Questionable publicity stunt?

Last October, I posted an article about Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s VOTER FRAUD PREVENTION VOLUNTEERS, a sheriff department sponsored program to suppress Latino voter turnout by stationing “racial profilers” at each vo/… Read full post »

It appears that public pressure put on our Arizona governor is finally beginning to pay off.  Earlier this week, Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a crazy “birther” bill as well as an even-crazier “guns on campus” bill.  This follows he/… Read full post »

Does America really need this man right now?  We are facing some monumental economic, social and international issues.  Do we really have to deal with a Randian egomaniac, who inherited 100% of his wealth, who filed multiple bankruptcies to maintain his wealt/… Read full post »

on the "Krauthammer Scale."

Checking the pulse of the wingnuts is often a definitive way of determining the effectiveness of Obama’s speeches.  Based on what I call the "Krauthammer Scale," Obama’s Wednesday speech rated a solid ten. 

Charles Krauthammer is a… Read full post »

I wasn’t a nuclear or civil engineer.  I was just a bean-counter at the time.  I was recruited on campus in the early ‘70s to enter the Financial Management Program at General Electric Corporation.  I gladly accepted.  My first permanent assignment/… Read full post »

Image source - AmericanMethod.com

This worn out phrase, coined by the conservatives in the Reagan administration, has now taken on a whole new meaning.  The original right-wing intent was to reduce taxes in order to reduce (starve) the size of government (the beast).&… Read full post »

A message from Harold Homeowner

Image source – Norman Rockwell.com

Dear Mr. President, 

When you ran for office, you said that you were going to give us “change that we could believe in.”  I believed you.  I had hoped that that “change&r… Read full post »

Adolf Hitler in Berlin - March 23, 1933

Hitler’s infamous Reichstag speech took place on this date in 1933.  It marked a major turning point in German history.  The new Chancellor spoke of the threats of Marxism and how the educational system, the the… Read full post »

Last Thursday, Arizona State Senator Lori Klein (R) took government to a new low in Arizona.  She decided that it was appropriate for her to read an unsupported, racist letter on the floor of the state senate during the recent debate on immigration legislation.   … Read full post »

The Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas is scheduled to close down in May.   

The Sahara has always held a certain mystique for many people because it is the last remaining vintage “Rat Pack” casino in Vegas.  It was where the original Ocean’s E… Read full post »

   My answer to Lawrence O'Donnell’s question

On this date fourteen years ago, thousands of people in Southern Nevada, Arizona and Northern Mexico saw this symmetric formation of lights in the night sky.  The U.S. Air Force claimed that these were flares dropped by an aircraft on a training mission, but most ob… Read full post »

Image source – AP 

Ten years ago this week the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.3 trillion tax cut bill that was ultimately signed into law by President Bush two months later - 48 days after he entered office.  This was Bush’s crowning mom… Read full post »

Arizona Lawmakers

The last few weeks have brought out the “crazies” on the floor of the Arizona legislature.  Here are some highlights:  

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Arizona Birther Bill (HB 2544)&nb… Read full post »

Last Friday, the Spanish National Court agreed to continue its investigation into Guantánamo torture allegations made by a Moroccan-born Spanish resident.  This is in addition to another ongoing Spanish court case (updated here) brought against six U.S. Department of Justice/… Read full post »

Yesterday, U.S. regulators issued the first new deepwater drilling permit since the moratorium was lifted in October.  Noble Energy is expected to restart drilling at its Santiago Prospect deepwater platform this month.  Work had ceased at the Santiago site in June/… Read full post »

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick - Scottsdale, AZ

The great game of baseball has begun for 2011.  One of the benefits of living in Arizona is being able to attend spring training – Cactus League – games on a regular basis. 

Yesterday, I watched the Ar… Read full post »

Exxon Valdez Redux

Image source – Planetsave.com

What are the long-term consequences of the BP oil spill? 

If the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 is any example, there will be little consequences for the oil company, but significant long-term negative consequences… Read full post »

shouldn’t throw glasses.

This is a rather unique stone house in the mountains of Fafe in Northern Portugal.  It was built between giant granite boulders in the early ‘70s by Victor Rodriquez.  Victor wanted something that would blend in with the… Read full post »

Winner – 2011 Top Wingnut Award

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

Finally!  The wingnut spotlight has been taken off of Arizona.   

The people of Arizona would like to congratulate Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker for going "above and beyond" the expec… Read full post »

Mahler conducted the New York Philharmonic

Carnegie Hall – February 21, 1911

It has been a century since Gustav Mahler conducted his last concert.  It was at Carnegie Hall in New York.  He had been advised by his physician not to perform that evening because of a high fe/… Read full post »

as seen by the Spy Masters

This has been a banner book-release month for spy books.  Not books about spies.  But rather, books written by spies.  Two former CIA operatives, Bruce Riedel and Michael Scheuer, have just released books covering their views o… Read full post »

Smiling Propaganda

Once in the early ‘70s, I attended an Up With People event at the Oakland Coliseum.  I wasn’t necessarily a big fan.   In fact, I was more inclined to attend anti-war rallies on campus or Doobie Brothers' concerts in the Bay Area a/… Read full post »

Arizona Legislature

Just when you think that the leaders of Arizona could not demonstrate a higher degree of lunacy, they always manage to come up with something crazier.  Today, the AZ Legislature introduced a new bill (SB 1433) that essentially allows Arizona to decide for… Read full post »

February 9, 1964

This date in Beatlemania history is important because it was the first time that The Beatles perfomed live on Ameican TV.  Ed Sullivan had The Beatles on for three consecutive Sundays, beginning with their 2/9/64 performance (above) in New York City. 

Ano… Read full post »