generated but the article states that it is tax officials reporting the decline. Here's the next part of the story... 97.5% of last year's tax hike came from Nadine Basha's proposal to fund early childhood programs through increased tobacco taxes. At the time, I said the most likely result of this measure was to make smoking expensive enough to get some people to quit or reduce smoking resulting in a reduction in smoking levels in the state. That would put a crimp in other public programs that were dependent on tobacco tax dollars. Now it's happening and that 15 to 23% drop in consumption or revenue will hurt. Despite what DHS Director Sue Gerard may think when she says... "If we got to a point that the level of smoking was so low that we didn't have money to do all these good programs we are doing, that is a problem I would be happy to face," Gerard said. "You would have such an effect on the overall health of our community. You'd see decreases in other costs." The revenue holes in the programs will occur long before their or anybody else's cost reductions from decreased smoking catch-up, if ever. So here's the next , next story. If the feds succeed in boosting the federal tax on tobacco, further driving down consumption, and therefore state tobacco tax revenue... what happens to Nadine Basha's early childhood programs? Sunday, August 12, 2007
One Ping Only The funny thing about the whole Barry Bonds saga is that at the time he was alleged to have begun cheating, after the 1998 season, his resume was the following: 1) Verge of breaking the 500-homer mark 2) Three MVPs, tied for most all-time 3) 8 Gold Gloves He also had a special blend of power and speed with close to 450 stolen bases and with several 30-30 and one 40-40 seasons. So as of the end of 1998 he had 2 things about him- he was destined for the Hall of Fame and was well-regarded as a complete jerk. Since that time how has he improved that resume?
A Point Overlooked Thomas points out that in my description of my recent vacation, I forgot to mention a quick lunch we shared at Beaver Street Brewery... call it a mini-bloggerama The Power of the Network As the whole Scott "Shock Troops" Beauchamp story lurches on, an understated part of the story is the power of competing networks. You know the saying, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." That just doesn't go for finding your next job or deal, it also goes for fact checking as well. Nobody can know it all, but you can know somebody who knows something about what you need to know. Michael Goldfarb who has been on this story from the beginning like stink on a monkey has proven the power of the blogopshere in this matter. He posted his concerns, asked for advice, and heard from a wide-range of experts including former Bradley IFV drivers and soldiers who served not just in Iraq but also at the base in question. As he cast serious doubt on the story, other bloggers picked up the torch even to the point of narrowing the possible identity of the then anonymous Beauchamp to about 100 people in a particular combat unit. What did The New Republic, that venerable print-publication, do to check their story before running it? "We sent [the article] to a reporter who was embedded in Iraq . . . to see if it all smelled right." "We pressed this guy for corroborating evidence, and we were satisfied that he provided enough details that everything felt compelling." "We had a fact-checker talk to a medic who had served in Iraq to make sure that it all smelled right" (referring to the description of the disfigured woman in the mess hall). You would think a publication like The New Republic would, when challenged on a story, would bring a whole load of wood when challenged. New Republic vs. Blogopshere... a disparity in forces. I wonder when they write the epitaph of of Franklin Foer's editorial career at the TNR if it will be "it all smelled right." Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Where was Mike? I have been out of town the past week on a family vacation, Griswold-style, to the natural scenic wonder of Utah and northern Arizona. Some observations: 1) The vacation-length stamina of an 8- year old when it comes to appreciating America’s scenic wonder is about 5 minutes of the first day 2) The strength of a cheap fishing pole purchased at Wal Mart is sufficient to catch anchovies without breaking. Under no circumstances should you bait said pole with an anchovy as you will soon encounter the 5-pound pike that eats anchovies. On the other hand, 5-pound pikes are quite delicious, especially when cooked over a wood fire after being skewered with your broken pole. .. 3) The sociology of the North Rim trails of the Grand Canyon are markedly different than those of the South Rim. While the North Kaibab trail is lightly traveled, the Bright Angel trail on the South Rim is a circus. As far as I can tell, there are 3 main groups:
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