The few members of the fourth estate who still have jobs often use the Espresso Pundit comment section to remind me that I'm not a "real" journalist. Rather than reply with a long dissertation of the true meaning of journalism, I would direct you to today's rambling and virtually incoherent Arizona' [...]
We've had a week to absorb the tragedy at Fort Hood and it seems to me that some clear patterns are emerging.
We know for example that Major Hasan's bizarre behavior was observed by many of the soldiers with whom he worked, but they were reticent to report him for' [...]
Check out this sentence from a Tribune editorial and see if you can spot the code.
Then on Friday, current state Attorney General Terry Goddard created an exploratory committee for the Democratic nomination.
But he’s had no need to rush into the race as it appears [...]
The Tucson City election was both historic and extraordinary. Nina Trasoff was the first Democratic incumbent to be thrown out in like 40 years. Karin Uhlich survived by around 150 votes; all the over rides went down and even Proposition 400 which allows the city to spend money it has [...]
There's much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the Tucson Intelligentsia over the defeat of the school overrides. How could the enlightened voters of Tucson--after years of training by the Star--overwhelmingly reject much needed budget overrides? Perhaps the university professors, think tank operators and newspaper editors' [...]
I was picking up my daughter from a junior high field trip and I texted her that I was in the parking lot. Her tour was running a bit late, so she wanted to text back that she needed more time and she decided to try out her first year Spanish skills and [...]
Information is now divided into three distinct sections. There's the stuff that's covered in the mainstream media--what I call "corporate news." Then there's the vast, unregulated blogosphere where the real news breaks. I mention that there are three sections because the Blogosphere is divided into left and right and each' [...]
Check this out from Reason TV.
The amazing video below was taken on October 19 in Arizona's Maricopa County Superior Court.
As defense attorney Joanne Cuccia discusses her client's sentencing hearing with the judge, Maricopa County Sheriff's Department detention officer Adam Stoddard walks up behind her, and begins sifting through' [...]
Wow, this is a great commercial. Hmm, you know with a few clicks of a mouse, the graphic could be changed from "State Senate" to "Congressional District 8." Just saying.
The Tucson City Council race between Uhlich and Garcia is getting tighter. They are only seperated by about 450 votes and there are still nearly 5,000 ballots out--and those ballots are trending Garcia's direction.
...Must...avoid..."Uhlich" pun...
' [...]Here was my Tucson Election Prediction.
So If I have to predict, I would say it's still likely that the Democrats will prevail. But if you are looking for one upset in your Pol Pool, bet against Trasoff.
Indeed, with 98% of the vote counted, Trasoff is down by' [...]
The Business Journal has a good story on how the closure of the Tribune might affect the Republic.
The East Valley Tribune’s demise leaves The Arizona Republic as the sole daily newspaper in the 12th-largest U.S. media market. But media and advertising experts don’t see [...]
It's illegal to bet on elections and I don't know anything about sports, so with the exception of a short--but successful--stint at professional blackjack, I don't gamble much. But if betting on elections were legal, the Tucson City Council race would be my pick of the week.
The race should be' [...]
This item was just posted on the Trib's website.
The Tribune Newspapers will cease operations on Dec. 31, the parent company Freedom Communications said Monday.
Freedom officials made the announcement to Tribune employees Monday morning,' [...]
Republic Reporter Shaun McKinnon has a pretty balanced article on the costs and benefits of the Navajo Generating Station. Unfortunately the picture and shrill caption that accompanies the article dramatically reduces the credibility of the entire story.
Whoever chose the word "spews" was obviously trying to create as [...]
Dana Marie Kennedy is challenging Sal DiCiccio for the Phoenix City Council. Normally it's tough to take on an incumbent, but Kennedy has instant credibility because she's the Director of Emerge Arizona.
Our mission is to identify, educate and inspire Democratic women who want to pursue elective office at the [...]
Ok, I know I'm a bit behind the curve, but I'm beginning to appreciate the power of Facebook. Kyrsten Sinema gets my award for making the best use of the platform and as one of her thousands of friends I'm getting a steady stream of updates about her book tour and' [...]
The Arizona Daily Star is offering a buy out. If this announcement follows the traditional pattern, employees will be offered a buy out and if management doesn't meet it's target, they will follow up with a layoff. The severence package for those who are laid off is usually arround half as [...]
Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Breyer traded barbs at a University of Arizona forum on Constitutional Interpretation earlier this week and not surprisingly Howie Fischer who writes, like, five stories a day for the Star and Tribune was there.
Immediately after the event I got a [...]
The real test of character is how someone handles adversity. After all, we all go through hard times, suffer set backs or make mistakes--but do we disclose our problems or try to cover them up?
The newspaper industry is famous for demanding accountability and transparency. Yet when their industry suffers [...]
The Audit Bureau of Circulation published the latest newspaper circulation numbers and I couldn't help that little homage to Tom Petty. Sorry, it won't happen again.
Here's the report and it's not pretty.
Circulation at many of the country's largest newspapers continued a steep slide as the Audit Bureau of Circulations Monday' [...]
The left side of the Republic editorial board has come completely unhinged over the press conference held by Russell Pearce, JD Hayworth, Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas. They are proposing a voter initiative that would add subpoena power to the employer sanctions law, prevent cities from blocking federal enforcement measures and classify [...]
In politics--just like as in sex and comedy--timing is everything.
Last January, Governor Brewer inherited a multi-billion dollar deficit and shocked the political community by proposing an 18% sales tax increase in order to generate an extra billion dollars.
Think of the opportunity for Democrats. They had just lost Governor Napolitano who was replaced [...]
When we survey the field for 2010, there are plenty of things that remain uncertain--whether Governor Brewer will seek re-election, if Terry Goddard will abide by the resign to run law, when Jeff Flake will get his own reality show....but there's one thing we do know for sure--John McCain is running and' [...]
Maybe it's just me, but I thought this was a really bizarre story.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is accusing U.S. Department of Justice officials of trying to sneak into a news conference by posing as reporters. His lawyer says he will file a complaint.
So it was like a "private"' [...]
In thirty years of reading newspapers, I have yet to see an editorial as tasteless and cruel as the shameless gloating over the relatively small settlement in the death of Carol Anne Gotbaum.
Well, the Gotbaums got their story line in the New York press for [...]
Growing up in Tucson, I thought that city elections were supposed to be partisan just like legislative and Congressional elections. When I moved to Phoenix, I realized that Tucson's system was unusual. When I became less naive about politics, I realized that Tucson's system was designed to designed to disenfranchise [...]
If you follow elections closely, you will recall that last year's Mayoral race in Scottsdale had...gasp...partisan "overtones." It's not like Mayoral Candidate Jim Lane sent out any mail pronouncing that he was a Republican, but he did get the endorsements of a few Republican Congressmen and one of the independent [...]
I've been getting a lot of great feedback on the Rage Against the Machine post from earlier this week. Several readers have asked me to comment on another reform effort from the mid 1990's--allowing Independent voters to vote in Party primaries.
Like most reforms, open primaries were supposed to fix the polarization [...]
I'm saving today's Republic Valley and State section for my permanent collection. I've worked hard to expose media hypocrisy, and while there are scores of examples of bias and hypocrisy, it's rare that I find such a great example within a few thousand words of each other.
Here's an interesting blog written with some anonymous help from someone at the Cronkite School. The blog takes on the Republic for some shoddy reporting. I've met a lot of the Cronkite kids and i have to say that I've been impressed. They seem to not only understand that the industry' [...]
I thought this was an interesting juxtaposition of headlines on AzCentral. First we see the public sector reaction to the downturn, then the private sector reaction.
[...]Every decade or so for the last 200 years, someone who isn't getting his way decides that it's time to "reform" politics.
After all, a system that elected these bozos to pass these laws has to be inherently defective. So from the election of 1800 debacle--in which Jefferson and Burr tied [...]
The left likes to downplay the significance of the tea parties and mock the participants (e.g. using the highly offense term "Tea Baggers"). But this looks like a an awful lot of people for Tucson on a Saturday.
I think the left mocks them at their own peril.
Frankly, [...]
Can we set aside the Constitutional and philosophical issues for a moment and just concede that Legislative Bodies make lousy investment decisions? Sure, there are quite few smart politicians, but the political process is inherently incapable of taking advantage of business opportunities. Perhaps that's why large corporations aren't run by bicameral bodies [...]
I've been surfing the Facebook pages of some fellow journalists and I came across this "cause." I thought the graphic told the entire story of the newspaper industry in a few short words.
Lot's of members...no contributions.
[...]The problem with blogging as a hobby/obsession is that I have to watch my time. Most of my posts take an hour our so to write and I've spent as much as 10 or 12 hours on a couple of them, but that's pretty rare. That's why I get into vapor lock when I' [...]
It looks like the "Citizens for a Better Phoenix" Committee that I profiled yesterday is starting to get a little MSM attention.
An out-of-state political committee created to back Phoenix City Council hopeful Dana Marie Kennedy could have to pay more than $1,000 in penalties for failing to file fundraising [...]
Pop Quiz.
If you were looking through the committees that are getting involved in a Phoenix City Council race and you saw an organization called "Citizens for a Better Phoenix", where do you think The Committee would be headquartered?
You guessed it...Las Vegas.
And who should be running it?
You guessed it..."a hardcore" [...]
Ok, I admit that I haven't done enough research to know if the law is the same here, but I thought this was interesting.
A second appellate ruling has struck down a California city's red light camera program as illegal. On September 22, the California Superior Court for the County [...]
So much of public policy is either right or left. It's hard to find someone who can make intelligent points that appeal to both sides of the spectrum. Take a few minutes this weekend and watch this video by Stewart Brand. Not only is it extremely interesting but it's [...]
Dude, this hurts.
Chicago was knocked out in the first round — in one of the most shocking defeats ever handed down by the International Olympic Committee — and Tokyo was eliminated in the second round.
I thought that the rest of the world was supposed to like us now that [...]
I'm totally whip lashed on the sexual harassment thing. Back when Republican Senator Bob Packwood was having consensual sex with his staff, sexual harassment was bad. Then we hear allegations about Clarence Thomas and sexual harassment is right up there with baby killing--and every guy who had told a dirty joke at an' [...]
A hundred years from now when future historians are trying to determine the significance of the Internet I think they will decide that the most far reaching effect was the elimination of the information monopoly. I don't know if most of us who grew up in the pre-Internet age even' [...]
Here's sad news.
Northern Arizona's aspen trees are dying in ever-increasing numbers, tearing holes in the blankets of color that spread across the high country each autumn.
The tree deaths have mystified scientists, though the list of suspected causes is long: drought, disease, insect infestation, wildfire suppression and even the grazing habits [...]
Surely you recall the Desert Divas. That's the ultra expensive VIP Prostitution ring that police busted last year.
Back in February, it looked like the case was going to break wide open...Prosecutors were naming names
Today, Phoenix police offered to the media a list of thousands of names in' [...]
So here was the plan. Scottsdale School's Fall Break is in mid October, so I reserved a campsite on the South Rim of Grand Canyon for me, my son, a buddy of mine and his son for October 13th. Then I rented a room in the lodge on the North' [...]
