The Arizona Supreme Court is due to hear a case today filed by State Republicans over the Medicaid expansion put into place by former Az Governor Jan Brewer that gives healthcare to low income families and individuals. It was put into place by Gov Brewer when Obamacare was passed into law and Arizona’s Republicans have been up in arms ever since! That’s NOT surprising because, frankly, Arizona has a notorious reputation for trying any way they can to increase the burden on poor and working poor families and individuals in the state. Of course, Arizona also has a notorious reputation for being unwilling to recognize such statesmen as the former Dr Martin Luther King and Caesar Chavez too. The state only recognized the MLK holiday when concerts and conventions began cancelling events in Arizona in protest of the state’s refusal to honor MLK. Once Arizona legislators figured out how much MONEY would be lost they changed their toon rather quickly and recognized the MLK holiday. A similar scenario revolved around the late migrant worker rights advocate Caesar Chavez. The state reluctantly created a special day to honor him in the same tone with MLK. Arizona should be ashamed but the state government in Phoenix is far from being so. Continue Reading
Arizona
AZ Corporation Commissioner Bob Burns has hired Scott Hempling who is a lawyer in Maryland specializing in utility regulation to investigate whether AZCC commissioners are unduly influenced in their decision-making by outside influences. Sorry but isn’t that a bit like a burglar investigating his own burglary?
For many years now many Arizona residents have known that the Corporation Commission is nothing more than a rubber stamp for utility companies as they virtually automatically approve any and all rate increases without question! Yet, these JOKSTERS seem to think they’re fooling everyone when they’re NOT. Burns ought to save his money and the Arizona State Attorney General Mark Brnovich SHOULD appoint an Independent Special Prosecutor to investigate the REAL DEALINGS of the AZCC!
But, you see, this is the way MOST of the state government in Arizona operates! It’s the “good-ole-boy network”!! It operates using smoke and mirror parlor tricks in an effort to fool the general public and sadly most of the time their little show works. Arizona voters need to step up and take up their CIVIC DUTY and start holding state officials accountable. And if you think the AZCC is the only dirty department in the state think again. The Dept of Economic Security is apparently plagued with corruption and thievery committed from the inside by their OWN EMPLOYEES! Perhaps that special prosecutor can investigate them too!!
In my opinion OF COURSE the corporation commissioners are influenced in their decision-making by utility and other “special interests” and that is why the AZCC rubber stamps MOST utility requests for rate increases and this has been going on for a long time! Burns is wasting his time and money. I’m sure NOTHING will be found and the whole thing will be swept under that dirty old carpet and let me tell you ARIZONA’S carpet is REALLY, REALLY DIRTY!!
Election day is coming up and Arizona voters need to OUST EVERY one of the AZCC members and START OVER! And that includes Burns! IMO if Burns was serious about uncovering corruption in the AZCC he would have asked the State Attorney General to investigate rather than hire an attorney from Maryland. But, like I said, it’s all about the smoke and mirror show and protecting Arizona’s good-ole-boy network!
Source:
http://www.kvoa.com/story/32605657/corporation-commissioner-launches-probe-of-outside-influence
updated 6/2/2016 at 4:38 pm————-
Early this morning just before dawn a bright light in the sky lit up Arizona but that’s not all. A security cam owned by phoenixfirescan on Twitter in Phoenix, AZ captured the event that lit up the entire pre-dawn sky. And then there were loud booms heard in the Phoenix area (notice booms plural…not just one). I’m sure more security cams around Arizona caught the event also and hopefully those people will be posting their vids on social media for the whole world to see.
I was awake and outside at the time (a few minutes before 4am) and saw the light but did not hear any booms. The light was super bright and once the sun began to come up you could see contrails in the northern sky (see photos below).
The media first reported it may have been a meteor and then changed their story saying it may have been a missile test launch from White Sands Base in New Mexico. Then they changed their story for a THIRD time saying perhaps it was BOTH a missile and a meteor! A missile and a meteor? That could only mean that our military shot something out of the sky above or very close to Phoenix!!
So what was it? I’m sure we’ll never know as when it comes to TRUTH this government (including this military) SELDOM tells the truth about anything. The media also reported that White Sands had a launch scheduled for yesterday morning but due to weather issues it was cancelled. My ass!
Witnesses reported that they saw a really bright light coming almost directly out of the sky above and then an even brighter light. That would be what people would see if we shot a meteor OR SOMETHING out of the sky with a missile, in fact.
The thing is this…..we are NEVER told the whole TRUTH about anything in this country or anywhere else and one wonders why. What is the “biggie” that “they” don’t want us to know? It must be really big because the lies are really big and are most often laughable at best! And here’s something else………
Ironically, a few days ago I was thinking about meteors and wondering why one has never crashed into a major city or town. I find that amazing that this has never happened. It’s almost as if meteors have a mind of their own and avoid cities and towns for some “odd” reason. Again, MY ASS!!
Check out the video from phoenixfirescan and my photos below and tell us what you think and if you have pics of vids of this mornings “unusual” event in the sky feel free to post them here or give us your link to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, or whatever.
Oh one more thing. Maybe it wasn’t a meteor we shot out of the sky at all but something else. Something far, far more sinister………….
Sources:
http://www.kvoa.com/story/32121907/possible-meteor-sighting-creates-excitement-around-arizona
https://twitter.com/phoenixfirescan
Video from phoneixfire scan on Twitter taken at 3:56 AM this morning in Phoenix, Arizona………..
Photos taken by me at the same time this morning……..
UPDATE…..UPDATE…..UPDATE:
EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!
NASA SAYS ASTEROID HIT ARIZONA NORTH OF TUCSON!!
The Huntsville, AL NASA Marshall Space Flight Center says the object was seen on Doppler radar and that it was a small ASTEROID about 10 feet in diameter weighing tons and moving in excess of 40K miles per hour. Bill Cooke of NASA said there are most likely remains of the asteroid north of Tucson, Arizona. An asteroid is a small rocky, iron or icy debris flying in space.
Other reports and analysis say that the object was at an altitude of about 57 miles above the Tonto National Forest east of Payson, AZ when initially spotted. The object was moving south at the time. It was last seen at an altitude of 22 miles above the same forest in the Payson area. The flash of light left by the object when it apparently exploded was 10x brighter than a full moon. The flash blinded NASA cameras at the Whipple Observatory on Mt Hopkins in Arizona. This reported today on the website spaceweather.com
Below is the video from that NASA camera at the Whipple Observatory:
Sooo now that problem is “solved” the trail left in the pre-dawn sky still looks like a missile launch to me but maybe not.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is seeking a court order to oust state Corporation Commissioner Chairwoman Susan Bitter Smith an elected official. The AG says Smith being on the CC is a conflict of interest because she is a registered lobbyist and Executive Director of a cable communications trade group regulated by the Commission. Smith has not commented on the AG actions and the state’s Corporation Commission is refusing comment. That body is made up of 5 elected PUBLIC SERVANTS.
Wow! Talk about having all of the ends tied up! Smith is not only a member of the CC but is also Chairwoman and she’s a lobbyist and Exec Director of a Cable trade group which must get CC approval for raising their rates to customers. NOW I finally understand why the ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION has been nothing more or less than a RUBBER STAMP for the corporations! What a RACKET!! But this is the way the Corporatist operate.
For Smith’s bio see: http://www.azcc.gov/commissioners/Bitter_Smith/default.html
Source:
http://www.kvoa.com/story/30630268/arizona-attorney-general-seeks-ouster-of-utility-regulator
US District Court Judge Susan Bolton this past Friday upheld a controversial part of Arizona’s anti-immigration law known as SB1070. Specifically, the judge upheld the part of the law that would allow Arizona police to check the immigration status of anyone they stop for any reason. Opponents of the provision are calling it the “Show Me Your Papers Law” reminiscent of tactics used by the Nazi Gestapo during WW2.
Bolton said opponents failed to show the court that Arizona police would enforce the law differently on Hispanics than on non-Hispanics. SB1070 was passed into law by the Arizona Legislature back in 2010 and has been repeatedly challenged in courts since that time. Bolton’s ruling Friday was on the last of seven challenges to the law.
Bolton’s ruling came on the heals of another ruling by another federal judge who approved a deal (there’s that dirty little 4 letter word) between the US Dept of Justice and Maricopa County, Arizona which will resolve accusations of civil rights abuses against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies.
The National Immigration Law Center’s legal director Karen Tumlin said her organization is evaluating their options in light of Bolton’s ruling. NILC was one of the parties in the suit challenging the Show Me Your Papers law.
What will now be interesting to see in Arizona is just how police in that state use the law. Will they use it fairly without profiling or will they use it simply to check immigration status of any and all Hispanics in the state? Or will they even use it at all? One thing is for sure. The State of Arizona is one of the most RACIST states in the union! It always has been and always will be for as long as the state’s “good-ole boy” network remains in power. Ironically, the state had much agriculture and growers use thousands of migrant workers to pick their crops during harvest season. It’s a bit like talking out of both sides of one’s mouth. On the one hand the state wants illegals gone YET on the other hand they want migrants to pick their crops during harvest season. Seems like Arizona wants it both ways.
I’ll wait until some statistics come out that PROVE police are not targeting Hispanics. I’ll be VERY interested to see how many whites they stop and check immigration status! Hey, maybe they are illegals from Russia, Germany, the UK, Australia, or a host of other nations! Here’s what’s astounding, however. Hispanics are soon to be the MAJORITY in Arizona and the US and it amazes me the CRAP LAWS like this get passed nowadays. Maybe in the 1940s or 1800s but in 2015? And can someone please tell me why Arizona with a rather large HISPANIC population has only had ONE Hispanic Governor (Raul Castro) in its entire history as a state? The rest have all been WHITE males and women! How’s that???????????????????????????
Fact of the matter is this law SMACKS of RACISM period! Good move Arizona! When are you changing your state’s name to include the term “Nazi”?
Reference:
http://news.yahoo.com/judge-upholds-show-papers-arizona-immigration-law-210348320.html
Arizona authorities have arrested a 63 year old man with 27 years of service for stealing $1.5 MILLION dollars from the state’s Medicaid program known as AHCCCS. The embezzling all began back in 2006, apparently, when the state worker decided to help himself to some of the dough! The worker was fired on August 18th and was arrested along with a compadre who apparently was not a state worker but was getting some of the action as well.
Radio station KJZZ 91.5 in Arizona is reporting that the state worker is Michael Veit and his apparent accomplice remains unidentified. According to the report by KJZZ Veit oversaw purchasing for Arizona’s Medicaid program and is suspected of embezzlement and fraud to the tune of $1.5 million. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey’s office announced the arrest yesterday. The question, of course, is why did it take Ducey about a month to announce this but the BIGGER question is how was this state Medicaid worker able to allegedly embezzled $1.5 million over a period of almost 10 years without Arizona authorities knowing or at least suspecting?
The Governor’s office refused to give out details about the scam and how it all worked for the past almost 10 years. However, the Governor’s office said they are taking the matter seriously and called the allegations “unacceptable, appalling, infuriating and have absolutely no place in state government.” The Governor’s spokesperson said the case will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Governor Ducey’s office said that the investigation began when authorities noticed “potential procurement irregularities.” And it only took them almost 10 years to take notice???? Veit’s job was as a contracting and purchasing administrator who oversaw facility maintenance and office supply contracts. The investigation included the agency’s Inspector General who just happens to be a former FBI agent. The Governor’s office also said allegations like this are “extremely alarming” and the state’s Attorney General will “move swiftly in the prosecution of individuals who violate the public’s trust.” Continue Reading
On 4 April 1967 Dr Martin Luther King gave his first major public address regarding the war in Vietnam. The address was delivered to laity and clergy at Riverside Church in NYC. Sadly, he delivered this address only one year prior to his assassination. In the address, commonly known as “Beyond Vietnam,” Dr King spoke out harshly against the war. Many civil rights leaders at the time condemned him for his comments as they thought his comments would hurt their cause. His words angered President Lyndon B. Johnson at the time to the point that Johnson revoked an invitation to the White House for Dr King. MLK once said, “The calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but WE MUST SPEAK.”
Dr King began his address by pointing to statements made by an organization of clergy and laymen concerned about the war. He referenced one statement in particular which said, “A time comes when silence is betrayal.” Dr King said that time had come for us in relation to the war in Vietnam but it is just as applicable today in light of the present state of our nation. The silence of the masses of Americans has come to betrayal! No longer can we afford to be silent as we watch the Corporatist pillage our nation economically and in terms of basic human rights! We The People MUST break our silence and SPEAK OUT in an effort to end this wholesale destruction of our nation and our society for the sake of PROFIT for the FEW! Many of us wish to THINK we are “patriotic” but just how patriotic is it to be silent when you sit and watch the destruction of America and American society? That’s NOT patriotic at all. That’s BETRAYAL! And that is exactly what Dr King was talking about because that is what many Americans were doing in the days of the Vietnam War.
Dr King went on to say that the mission to speak out is a “most difficult one.” He said, “Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy…”. Sadly, in America today we have an increasing system of Corporatism in which and through which government that is suppose to represent the people is used, instead, to do the bidding of the corporations. Government policy is becoming more and more bent towards the corporations and less and less towards the common American living on Main Street. We all know this because it is a truth within us that eats at us many times but, yet, we are reluctant to speak out, stand up, and oppose just as Dr King pointed out. He went on to note that the human spirit does not move without “great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought…”. Again, his words rang true and still ring true today. We Americans have become a reluctant people. A people perhaps with too much comfort and certainly a people with far too much apathy. Instead, conformist thought is embraced because we have deemed it too risky, too difficult, to speak out and oppose the greedy Corporatists who now own and control our nation. Sadly, conformism has never gotten a people anywhere worthy. In fact, conformism has usually ended with the end of a people and the end of a nation. Our spirits have been dulled and even quenched by our entertainments and we have become far to concerned about our cell phones and to less concerned about the plight of our fellow human being and our children! Is it any wonder Americans are so apathetic and lethargic to the issues that REALLY matter? Not really. Continue Reading
I think most people know that our southern border security is a farce at best. And, like me, they’re still wondering why 13 years after 9/11 our border to the south remains insecure. After all, why didn’t President Bush secure the border immediately after 9/11 instead of leaving it wide open as Obama has also done?
Last week reports began appearing in the MSM press about ICE busing illegals from Mexico and Central America out of Texas and into Arizona by the thousands including women and small children. And that’s not all. Some of those illegals are young children with no parents attending them! Here’s what has been happening….
Arizona has cracked down on illegals in that state and illegal immigrants know it. So they’ve been crossing the border into Texas more and more. Immigration officials decided there were not enough ICE officers to process them all in Texas. So why didn’t ICE move officers from AZ into Texas to help out? That’s the billion dollar question. Anyway, ICE decided to bus the illegals out of Texas and into Arizona and other states to ICE facilities there for processing. Once processed they are then bused to the Greyhound bus depots in Phoenix or Tucson and simply dropped off. The idea is that they get a bus ticket or call relatives to wire money to them so they can buy a bus ticket to wherever their relatives are living in the US. So they have no money. No bus tickets. And how in the hell does ICE expect all those young children to buy a bus ticket? Greyhound officials have complained about the drop offs but to no avail and humanitarian relief agencies have been trying to help as much as they can in terms of food, money, etc. THIS IS AMERICA’S SOLUTION TO THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM? Abandoning young children at a bus station? Continue Reading
FLASH!! —Arizona Republican Governor Jan Brewer has VETOED the controversial SB 1062 touted as the “Religious Freedom Bill” passed by the state legislature last week. Opponents raised concerns that if enacted into law it would establish “State Sanctioned Discrimination” against LGBT and others. The bill would have provided business owners a legal defense for refusing to serve someone based on the owners “sincere religious beliefs.” There has been growing opposition all wek from gay activists such as George Takei (who played Sulu on the original Star Trek) to the NFL who was about to consider moving the 2015 Super Bowl from Arizona elsewhere if the bill was signed by the Governor.
Brewer was at the Governor’s Conference in Washington when the legislature passed the bill. She returned yesterday and told reporters that she would consider both sides on the controversy before making a decision as to what she would do. This afternoon the Governor made the choice to veto the legislation. In the past couple of days a number of state Republicans have “abandoned ship” even though they voted for the bill amid the growing national outcry. Some were even urging the governor to veto it.
State Senator Steve Yarborough was the primary sponsor of the bill and defended it in a meeting with Brewer. Yarborough said he just wanted legal protections for people who choose to assert their religious beliefs when it comes to providing services to gays and lesbians. Democrats in the legislature all voted against the bill and warned Republicans that it would be viewed as a discrimination bill against LGBT people and that there would be a national outcry. They also warned that passing the legislation could cost the state millions in lost revenue due to cancellations of tourism, conventions, and the Super Bowl. Republicans paid no heed to them. The vote was mostly along party lines with only 2-3 Republicans voting against the bill last week. Republicans control the legislature.
Brewer said in a Tweet yesterday that she intended on “doing the right thing.” State Senator Bob Worsley of Mesa pointed out that even though the bill had not yet been enacted into law it had already damaged the state due to the growing outcry across the nation. It is highly doubtful that had she signed the bill the courts would uphold it and this was yet another aspect the governor must have considered in making her decision to veto it.
Governor Brewer made the announcement this afternoon in Phoenix at the State Capital. During her announcement the Governor said the measure had the potential to create more problems that to solve. The Governor went on to say that the legislation did not address a “specific or present concern related to religious liberty.” She noted that the bill was “broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences” for the State of Arizona and residents.
The Governor also said that she wanted people across the nation to know that Arizona holds religious liberty and nondiscrimination as “core values.” She said she felt the bill would have divided the state in “ways we cannot even imagine.” Brewer went on to say that she has not heard of even one instance in the state in which a business owner’s religious beliefs had been violated. Both US Senators from Arzona, John McCain and Jeff Flake, had urged Brewer to veto the bill earlier this week. Brewer urged legislators to move beyond the “ugliness” of the past few days. She told reporters, “Going forward, let’s turn the ugliness of the debate over Senate Bill 1062 into a renewed search for greater respect and understanding among all Arizonans and Americans.”
Hopefully so Governor but I fear a great amount of damage has already been done. Ultra-Conservatives got their message across LOUD AND CLEAR. Once again Arizona has been given a black eye as it got over SB 1070 which was the anti-immigration bill targeting Hispanics. This is an election year in Arizona and hopefully the good voters in the state will make massive changes in the composition of the state legislature that more accurately reflects the people of Arizona instead of neo-con hardline views.
Sadly, the Governor’s Veto did not come in time to save one convention scheduled to be held in the state. The Hispanic Bar Association of lawyers announced that their Board of Directors had all voted to move the annual convention out of Arizona due to the fact that the legislature passed SB 1062. The HBA said they view the issue as a civil rights issue. For more on this go to:
http://www.kvoa.com/news/hispanic-bar-association-pulls-convention-from-phoenix-over-sb1032/
Actor and gay activist George Takei who played Lt Sulu in the original Star Trek series has issued a public letter to Arizona. Following is the text of that letter:
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Dear Arizona,
Congratulations. You are now the first state actually to pass a bill permitting businesses–even those open to the public–to refuse to provide service to LGBT people based on an individual’s “sincerely held religious belief.” This “turn away the gay” bill enshrines discrimination into the law. Your taxi drivers can refuse to carry us. Your hotels can refuse to house us. And your restaurants can refuse to serve us.
Kansas tried to pass a similar law, but had the good sense to not let it come up for a vote. The quashing came only after the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and other traditional conservative groups came out strongly against the bill.
But not you, Arizona. You’re willing to ostracize and marginalize LGBT people to score political points with the extreme right of the Republican Party. You say this bill protects “religious freedom,” but no one is fooled. When I was younger, people used “God’s Will” as a reason to keep the races separate, too. Make no mistake, this is the new segregation, yours is a Jim Crow law, and you are about to make yourself ground zero.
This bill also saddens me deeply. Brad and I have strong ties to Arizona. Brad was born in Phoenix, and we vacation in Show Low. We have close friends and relatives in the state and spend weeks there annually. We even attended the Fourth of July Parade in Show Low in 2012, looking like a pair of Arizona ranchers.
The law is breathtaking in its scope. It gives bigotry against us gays and lesbians a powerful and unprecedented weapon. But your mean-spirited representatives and senators know this. They also know that it is going to be struck down eventually by the courts. But they passed it anyway, just to make their hateful opinion of us crystal clear.
So let me make mine just as clear. If your Governor Jan Brewer signs this repugnant bill into law, make no mistake. We will not come. We will not spend. And we will urge everyone we know–from large corporations to small families on vacation–to boycott. Because you don’t deserve our dollars. Not one red cent.
And maybe you just never learn. In 1989, you voted down recognition of the Martin Luther King holiday, and as a result, conventions and tourists boycotted the state, and the NFL moved the Superbowl to Pasadena. That was a $500 million mistake.
So if our appeals to equality, fairness, and our basic right to live in a civil society without doors being slammed in our face for being who we are don’t move you, I’ll bet a big hit to your pocketbook and state coffers will.
George Takei
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You can find the original at the following link:
http://www.allegiancemusical.com/blog-entry/razing-arizona
Personally I think the following words illustrate the REAL reason Arizona passed this legislation and it is to let it be known that Arizona dislikes gay people. Like Takei says they legislators know full well the courts will strike it down but they got their message out which appears to be “If you are LGBT stay out of good-ole boy Hillbilly Arizona.” PROBLEM is there ARE LGBT people living in AZ paying taxes and being good citizens. What comes next? Legislators pass a bill imprisoning LGBT or pass a bill giving them 24 hours to leave the state or face the NEW INQUISITION?
I heard several Arizona state Senators and Reps today say that when they voted for the bill they were not fully informed of the possible ramifications and they are now calling on Governor Brewer to veto it even though they voted for it. WTH? Let me see if I got this straight……you are supposedly an educated elected legislator and you need someone to tell you the possible ramifications over a bill like this? You mean you couldn’t figure it out yourself? Just what did these legislators think the ramifications would be? Frankly, I don’t believe them as I think that those who voted for the bill thought nothing would happen and now that a fire has been lit in Arizona they are jumping ship trying to avoid controversy…..again! And btw the Democrats in the legislature WARNED both House and Senate members in debates what the ramifications of passing this bill would be and everything they warned about has now come to pass!! But the GOP in Az went ahead and passed it anyway and, as I stated, just to get their hate-filled, prejudice good-ole boy opinion out to LGBT loud and clear. Every legislator who voted for this should be IMPEACHED as obviously they have now proven they are incompetent and lack any foresight whatsoever! And if Brewer signs it into law she ought to be impeached as well.
Jim Crow Law? You bet! The New Segregation? That’s exactly what this is!
Now shall we discuss a bit of theology and What Would JESUS Do????