Pssst....the Air Force may be watching...pass it on...

From Air Force Link (courtesy GovExec.com):

6/29/2006 - ARLINGTON, Va. (AFPN) -- The Air Force Office of Scientific Research has begun funding a new research area that includes a study of blogs. Blog research may provide information analysts and warfighters with invaluable help in fighting the war on terrorism. Drs. Brian Ulicny, senior scientist, and Mieczyslaw Kokar, president, Versatile Information Systems Inc., Framingham, Mass., will receive approximately $450,000 in funding for the three-year project titled, "Automated Ontologically-Based Link Analysis of International Web Logs for the Timely Discovery of Relevant and Credible Information."

In keeping with my new Truth in Press Releases Initiative, I will translate for you - "Air Force paying $450,000 to company to read blogs."

Something most of us do for free.

Hmmm...maybe some of us should join forces and incorporate. That company has the Air Force contract sewn up, but the Army, Navy, Marines and even Coast Guard are still ripe for the picking...lol.

...Anyone who is attending the fireworks show in Tempe tomorrow is invited to stop by the voter registration booth sponsored by the Arizona Democratic Party. Besides registering to vote, visitors can speak to the many candidates who will be volunteering their time to assist at the booth. Also, many of the campaigns will have separate booths for you to visit and speak to the candidates.

So arrive early (gates open at 4), find a good seat for the fireworks, and meet the candidates.

Have a great 4th!!

JD Hayworth (R - Blowhard)

JD has been spewing his usual vitriol, but in a bit of a changeup, has been directing it at the New York Times instead of Mexicans. This has been covered pretty well elsewhere, in blogs and the MSM, and I wasn't going to post about it.

Then I came across JD's own entry in The Hill's CongressBlog. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has his own CongressBlog entry on the topic here.

JD's entry is short, so here it is:

Re:New York Times–Revoke Their Credentials, Time To Go
June 28th, 2006

As a former journalist I have the utmost respect for the freedom of the press. But the New York Times has repeatedly abused that freedom by publishing classified information to the detriment of our national security, in the process putting lives in danger and possibly breaking the law. Revoking the congressional credentials of Times reporters does not restrict their rights - it merely restricts their access to the Capitol Complex. Let’s not forget that the New York Times is our guest at the Capitol. The paper has no right, constitutional or otherwise, to have a presence here. The paper has worn out its welcome and its time for them to go.

Couple of points JD....

1. You read words off of a teleprompter or a script. You weren't a journalist, you were a talking head.

2. You wrote "that the New York Times is our guest at the Capitol."

Let's be clear here. JD, you are OUR guest at the Capitol. Perhaps the New York Times "has no right, constitutional or otherwise, to have a presence" there, but it should be noted - neither do you. They have a job that calls for their presence there; right now, so do you.

Bottom line - the Times did its job, reporting on news that concerns all Americans. It ISN'T your job to stop them from doing theirs.

If the Administration, with your obvious support, (stop me if you've ever heard this one! :) ) is doing nothing wrong, then they have nothing to hide, right?

JD - face the facts. You've worn out your welcome and it's time for you to go.

Rick Renzi: Student at the JD Hayworth School of Oratory?

Rick is in fine form this evening. He proposes an amendment to HR 5672 to take $5,000,000 from funding for the UN and give it to law enforcement on reservations in his district.

His rhetorical support for his amendment?

He cited (actually, almost yelled) that his district is the 'largest land mass of poverty in the country" before going into some examples of that poverty (paraphrase: you don't need to go to Africa to see starving people with distended bellies) before closing with "Before you spend it overseas, spend it at home!"

With that, he wants to give the money to law enforcement on the reservations. Do they need more support? Hell yeah. No question about it.

Of course, if he was worried about poverty on any reservations, he could have tried to earmark the funds for poverty-fighting programs.

Or is that too obvious?

Additionally, why attack the UN, which is a powerful ally for fighting poverty worldwide? Why not take the 5 mil from Halliburton's Iraqi oil-acquisition fund....err, the War to Find Weapons of Mass Destruction, err...the War to Fight Terrorism in Iraq (terrorism that wasn't there until it came out that the WMD intelligence that the White House based it's justification for invading Iraq was false)...err...well, you know... :) . That money is spent overseas. At least the UN is based in New York City.

Many of his colleagues complimented Congressman Renzi on his passion (I thought he was just doing his Hayworth as Blowhard impression). My question to him about his passion - is it for helping some of your constituents (though, based on your own arguments, NOT helping them in the ways they need most) or is your passion for putting the screws to the UN?

Rick, if your passion is for helping the poorest of your constituents, where is your passion the rest of the year? Or during non-election years?

BTW - the Renzi amendment passed on a voice vote.

Personal note:

One of my screen names on Yahoo's message boards is "ilovehypocrites."

My affection for the AZ Congressional delegation grows each day.

Jeff Flake making friends again...

Right now, the House is debating a series of amendments to HR5672 offered by Jeff Flake. It's an appropriations bill, and the amendments offered target earmarks.

So far, he is metaphorically getting his teeth kicked in, but that could change if he takes up Rep. Jose Serrano on his invitation to visit the beneficiary of one of the targeted earmarks, the Arthur Avenue Retail Market in the Bronx.

Change to "literally." The area of the Bronx that contains Arthur Avenue, is, umm....'colorful'.

Jeff, you said you just might take up Rep. Serrano on his invite; if you do, wear a boxer's mouthguard. Your dentist will thank you.

Watching the debate on C-SPAN, I observed a couple of things:

One, many of the Reps who spoke against his amendments noted Rep. Flake's support for bigger ticket items, such as spending in Iraq and questioned his motives in attacking these *much* smaller proposals. They also noted how much federal funding that Arizona receives (and has received through the years - CAP was singled out) in the appropriations process.

The other thing I observed: most of his amendments attacked earmarks targeted for poorer districts, where a small (by federal standards, anyway) appropriation will make a BIG difference.

Jeff, many people, including me, have expressed some admiration for your crusade to curb irresponsible Federal spending. However, you seem to have lost any sense of proportion.

I have to ask: do you really expect to balance the budget on the backs of poor people while supporting unfettered access to the Treasury for Big Business?

McCain criticizes Renzi opponent in CD1

Thank to AZCongressWatch for the inspiration for this post. I saw the story from the Business Journal of Phoenix, and was going to ignore it as ho-hum election year fluff, but in AZCongressWatch's story, I saw a quote that was so hypocritical it made me laugh out loud.

"...recruited a multi-millionaire from Ohio..."?? Be still my beating heart. This is going to be fun... :)

Regarding our lovable Rick, from ZWire.com (TriValleyCentral.com):

Also in 2003, the bank holding the mortgage on Renzi's Flagstaff home moved to foreclose on the property after Renzi missed a series of payments. Renzi, who lived in a six-bedroom home in an affluent Washington, D.C., suburb, bought the Flagstaff home to re-establish his roots in rural Arizona's 1st Congressional District before announcing his campaign. According to the deed, the home was his secondary residence. He bought the house for $216,695.

From Answers.com:

...When a new congressional district was created in Arizona, Renzi bought a house in Flagstaff, Arizona so he could claim Arizona residency and run for the seat. At that time, Renzi had lived in Virginia for more than 20 years since graduating from Northern Arizona University. There is no evidence he actually moved into the house...

Senator McCain?? John?? Ummm...isn't this evidence that Renzi is at least as much of a carpetbagger as Ellen Simon? I suppose one could make the argument that he isn't a carpetbagger, based on the fact that he hasn't really moved here. Oh, and his wife and family are still firmly entrenched in Virginia.

Hard to be a carpetbagger when you never packed your bags and left home in the first place.

Oh, and John? Noticed the not-so-subtle dig at Simon for her involvment with the ACLU. You said that she was "the former President of the ACLU"; that's inaccurate. She was the President of the Ohio chapter of the ACLU, not of the national ACLU. In any event, how does her work with an organization dedicated to ensuring all levels of the government in this country follow the rules (aka - the Constitution) make her less qualified than a man whose father bought him the seat in CD1 because the family business (Papa Renzi is a VP), Mantech International, wanted representation in Congress? For the record, the FEC's database shows that Rick has received $34,250 from Mantech's officers, executives, and PAC since 2002.

Oh yeah, and he's considered one of the most *ethically challenged* congressmen, too.

Sen. McCain - Why are you helping this guy? I know that the article from the Business Journal said "McCain is eyeing a 2008 presidential run and has been helping Republican candidates in key Congressional and U.S. Senate races across the U.S.", but how does Rick Renzi help you take Arizona? You who won nearly 77% of the vote in your last election?

It ju$t doesn't make $en$e....until you con$ider the deep pocket$ of Papa Renzi and hi$ friend$.

How's this for a campaign slogan:

....Rick Renzi (R-Mantech) - Arizona's Phantom Congressman

Or

... Rick Renzi (R - Mantech) - The Best Representation That Money Can Buy For Dad...errr...Arizona

Oh, wait! I forgot something...

Or

...Rick Renzi (R- Mantech) - I don't have a Viagra prescription in my name either

(Had to take care of my Rush reference for the day. LOL)

In the interests of fairness, I should mention that there are other Democratic candidates in CD1:

Mike Caccioppoli
Susan Friedman
Bob Donahue
Vic McKerlie

Is the AZ Republic growing a pair?

First, the AZRep actually publicizes how much lobbyists spend on our legislators, then Richard Ruelas pens a column detailing Maricopa County DA Andrew Thomas' penchant for awarding millions of dollars worth of contracts for outside law work to firms that help his election campaign.

Did Rush Limbaugh make a Viagra delivery to the editorial suites over there?

(This may not speak well of me, but my goal this week is to work a Rush reference into at least one post per day. :)) )

Of course, the lobbyist info is public info, available at the AZ Secretary of State's website, and the Phoenix New Times beat the Republic to press on calling out Thomas' ethical missteps.

But let's not quibble; anything resembling investigative reporting is an improvement for the Republic these days.

Positive proof that God has a sense of justice...and humor :))

What a great way to start a week!!

From AP, via Forbes.com:

Rush Limbaugh was detained for more than three hours Monday at Palm Beach International Airport after authorities said they found a bottle of Viagra in his possession without a prescription.

From Myrtle Beach Online:

Rush Limbaugh was briefly detained Monday at Palm Beach International Airport when customs agents inspected the conservative talk show host's luggage and found Viagra that belonged to two Florida doctors, authorities said.

"He was not arrested," Palm Beach County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Pete Palenzuela said.

Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, issued a statement through a spokesman saying that agents found a "non-narcotic prescription drug, which had been prescribed by Mr. Limbaugh's treating physician but labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes."

For "privacy purposes"? More like "to keep Rush from being featured in the monologues of late-night hosts for WEEKS" purposes.

Harry Mitchell announces Republicans for Harry

Harry's press conference has been covered pretty well already elsewhere (see AZCongresswatch and Lofty Donkey), but since I was there, I get to add my bit, too. :)

After a brief statement by Harry, he introduced Grant Woods, who stated up front that he was "proud to support Harry."

Tempe Councilman Ben Arredondo was next, telling the audience that for as long as he has known Harry (since Harry started teaching in Tempe and Ben was a senior at Tempe High), Harry has always been a good listener. He went on to add that another reason that he supported Harry was that Harry would focus education (hard not to for a retired teacher living in the district that's home to ASU) and a sensible and workable solution to address illegal immigration. Like Grant Woods, he stated that he was proud to support Harry, before introducing the next speaker, Republican businesswoman Pat Thielen of Tempe.

She spoke very well, especially for a non-politician in a room full of life-long public speakers, as she gave the reasons for her support of Harry for Congress. She spoke of Harry as a man who always tries "to do the right thing" and having great "common sense." She finished by saying that Harry is "the best man for the job."

After she was done speaking, they took some questions from the media. In response to those questions, Grant Woods clarified his opinion of JD, saying that he [JD] "creates more problems than he solves", and that he is "an embarrassment" to Arizona.

When asked if he supported any other Democrats, he stated that he would support Gabby Giffords against Randy Graf in CD8. He didn't say, nor was he asked, if he would support her against another Republican since Graf may not get past the primary.

The one part of Woods' talk that was mildly embarrassing was that he kept pounding on the 'no one has run against Hayworth before' drum, when Elizabeth Rogers was standing in the back of the room. The same Elizabeth Rogers that received 38% of the vote against JD, over 102,000 votes, on zero name recognition and a roadside lemonade stand budget.

There were a list of other prominent Republicans who are throwing their support behind Harry in his quest to oust JD Hayworth; those have been listed elsewhere, so there's no need to be redundant there.

All in all, it was a great day. I would have posted earlier, but I volunteered to seal and stamp some envelopes for the campaign.

In other Mitchell news, there will be a big campaign kickoff this Sunday at the campaign headquarters at 115 E. Baseline in Tempe (SE corner of Baseline and Mill.) It's from 4 - 6 and refreshments will be provided. Call Elizabeth at 480-755-3343 for details.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Good ol' J.D. Hayworth, coming through for his constituents

....the ones that give him money, anyway. Well, money other than the $162,100 (soon to be $168,500) that we pay him to represent *us*.

From the Phoenix Business Journal regarding the 2007 Defense Appropriations Bill -

"...Highlights for Arizona companies in the $427 billion include:

• $9.3 million for Robertson Aviation of Tempe to modify Black Hawk helicopters.
• $3.3 million for Dillon Arrow of Scottsdale for an aircraft mini-gun system.
• $1.2 million to Armor Holdings for installation of cockpit airbags on Black Hawk and Kiowa Warrior helicopters.

[snip]

"Our soldiers in the field need to know they are being given all the necessary tools to fight and win the war on terrorism," said Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth in announcing the bill's passage. " "

What JD didn't crow about, but is revealed with a cursory search of the FEC's database, is that these companies are just getting healthy return on their investments.

"What investments" you ask?

Why, their investments in JD, of course.

From the executives, and their wives when I could identify them from FEC records (since 1998):

Robertson Aviation : $42,600, with $5,250 of that going to TEAM PAC.

Dillon Arrow, aka Dillon Precision and/or Dillon & Associates: $15,500.

Armor Holdings: Nothing direct that I could find quickly, but they gave $51,500 to three PACs that, between them, gave $16,300 to JD. One of those PACs was Armor Holdings' own PAC, Armor Holdings Inc. Political Action Committee.

It should be noted that execs from all three companies contributed to many other politicians, but those politicians aren't from AZ CD5 (like 2 of the companies), and they aren't crowing about it.

Seems like that what JD lacks in integrity is made up for by brazenness. Not sure that's a good trade, at least not for us.

Note: I wasn't going to post tonight, but as I was reading the news, I came across the Business Journal article. I became curious, and decided to check the FEC's database. I found a couple of entries and took notes in WordPad. Then I kept finding more entries; so many, in fact that I had to open a spreadsheet to help track them.

Three hours later, I had a post.

I expect that I could have found more by cross-referencing other officers and looking for donations from family members from the same addresses, etc. However, it's late and time for some sleep.

Later!!

Cooking up some angst in Scottsdale

Let's see....

Scottsdale has a referendum on September 12 concerning the Sexually Oriented Business ordinance (and yes, it's referred to as "the S.O.B. ordinance" :) ) that the City Council passed last December....

Scottsdale is the home of the latest trash-TV show, "Tuesday Night Book Club" (aka - "Desperately Bored Trophy Wives")...

A holier-than-thou mayor...

The latest hijinks (that's probably too mild a word, but it works) of the City Council involve them ignoring the City Charter and high-handedly ignoring citizens' concerns about that and other issues...

Consider the ingredients to the stew:

Sex.

More sex.

Shady politicians.

Add it up and....

Yup, we're a high-profile trial away from being an episode of "City Confidential."

Maybe one of the "Book" women can cheat on her husband with one of the owners of a strip club; better yet, with one of the strippers. The fallout from the inevitable discovery of the affair and ensuing divorce trial would be a ratings blockbuster!

....Amazing the thoughts that slide into my mind when I get really bored. Like I was last night at the scheduled meeting of the Scottsdale City Council.

In other news from the meeting (other than the news that I was bored for a lot of it)....

Before getting into the agenda of the meeting, Mayor Manross reminded everyone that Vista del Camino's back-to-school clothing drive is underway. Donate what you can.

During the Consent Agenda portion of the meeting, there were a few questions, but the 30 or so items were passed without objection.

The Council voted 6 - 1 to authorize general fund budget support for the Scottsdale Cultural Council. Councilman Littlefield was the lone dissenter, but gave no indication as to why he voted Nay.

Next up, the Council considered a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for Next Bar and Nightclub. While to the unitiated such as me, this looked like a simple issue, the debate became bogged down into a discussion of parking spaces and credits and other magnificently uninteresting stuff. My eyes were glazing over during this one.

The most interesting part for me was when the Mayor tried to prompt the Council to make a motion to grant the permit. No one did until her Vice-Mayor made the motion. She then seconded it. It failed 2 - 5.

With that, the mundane part of the agenda was complete. Time for the colorful (read: contentious) stuff. This stuff was on the agenda as a result of citizen petitions to place the issues before the Council.

The first one was a request to reconvene the ASU-Scottsdale Ad Hoc Working Group to study the SkySong Phase III proposal and to table any Council discussion of the project until the Group has held public hearings and presented their findings. Sounds pretty non-controversial, until you learn that many residents of the area around the project were shocked when they heard that part of the project included a large number of apartments, after having been told that NO housing would be involved. There was a little back and forth, but this one passed 6 -1, with Councilman Nelssen dissenting.

After that was a request that the City Council appoint someone to fill the Charter office of City Treasurer. The Council and City Staff pointed out that the Charter specifically allows one person to fill two Charter Officer slots when feasible. Current City Manager Dolan fills the Treasurer slot. They also pointed out that the city's financial picture is excellent. The motion talk about it at a later date passed 4 - 3.

Then it was time for the two really contentious issues.

The next petition concerned the S.O.B. ordinance that is going to referendum in September. The owners of the strip clubs affected by the ordinance proposed a compromise ordinance and asked that the Council consider and adopt it to avert the referendum and inevitable lawsuit (no matter who wins) afterward.

The supporters of the strip clubs trotted out a couple of their lawyers; their opponents trotted out theirs. Additionally, there were a couple of 'civilian' proponents for each position.

For a while the debate focused on the original ordinance, not the proposed one. "You can't legislate morality" and "flood of new strip clubs" were phrases that were tossed about.

When it finally focused on the issue at hand, some Council members observed that the "compromise" ordinance was no compromise at all; it was a strip club 'wish list'. Even those that have expressed reservations about the S.O.B ordinance couldn't support this one. Even I thought this move by the strip club owners was heavy-handed and unnecessary.

In the end, the proposed ordinance was defeated 0 - 7, meaning the referendum will go forward.

Lastly (for me anyway) was a citizen petition requesting that the Council determine if the city's Charter Officers were in compliance with the residency requirement of Article 4, Section 1 of the City Charter and to fire any COs not in compliance, to make public any legal opinions related to the issue, and to form a three person panel under the City's Code of Ethics to investigate and rule on the matter.

The issue is based in a variation in the language in the Charter. This variation was used to wedge thru the appointment (during executive session) of a city staff attorney (who lives in Paradise Valley) to the position of City Attorney. The variation is that the Charter does not specifically refer to the position as a City Officer while it does specifically refer to other positions such as City Treasurer and City Clerk with that language. However, as critics of the city council pointed out, the only jobs specifically created by name in the Charter are Charter Officers, and that the City's own organization chart lists the City Attorney as a Charter Officer.

After a some spirited debate on the issue, the Council took the position that they had a legal opinion from one of the current city attorney's subordinates that supported their position that the CA was *not* a Charter Officer. When asked for the opinion, the response (to summarize) was "Can't tell you; it's a secret. Executive session and all that."

This part really bothered me. The Mayor, City Staff, and most of the City Council exhibited a reprehensible contempt for both the City Charter and the citizenry.

The Charter, to me anyway, seems to clearly indicate that the City Attorney is a Charter Officer. To be fair, there is some ambiguity in the language. Obtaining a legal opinion of the meaning of the Charter is reasonable.
However, the opinion of a lawyer that is a co-worker and subordinate of the person benefitting from the opinion is of dubious credibility. Outside counsel should have been brought in.

At that, one the staff attorney's opinion was accepted, it should have been public. An attorney for the city, Bronsky (not sure of the spelling here), opined that talking about anything discussed in executive session is illegal.

That's fine, but the opinion rendered was about the meaning of the City Charter. That is most definitely information that the public needs to have available. If necessary, the information that is directly pertinent to the current CA's personal employment situation can be redacted. The rest of it, the parts that 'clarify' the meaning of the wording of the City Charter, is ours.

Here are some other perspectives on the controvery, and some background.

AZ Republic

East Valley Tribune

Laurie Roberts (AZ Rep.)

Mayor Manross, her City Council, and her City Staff have a bright future ahead of them.

They disregarded the very document that authorizes and constrains their actions as city officials, had a city attorney gin up an opinion to say the questionable action was legal, and then wouldn't let anyone examine or question that opinion.

Sounds almost, well, Presidential.

"Mary Manross, Republican for President"?

Aaahhhhhhhhh!!!! [runs screaming into the night] :))

Later!!

On edit: there was one last citizen petition concerning a land exchange in the downtown area. According the AZRepublic story on the meeting, no action was taken.

Jeff Flake should read 'How to win friends and influence people"

From The Hill:

Flake strikes at earmark of Hastert’s

By Jonathan
Allen

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) escalated his anti-earmark crusade yesterday by attempting to strip a request by Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) out of a defenseappropriations bill.Flake offered an amendment designed to kill a $2.5 million provision intended for a technology organization created by one of Hastert’s former aides. The amendment, one of about 10 he offered, was expected to fail miserably as of press time.

{snip}

Flake said yesterday that he did not realize the earmark was one of Hastert’s when he decided to fight it on the floor, but knowing that the top House GOP leader had requested the funding didn’t change Flake’s plans.“I don’t want to avoid someone just because they’re in a leadership position,” Flake said yesterday.

{snip}

Some lawmakers and aides were shocked by Flake’s decision to go forward with an amendment targeting one of Hastert’s earmark requests.“I’ve never seen that before,” said Rep. John Murtha (Pa.), the senior Democratic defense appropriator and another Flake target. “I can’t imagine what he’s doing.”

and

Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), an appropriator who supported Hastert’s request on the floor yesterday, said Flake’s effort could be characterized as either a
“principled approach” or “a strong showing of stupidity.”

“I think he’s doing it on principle,” LaHood said.

Let me venture a guess here - either Jeff Flake doesn't expect the Reps to keep control of the House, or doesn't expect to get a leadership post if they do. Because, while many words can describe him (I like "neolithic neo-con"), "stupid" isn't on the list.

On edit: Jeff Flake posted an entry in The Hill's CongressBlog yesterday. Since it is short, here it is in its entirety -

We have tried to target things that do not belong in a defense bill. This is a bill meant to fund defense operations, and I feel to see what they have to do with each other.

For example, there is an appropriation for the Mystic Aquariam, which is in Connecticut, but the money is going to Ohio. Why should we be funding this with defense money?

There is a technology transfer center in Illinois. This may be a good thing, but why are we funding this with the defense bill.

New KAET Poll shows Kyl holding lead over Pederson

From KPHO (CBS 5 in Phoenix):

"Poll: Kyl maintains lead over Pederson in Senate
race

TEMPE, Ariz. A new poll shows incumbent Republican Jon Kyl maintaining his lead over Democratic challenger Jim Pederson in the U-S Senate race. According to the poll by Channel 8 and A-S-U, 43-percent of Arizona voters say they'll vote for Kyl this fall while 29-percent favor Pederson. Twenty-eight percent are uncommitted.
The survey was taken between June 15th and the 18th. The poll was based on telephone interviews with 384 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.

Thanks to KAET-TV"

Guess Sen. Kyl isn't worried about the Libertarian vote

The Arizona Republic reported this week that Sen. Jon Kyl "will push for" a national ID card as part of immigration reform legislation.

From the article:

"...Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., says a "secure, tamper-proof" ID card is an essential
part of reform that he will push for during House-Senate meetings..."

One might think that Kyl would be hesitant about a national ID, given that big business lobbying groups are publicly ambivalent.

Also from the article:

"Politically influential business groups, which also are pushing for immigration reform, said they're staying out of the argument about a new ID document, as long as Congress comes up with a system that won't be too expensive or complex for employers to use."

However, as the late Tip O'Neill observed "all politics is local."

Turns out that a certain local business is less ambivalent.

' "I think that there should be a card that is read," said Marty Thompson, vice president for human resources at Bar-S Foods, based in Phoenix. "We've got computers, read the card . . . There should be a standard document (for U.S. citizens and foreigners). Why not?" '

Looking at opensecrets.org's database, the following contributions to Sen. Kyl can be found.

• 3/23/05 Timothy Day of Bar-S Foods Company $2100
• 3/31/05 Timothy Day of Bar-S Foods Company $2100
• 3/23/05 Timothy Day of Bar-S Foods Company $ 400
• 11/15/05 Sandra Day, Homemaker $2000
• 4/19/05 Robert Uhl of Bar-S Foods Company $1000
• 4/19/05 J.S. Kuykendall of Bar-S Foods Company $ 250
• 4/19/05 Thomas Weinman of Bar-S Foods $ 250

BTW - Yahoo! Finance's profile of Bar-S lists Timothy Day as Chairman and CEO, Bob Uhl and President and COO and Jim Kuykendall as VP, Finance. Thomas Weinman is listed as the VP Administration of Bar-S (and media contact point) in a USDA recall notice from 2001.

And Sandra Day? Lists the same zip code as Timothy Day, 85038. According to USPS, this is a P.O. Box zip code. I could be wrong about this, but given the common zip code, the occupation, and the amount of money (and candidate), I'm guessing that Sandra Day is also known as Mrs. Timothy Day.

As expected, the tragically liberal ACLU urges caution.

' "Our fundamental freedoms should not be undermined through a flawed immigration reform bill," said Caroline Frederickson, director of the national legislative office for the American Civil Liberties Union.'

Ms. Frederickson, hate to disillusion you, but don't be surprised if cold, hard cash speaks louder to Sen. Kyl than classic American ideals.

RIP Journalism in Arizona

This is a rant...go ahead and skip this one...

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post on the decline of investigative jounalism in Metro Phoenix.

I should have dropped the 'investigative' part. Journalism is dying here.

First, in April, the Arizona Republic published an article on one of Scottsdale's spoiled princesses and how her family is conspiring to buy her some fame. MTV aided when it recorded and aired the girl's $150,000 16th birthday party. The Republic abetted by wasting newsprint documenting the whole thing. (I'm not naming the girl here because this post isn't about her, it's about the impending demise of serious journalism here. If you're curious, her name is in the AZRep article.)

Then yesterday, The East Valley Tribune had a BIG feature in its Get Out section on the party life of another EV princess, Daisy Earnhardt (granddaughter of car dealer Tex Earnhardt). A serious journalistic enterprise (not the Trib, obviously) could have published the same article in two sentences: "Beautiful rich people like to party. When they drink, they get drunk like the rest of us."

This doesn't even qualify as 'entertainment' journalism (the purpose of Get Out!); Ms. Earnhardt isn't an entertainer - not a singer, dancer, actor, writer, etc. She works for her grandfather's business. To be sure, she's beautiful, educated (ASU grad), and seems to be a decent human being.

How does that rate a puff piece? Did the business promise to buy more ad space in the paper in exchange for the article? Why????

More importantly....

Why did trees have to die for these examples of faux journalism????

Links to Financial Disclosure forms for AZ Delegation

Hadn't planned on posting today, but this one is too interesting (in a political geek sort of way :) )

Courtesy tray.com (For the forms from the congressmen and senators of other states, just follow the links)....

AZ's House Members:
(All forms in .pdf format)

JD Hayworth
Jeff Flake
Trent Franks
Raul Grijalva
Jim Kolbe (a long one, takes a while to open, and to save if you choose to do that.)
Rick Renzi - and amendment
John Shadegg
Ed Pastor

AZ's Senators:

Jon Kyl and amendment
John McCain

Thanks to the Chicago Tribune's "The Swamp" (the Illinois equivalent to the AZ Republic's "Plugged In") and to The Sunlight Foundation for the link to tray.com.

PS - I've downloaded all of the above-linked forms. Tray.com slowed to a crawl for a while, if someone wants the forms emailed to them, drop your email addy in a comment (with an extra space or symbol in front of the '@' to prevent spammers from picking it up) and I'll be happy to send them to you.