WILLIAMS—There will be a free swim at the Williams Aquatic Center on Saturday, August 11 from noon to 4 p.m.
Category Archives: News
Sales tax increase initiative to go before Supreme Court.
PHOENIX—Secretary of State Ken Bennett will appeal a lower court ruling on the Quality Education and Jobs initiative to the Supreme Court of Arizona. This initiative would continue the 1% sales tax increase placed on the ballot by Governor Brewer three-years ago and which has ended. The tax increase was promoted to save jobs—union government jobs—and several were cut anyway after the measure passed.
The initiative was denied by the Secretary of State because the official copy of the initiative did not match the copy attached to the petition assigned by voters.
The chairman of the Quality Education and Jobs committee—Ann-Eve Pederson—complained that Secretary Bennett’s decision was “really unfortunate” and charged that he was bending to the will of groups opposed to education. It is more likely that there are no groups opposed to education as much as they are opposed to the quality of education provided no matter how much money is thrown at it.
It is reported that 71% of eighth graders are below proficiency in math which seems to prove that the 1% sales tax does not add up. Many schools do not properly teach civic duties and rights under the Constitution of the United States of America.
Ken Bennett originally wrote in an op-ed that he would abide by the lower court ruling which violates the laws on initiatives. He decided to fight the decision because he felt that leaving this decision in place would lead to future abuses. He claims that his office follows the laws exactly.
The initiative passed three-years ago by approximately 24% of the voters. In Arizona a majority of those who cast a vote is all that is necessary to pass an initiative, not a majority of the registered voters. Only about 35% of registered voters cast a vote in that election. This is why it is important to vote to offset the union vote.
News Briefs
CFO that bullies Chick-Fil-A employee gets more than his free cup of water
The CFO of a medical supply company that video taped himself bashing a Chick-Fil-A employee in Tuscon got his free cup of water from the restaurant and a pink slip from his employer.
TUCSON, AZ–(Marketwire – Aug 2, 2012) – The following is a statement from Vante:
Vante regrets the unfortunate events that transpired yesterday in Tucson between our former CFO/Treasurer Adam Smith and an employee at Chick-fil-A. Effective immediately, Mr. Smith is no longer an employee of our company.
The actions of Mr. Smith do not reflect our corporate values in any manner. Vante is an equal opportunity company with a diverse workforce, which holds diverse opinions. We respect the right of our employees and all Americans to hold and express their personal opinions, however, we also expect our company officers to behave in a manner commensurate with their position and in a respectful fashion that conveys these values of civility with others.
We hope that the general population does not hold Mr. Smith’s actions against Vante and its employees.
Read more at the Business Insider
Farmer takes revenge for arrest, drives tractor over top of 7 police cars
NEWPORT, Vt. – Roger Pion, a Vermont man who authorities say was angry over an arrest and used his tractor to drive over seven police vehicles on Thursday, is expected in court today.
Read more at the CBS News
Independents can vote August 28th
ARIZONA—Arizona law allows independent and non-partisan voters to vote in the primary election on August 28th. Those registered voters can go into the polls and ask for the ballot for any major party except the Libertarian party which holds closed primaries.
The Primary elections were originally designed for nothing more than to allow the parties to select the person(s) they want to represent their party for a political office. It was designed to trim a host of candidates down to sufficient numbers for each office in the November election. This gives a choice of candidates from each party.
Recently some have been promoting “Open Primaries” which limits the choice of candidates for each office to the top two vote getters in the primary whether they be both Republican, Democrat or whatever. The Open Primary initiative would actually limit your choice in the November election.
Court Upholds Domestic Drone Use in Arrest of American Citizen
A North Dakota court has preliminarily upheld the first-ever use of an unmanned drone to assist in the arrest of an American citizen.
A judge denied a request to dismiss charges Wednesday against Rodney Brossart, a man arrested last year after a 16-hour standoff with police at his Lakota, N.D., ranch. Brossart’s lawyer argued that law enforcement’s “warrantless use of [an] unmanned military-like surveillance aircraft” and “outrageous governmental conduct” warranted dismissal of the case, according to court documents obtained by U.S. News.
Read more at US News
Only 24.6 Percent Of All Jobs In The United States Are Good Jobs
Do you want to know why it seems like good jobs are very rare in the United States today? It is because good jobs are very rare in the United States today. According to a paper that was just released by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, only 24.6 percent of all American jobs qualified as “good jobs” in 2010. Over the past several decades, there has been increasing pressure on corporations to reduce expenses and increase corporate profits. One of the biggest expenses that any corporation faces is labor. Large corporations all over the globe are in an endless race to gain a competitive advantage by pushing labor costs as low as possible. Sometimes this is done by using technology. Computers, automation, robotics and other forms of technology have eliminated millions of jobs in the United States and those jobs are never coming back. Millions of other jobs have been eliminated by offshoring. In our globalized economy, American workers have been merged into one giant labor pool with everyone else. That makes it very tempting for big corporations to move jobs from areas where workers are very expensive (such as the United States) to areas of the world where it is legal to pay slave labor wages. When big corporations do this, corporate profits go up, but the number of good jobs in the United States goes down. As a result, there is increased competition for the jobs that remain in the United States and this drives down wages. Meanwhile, the cost of living just keeps going up. So millions of American families have fallen into poverty in recent years, and millions of others have gone deep into debt in an attempt to survive. This dynamic is absolutely shredding the middle class in the United States.
Read more at The American Dream
Cybersecurity bill amendment craze
Frank Lautenberg (C-N.J.) has refused to pull his gun ban amendment from the Cybersecurity bill now being processed in the Senate. Utah Republican Mike Lee followed up with an amendment to make abortion illegal after 20-weeks of pregnacy. That would ban the tool that commits more mass murder in the United States each year than guns.
Radical imam OK but not Chick-fil-A
By Michael Graham
Boston Herald
Given his stance on Chick-fil-A, would Mayor Tom Menino grant permits to a group that has counted among its leaders a man who has repeatedly called homosexuality a “crime that must be punished” by death?
Actually, he has done that . . . and more! Menino effectively gave away city land valued at $1.8 million to the organization, and he gave a speech at its ribbon-cutting ceremony.
It’s the Islamic Society of Boston’s mosque, and when it comes to anti-gay sentiment, one of its early supporters makes Chick-fil-A look like the Provincetown Men’s Chorus.
Read more at the Boston Herald
Rationing Begins: States Limiting Drug Prescriptions for Medicaid Patients
(CNSNews.com) – Sixteen states have set a limit on the number of prescription drugs they will cover for Medicaid patients, according to Kaiser Health News.
Seven of those states, according to Kaiser Health News, have enacted or tightened those limits in just the last two years.
Medicaid is a federal program that is carried out in partnership with state governments. It forms an important element of President Barack Obama’s health-care plan because under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act–AKA Obamcare–a larger number of people will be covered by Medicaid, as the income cap is raised for the program.
With both the expanded Medicaid program and the federal subsidy for health-care premiums that will be available to people earning up to 400 percent of the poverty level, a larger percentage of the population will be wholly or partially dependent on the government for their health care under Obamacare than are now.
Read more at CNS News
Holder Orders Family: Give Up Your Religion or Your Business
By Terence P. Jeffrey | cnsnews.com
(CNSNews.com) – The Justice Department last week presented the Newland family of Colorado–who own Hercules Industries, a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning business–with what amounted to an ultimatum: Give up your religion or your business.
“Hercules Industries has ‘made no showing of a religious belief which requires that [it] engage in the [HVAC] business,” the Justice Department said in a formal filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
In response to the Justice Department’s argument that the Newlands can either give up practicing their religion or give up owning their business, the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the family, said in a reply brief: “[T]o the extent the government is arguing that its mandate does not really burden the Newlands because they are free to abandon their jobs, their livelihoods, and their property so that others can take over Hercules and comply, this expulsion from business would be an extreme form of government burden.”
Read more at Fox News
Russian MPs suggest allowing public use of firearms shortly after Colorado shootings
Guns goin’ back in the U.S., back in the U.S., back in the U.S.S.R.
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Following the shooting spree in a Colorado cinema, Russian legislators have drafted a bill which would allow public use of firearms. The law’s sponsors hope to curb crime rates, while opponents say legal air-guns already cause enough damage.
The principle behind the drafted bill allowing the private use of handguns is “my home is my castle,” so any invasion of private space could be met with loaded barrels.
Aleksandr Torshin, who drafted the bill, says pistol owners might get divided into several groups. Some would be sanctioned to use weapons to protect their homes only, while others would be authorized to take handguns in their cars. The most privileged group would be permitted to carry pistols anywhere. This third category could include postmen, ambulance staff and social workers.
Read more at Russia Today
Tonya Reaves, Planned Parenthood and the art of downplaying a ‘tragedy’
As reported Tuesday by ABC News, the family of 24-year-old Tonya Reaves – the Chicago woman who died after hemorrhaging during an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic — has hired a lawyer to help them decide whether to take legal action.
“We’re just trying to get all the facts from the incident and determine what the best course of action is,” Corey Meyer, the family’s lawyer, said. “We’re still getting information.”
As reported Sunday by Fox News, Florida Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns and the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List have called for congressional oversight in the wake of Reaves’ death.
Apparently, when it comes to reporting abortion statistics – specifically in Chicago — much is overlooked.
Read more at Examiner.com
President Obama finally admits he wants more gun control
Playing on the recent shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the general misconception of the Second Amendment taught in public school, President Obama finally admitted that he wants to take guns away from citizens. England used the protection of hunting rights argument to disarm their people and have recently started confiscating hunting weapons, as well. According to Federalist Paper No. 29, the Second Amendment allows citizens to own any weapon or equipment in the arsenal of the United States Armed Forces. The idea of the militia—not the National Guard—was to protect the natural rights of American citizens.
It is interesting that he speaks for gun owners saying that they agree that AK-47’s belong on the battlefield. These are among the weapons that this administration sold to the Mexican drug cartels which killed an Arizona citizen, Brian Terry. In addition, Obama and McCain declared the United States a “battlefield” by signing the National Defense Authorization Act with indefinite detention articles contained in it.
Damning Report Alleges NYPD Consistently Violated Rights Of Occupy Protestors
Michael Kelley
businessinsider.com
July 26, 2012
A group of legal experts have published a report detailing “abusive and unlawful protest regulation and policing practices” by New York police in response to Occupy Wall Street protests.
The report, Suppressing Protest: Human Rights Violations in the U.S. Response to Occupy Wall Street, examines treatment of protestors and journalists by local, state, and federal authorities from September 2011 through July 2012.
The eight-month investigation – carried out by law clinics at NYU, Fordham, Harvard and Stanford – documents instances in which authorities acted in ways that “suppress and chill protest rights” and violate international obligations to respect free assembly and expression.