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September 27, 2013

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G'morning, Jon. Hope your stay in Phoenix is pleasant. Isn't the weather enjoyable?

I'll take a pass at the City Council candidates. I've been relatively silent on the displeasing nature of the lack-of-substance in the debates. I don't think that the candidates that supposedly will represent urban areas have the slightest clue about urban governance or the tenuous nature of Phoenix politics and our intergovernmental relations. City government has no sensitivity to urban vs suburban conditions and, to the candidates, that's not a big problem. At least they're not talking about that!

In District 4 (Midtown, Maryvale), the two candidates are chiding each other on campaign minutiae rather than big issues. Justin Johnson, the son of former mayor Paul Johnson, seems to be favoring developers in his policy stances while Laura Pastor, the daughter of US Congressman Ed Pastor, is toeing the Democratic party line on things from healthcare reform to immigration policy, two issues that aren't exactly the purview of the City of Phoenix.

I had a Twitter exchange with Brahm Resnik after the last District 4 candidates' forum and he asked me what questions I thought should have been asked. I defer, naturally, to Rogue's questions posted earlier in the cycle but I responded with questions that focused on the candidates' grasp of governance; i.e., HOW they will get their policy agendas put into place.

I fear that this is going to be a lost four years for urban Phoenix. I don't know how much more time we can afford to lose.

Cheers.

They put something in anesthesia to erase memory of the surgery's pain. Too bad there's no potion like that to at least dull the memory of Phoenix' hottest summer ever.

If we are destined to be in the cross-hairs for climate change, why isn't it a subject for public policy focus in Phoenix and environs?

I've become a climate refugee. In all likelihood, won't there eventually be more like me?

(sidebar: too much sun exposure leads to skin cancer for the "championship golf" crowd)

I ran across this quote in a review of a book by George Packer. It was in ‘The Nation’ and was written by Chris Lehman. It seems apropos of today’s Phoenix:

“(James)Agee and Walker Evans’s landmark 1941 book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men; near the outset of the manuscript, Agee offers this overture to his own closely observed study of lives laid low by a system of brutal privation:

‘A civilization which for any reason puts a human life at a disadvantage; or a civilization which can exist only by putting human life at a disadvantage; is worthy neither of the name nor of continuance. And a human being whose life is nurtured in an advantage which has accrued from the disadvantage of other human beings, and who prefers that this should remain as it is, is a human being by definition only, having much more in common with the bedbug, the tapeworm, the cancer, and the scavengers of the deep sea.

Only if we hold such truths to be self-evident, and inescapable, and quite possibly more serious and quite certainly more immediate than any others, may we in any honesty and appropriateness proceed to our story: which is a brief account of what happens to human life, and of what human life can in no essential way escape, under certain unfavorable circumstances. ‘

Put another way, it does little good to lament the atrophy of our institutions without some clear accounting of the values that are alleged to animate them. If the calamities of our recent economic history have taught us nothing else, it is that most of the institutional fixtures of our common life are empty forms at best and, at worst, the repositories of outmoded and toxic superstitions. “
........................

Cal and I are at Fair Trade.

Phoenix has no real economy and no promise of developing one. With all the high ideas expressed in this blog, the best to hope for is a flat economy and a slow roasting of the city.

The city governmental structure has many benefits but what's need is a autocratic leadership to address the significant challenges of climate change and competition in the global economy.

Arizona state government is at best incompetent and its actions have and will continue to harm the slight hope for Phoenix 's success.

Those with the means and brains will continue to flee metropolitan Phoenix. The boobs will remain.

Meanwhile, has anybody else noticed how the guy who records the Spanish language announcements at stations sounds like a porn star, especially when he says, "muchas gracias."

Haha! I'm becoming very fluent in these admonishing Espanol phrases.

Sorry I missed you guys at Fair Trade. Toddled off to Tom's Tavern at the Renaissance Center to console myself.

It seems to me that the decline in city leadership has coincided with the efforts of the state legislature to exercise it's power over local governance.More and more I see the state contest or overrule city,county,and school board decisions.It is ironic that the same legislature chafes under federal mandates and regularly maintains that the local population knows best.Az. state leadership confirms the maxim-"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

Ironic indeed miked85284.

Phoenix has history.

A cowboy town the size of Columbus, Ohio in 1960. A modest city in a rural state that urbanized too rapidly in the heyday of the automobile due to the technological advances of air conditioning. A southern state with aspirations of a few to be like Coastal California but more closely related to its sister dry southwestern states like Kansas, Oklahoma and West Texas.

The real history resides with The Tribes and Hispanic culture. The early white culture in Arizona primarily migrated from the American south. A different kind of white than early migrants into places such a Ballard in the Puget Sound region.

Jon good to c u and Chris Thomas at Fair Trade today.

I ran into Francisco Garcia in the parking garage and ended up hanging with him at Paint and Patron Art show in Tempe in the evening.

"state legislature to exercise it's power over local governance.More and more I see the state contest or overrule city,county,and school board decisions."

miked85284.U r right. The boys at the legislature, the east valley boys , they smoked that white lizard Missouri river bank MJ and had them visions of Moroni.
Bleed the Beast.

Petro, Toms Tavern today is a pathetic replica of the real Toms Tavern where men were men and women were women and a cigar was a really good smoke. And the beer and beans were the real deal. Hell, the Kansas city mob owns Toms now.

Phxsunfan was that U I spotted at the Paint and Patron art show in Tempe. I cant believe U let them paint your body like that. A good time was had by all and we bought some art and there was not one Chicano in Macayo's, just Mexicans including Chalino in spirit.

Headless: I think I got this but can you break this down a little more for me?
"Put another way, it does little good to lament the atrophy of our institutions without some clear accounting of the values that are alleged to animate them. If the calamities of our recent economic history have taught us nothing else, it is that most of the institutional fixtures of our common life are empty forms at best and, at worst, the repositories of outmoded and toxic superstitions.

Where or where is our beloved Soleri?

Phoenix city council. Lets see between Stanton, I wanta be governor or a US Senator and Thelda Williams, can U run that by me again and Sal, please put that freeway across my property I dont expect much down town progress.Maybe a couple of new Starbucks.

Jon, I dont think most folks understand the Union Station History. They just think its an old ugly building. I once considered putting my PI Office upstairs in Union Station.
From where I could watch for some one like Winnie loading a trunk full of dead bodies on the train for LA.

http://www.changinghands.com/event/bryson-oct13?utm_source=Changing+Hands+Bookstore+News&utm_campaign=ffbfa08d16-OctoberCalendar2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8ac356e149-ffbfa08d16-206805713

Jon's replacement.
http://www.chonday.com/Videos/the-writer-automaton
enjoy

I haven't been able to get online for a few days and someone beat me to the Forbes reference in the last thread, but since they didn't go into details and used a secondary source, here's the dope straight from the horse's mouth:

"As part of Forbes’ annual Best States for Business, we look at 35 factors to determine the best and worst states, including projected employment. Arizona is expected to have the fastest job growth at 3% annually over the next five years, according to Moody’s Analytics. The job gains are projected to boost household incomes 3.6% annually through 2017, which ranks second best in the U.S. after Illinois. The added jobs also go hand-in-hand with the state’s economic growth, which Moody’s forecasts to expand at a U.S.-best 4.6% annually.

". . . In addition to a large, educated workforce to choose from, companies are also attracted to Arizona’s pro-business regulatory climate, which ranks No. 13 in the Mercatus Center’s Freedom in the 50 States. The study cites Arizona’s right-to-work law, liability laws and eminent domain reform.

". . . General Motors is helping fuel the improved jobs outlook in the Grand Canyon State. In March, the automaker announced plans to build the company’s fourth Information Technology Innovation Center in Phoenix suburb Chandler. GM is expected to hire 1,000 workers, mainly consisting of software developers, database administrators and systems analysts for the new center. “The greater Phoenix area is a fantastic hub of emerging technical talent – from university graduates to working professionals,” said GM CIO Randy Mott in a release announcing the move."

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/09/25/arizona-texas-head-list-of-best-states-for-expected-job-growth/

Any comment from the resident nattering nabobs? Mind you, I'm not saying I agree with Forbes...but I don't think you can just snap your fingers at Moody's Analytics the way you do at, say, Robert Robb...

The Agee quote comes from a piece about the lives of pre-WW II sharecroppers in the deep South. How is that "apropos of today's Phoenix"?

I will leave the Agee quote to Headless to expound on. Relevant or notI liked the language.

As long as we're indulging our inner curmugeons, allow me to say how annoyed I am by TV news networks.

It used to be the case that CNN Headline News ran at the top and bottom of EVERY hour of the day: thus, if there was breaking news you could turn on the TV and have a reasonable chance of finding professional coverage either right away or in comparatively short time.

Now, every time I turn CNN on I find somebody or other's "show" or a panel of pundits or an interview or something else non-news. Fox News is no better, and neither is MSNBC.

My understanding is that MTV (which stands for Music TeleVision) no longer plays music videos. My personal experience is that TV "news networks" contain actual news broadcasts only infrequently. What's next?

I know that CNN used to be highly repetitive but by virtue of that very fact you could always count on getting your dose of "up to the minute" news whenever you turned it on. No longer. I use public access Internet once a day (sometimes less) and don't have a smartphone, so Google News is not an option.

"I will leave the Agee quote to Headless to expound on. Relevant or not I liked the language."

The only thing that turns the language from vague harrumphing into something cogent is the original context.

Agee: A civilization which for any reason puts a human life at a disadvantage; or a civilization which can exist only by putting human life at a disadvantage; is worthy neither
of the name nor of continuance.

Without context, what can "putting a human life at a disadvantage" mean? Would anything short of some sort of biblical utopia permit an arrangement whereby no one, under any circumstances, is at a disadvantage? Everyone would have to live in exactly the same size and type of home, be paid exactly the same amount, have exactly the same employment history, and have exactly the same personal abilities and vulnerabilities (because "being at a disadvantage" can mean different things depending on your health, outlook, intelligence, and education/training/experience).

Obviously, I'm performing reductio ad absurdum here, but in order to make a point.

Tunisia's Islamist government to dissolve: replacement by a neutral caretaker government that will oversee new elections.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/world/africa/islamist-party-in-tunisia-to-step-down.html?_r=0

"National Security Agency dips into its database of phone and e-mail info to create complex "social graphs" for foreign intelligence purposes, says a report. Some American citizens get swept up in the effort."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57605131-38/nsa-maps-some-americans-social-connections-says-report/

From the link above:

Another document -- these being the latest to surface from the cache provided to journalists by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden -- is titled "Better Person Centric Analysis." It discusses 94 "entity types," such as phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and IP addresses, that are trawled by the NSA using queries like "travelsWith, hasFather, sentForumMessage, employs" to create "community of interest" profiles.

Data is also culled from other sources, such as passenger manifests, voter registration rolls, tax info, GPS location data, bank codes, insurance information, and even Facebook profiles, the Times reports.

. . . The effort has been facilitated by a policy change at the agency -- made in secret -- that's allowed analysts there to scan communications metadata and create social graphs "without," the memo says, "having to check foreigness" of every phone number, e-mail address, or other identifier that comes up.

The agency had previously required such verification to protect the privacy of American citizens, but had, the Times says, been frustrated by how that restriction slowed or stopped its investigations of various contact chains.

I still like the "sound in my head" of what i pointed out earlier. I asked headless for some understanding assistance on his post and I appreciate emils post but it didn't help MY limited understanding. Maybe i will ring up petro. He seems to clarify stuff for me in simple sentences.
I quit commercial tv 20 year's ago. And proffessional sports in 64. Just garbage.
The web provides much better stuff with better sources and less talking heads that always seem to have a political agenda.

In addition to removing Gene Pulliam from the Republic masthead, Gannett was unable to give me the final score or game coverage of Saturday night's ASU-USC football game, played at home, in the Sunday paper I bought at the Park Central Starbucks this morning. Another subtle, but honest, change: On the flag, under "The Arizona Republic," it says "A Gannett Company" rather than "A Gannett Newspaper."

The best of French popular music. Ignore the sci-fi stuff at the beginning which lasts about 20 seconds -- it's a posthumous duet between Edith Piaf (reanimated) and Charles Aznavour. Great stuff if you like beautiful melody, harmony and singing, but some might find it a bit old-fashioned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCcBwwpGd2Y

I have a dream.

What do you call 800,000 furloughed federal workers?

A good start.

I have a dream.

The yahoos in congress shut down the government so many times that eventually the idiot voters finally realize they don't need the feds.

No more Homeland Insecurity.

No more NSA.

Only the new military, streamlined. On a short leash.

New federal income tax rate - Flat 2%.

Elections allowed to run two months.

House members limited to two terms.
Senators limited to one term.

After they serve, they are taken out and shot. Only true public servants need apply.

I had a dream.

REB, read and dream this!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-ferguson/hillary-clinton-documentary_b_4014792.html
Do electric donkeys dream of tea parties

Per a friend:
" it would be more apt to say tea parties are the nightmares of electric donkeys. burros are pretty smart. ill tempered, but bright."

What does the US government shut down have to do with the rhythm of the Universe. Nada, Nada.

A friend, C said about the US government shut down. "but i know there is a world of hurt coming down for a bunch of people if the government shuts down. Hell, my grandfather stated you can't take britches off a bare ass."

But C I remember them switches trying to un-hide my bare ass.

C humans have not made sense, since that first guy picked up the big thigh bone and beat a fellow human to death over a food fight.

As I walked the pool this evening , a thought crept upon my mind.
Is there rhythm in a digital clock.
Rhythm like in "Peregrine", as the tide ebbs and flows and the birds come and go.
Rhythm as in Keseys writing of the rhythm of the streams and rivers.
Rhythm as in Hank Stamper who wins not because he is smart but because he has a rhythm that rises to meet earth's challenges. A river is a mighty foe for him. Biggy is not because Hank has the animal rhythm, the killer instinct.
Does the digital clock invade your rhythm?

Jon, maybe someone took out the sports section from the paper you purchased because the USC vs ASU score and coverage was in my Sunday edition. The header/lede on the first page of the section had the score and a description with a picture. Complete game coverage was on C4 and C5. However, I do find it troubling that instead of calling the Republic a newspaper, they call it a "company".

About solar energy in Arizona: the A.C.C. rejected the APS plan to change the rate structure for customers with solar panels. They won't be able to levy fees for having solar installed either and this decision cannot be revisited and rate structures cannot be changed until 2016.
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/blog/energy-inc/2013/10/acc-staff-shoots-down-aps-plans-for.html

Just a quick clarification, APS staff rejected the APS plan. The commission can still decide to adjust rates and allow APS to charge additional fees for solar installations though that is unlikely.

"Phxsunfan was that U I spotted at the Paint and Patron art show in Tempe. I cant believe U let them paint your body like that. A good time was had by all and we bought some art and there was not one Chicano in Macayo's, just Mexicans including Chalino in spirit." -Cal Lash

The beautiful Latina with a face painted in the style of Día de Muertos? No, unfortunately that was not me. I'm sure there were plenty of Chicanos and even some non-Mexican Latinos at Paint and Patron? Glad you had a good time Cal.

I am surprised anyone one still reads the Arizona Repulsive. The newspaper died a long time ago. Its just a shell corporation pretending to be a news outlet. Like Phoenix is about to become a desert (shell) void of human locusts but dotted by Sahuaros.

Here U go: Desert:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chad

Phxsunfan, Chalino dice ola!

Chalino Sanchez? The narcocorrido and norteño musician? Do you like that genre? I've never heard his music but I'm going to YouTube him since you piqued my interest.

I am not big on the music but I liked Writer Sam Quinones, "Tales of Mexico" and his other writings on Mexico. Sanchez was the subject of one.
Chalino negotiated with Culiacan murderers for the release of his brother while playing at a Mexican wedding but then they drug Chalino to death behind a (Pepe) truck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalino_S%C3%A1nchez

Another edit to this edit: "Just a quick clarification, APS staff rejected the APS plan. The commission can still decide to adjust rates and allow APS to charge additional fees for solar installations though that is unlikely."

A.C.C. staff rejected the APS plan. Please excuse my late night mistakes.

Phxsunfan did U catch this:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/20130916civilrights-pioneer-terri-cruz-marches-on.html

I did catch that. We are all lucky that Terri Cruz is still with us.

She has 200 great grandchildren ... WOW! And I thought my abuela had too many.

And from Norway on oil
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/sep/30/norway-oil-sovereign-wealth-fund

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/aug/12/norway-pm-jens-stoltenberg-taxi-video
and the boss drives a cab

Cal Lash wrote:

"Is there rhythm in a digital clock."

I presume that was a question despite the erroneous punctuation. Most digital watches and clocks use vibrating quartz crystals to maintain as accurate a frequency as possible. The frequency (which is very fast indeed by everyday human standards) is subdivided by digital counters to obtain hours, minutes and seconds.

If you define "rhythm" as a regular or at least structured pulse of some kind then you could presumably say that there is rhythm in a digital clock.

Haha, Emil. I do believe the poetic sorts of rhythms that we humans are familiar enough correspond more to the scale of heartbeats, on up to seasons (except for ravers, with their demonic double-heartbeat-paced music.)

Perhaps the hummingbirds would appreciate the "rhythm" of a digital clock.

/tongue-in-cheek

Apologies for the awkwardly written first sentence. I was laughing at the time.

Dear Professor Emil pardon me for being stupid. Just give me a failing grade and I will retake your how to be perfect class next year.

Per the Professor, "If you define "rhythm" as a regular or at least structured pulse of some kind then you could presumably say that there is rhythm in a digital clock."

Your presumable response was anticipated. Might want to get out check out the rhythm of waves and rivers and animals in nature.

And dont forget U all to cross them t's and dot them thar i's. Sorry but I am to busy at 73 and trying to have fun to worry about the absurdity of punctuation marks Most folks get it anyway

Professor Amyl Nitrite Pulsifer

ANP: Good drugs are available today less expensive than ever.
good numbers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/study-drug-war_n_4025500.html

U want rhythm:
http://www.freag.net/en/t/352e6/q._re_black_hol

ANP - Heroic Drug Warrior in The USG war on drugs. Defeat not retreat.

I have been for legalizing illegal drugs since 72 when I was a Narc the first time. Where were U?
and
Just say no to Arizona: I beg to differ with you. Arizona is just a label some pendejo gringos gave to an area of the planet earth. I prefer to think of this area and surroundings as the SW part of a place labeled the US. I say NO to more residential and commercial structures. NO to more religious nuts and that includes the LDS folks and their stranglehold on Arizona and Utah. No to crazy nut job politicians at the Arizona state capital. No to more people.
Yes to less people, less man made structures and more road less wilderness.
And Yes to more Sahuaros

at 918 PM I heard from one of the blogs previous and most valuable posters. He is good and in a place not likely to run out of water.

speaking of professors:
http://www.changinghands.com/event/bryson-oct13
can Bryson and Emil be in the same place at the same time?

Petro: All the digital clocks in the world are not equal to one hummingbird.

Actually Petro all the humans on earth are less than one hummingbird. I tire of the I am god the all knowing human better than all other creatures.

"Wild geese flying through the air
Through the the sky 0f blue-oo...
When you walk the street s you will have no cares
If you walk the lines and not the squares"
Ken Kesey

I am thinking of taking my cane
and my sleeping bag and throwing down on the Rio Grande river bank in the Big Bend where you can hear the silence scream and the rhythm pulsating.
Wanta go?

I must apologize for insulting native Americans for suggesting that gringos named Arizona. (I forgot to think past 1914.)
The name Arizona is the Spanish interpretation of "arizuma," an Aztec Indian word that means "silver-bearing." It's also based on the Pima Indian word arizonac, meaning "little spring place." Many state names trace their origin to native American Indian languages. See

LDS political wing at work:
Noble is working closely with Prosper, a nonprofit group led by former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams (R), who in 2012 lost a race for Congress despite Noble’s consulting efforts on his behalf. Serendipitously, Adams is president of Americans for Responsible Leadership, another dark money group embroiled in the California probe. Adams' group actually sent the mysterious $11 million to the small-business PAC -- and was initially listed by the PAC as the donor -- after the funds were routed through Noble’s center by still another outfit, Americans for Job Security. (The money trail was unraveled after the California Supreme Court ordered Adams' group to explain where the funds originated.)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/02/sean-noble-koch-brothers_n_4017578.html?ref=topbar

Went to the National Parks website today and it begins with a notice on the shutdown and closing of the parks. At the bottom is this note:

Experience Your America

Too funny.

"Just say no to Arizo" wrote:

"Professor Amyl Nitrite Pulsifer"

Apparently, another of Cal's aliases.

I think amyl nitrate ("poppers") use was largely confined to the homosexual disco scene in the 1980s. The only illicit drug I've tried was marijuana (once in junior high, once in my 20s) and I don't use prescription drugs.

Maybe this is a case of projection. It might explain the manic use of exclamation points, the misuse of periods for question-marks, and the puzzlingly inappropriate and extreme affect that debuts unpredictably in his comments.

If so, I'd advise against its use, particularly at an advanced age. It has been known to cause heart attacks.

Sorry, I meant 1970s -- though if disco survived into the 1980s that was undoubtedly the venue.

Boobs from the Midwest? Keep on keeping your smug head up your ass, jerk.

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