Medical Marijuana Vapor Lounge opens in Tempe
News 12 did a segment on Billy Hayes Vapor Lounge in Tempe.
The Vapor Lounge is near Mill Avenue & Baseline Road
And remember the Vapor Lounge is "Ebola Free" as the subtitle on the news says :)
Hash Bar opens in Tempe
Maybe Playboy or Penthouse can have an issue called "CHP Babes" and only use photos that California Highway Patrol Officers stole from cell phones of hot women they stopped. http://www.mercurynews.com/my-town/ci_26804835/chp-chief-says-nude-photo-scandal-limited-dublin Lawyer objects to CHP chief's claim that nude photo scandal limited to Dublin office By Matthias Gafni Contra Costa Times Posted: 10/26/2014 07:43:22 PM PDT VALLEJO -- The alleged California Highway Patrol "game" of secretly trading explicit cellphone photos of female suspects among officers was isolated to the Dublin office, the agency's Golden Gate Division chief said late Saturday night. But the attorney representing a 23-year-old San Ramon woman who was allegedly a victim of the photo-sharing scheme blasted that premise on Sunday, saying he wasn't reassured by Chief Avery Browne's statement that the practice isn't widespread. "This particular instance was only discovered by my client by chance -- and it's a reasonable speculation to imagine how often it has occurred undetected," said a statement issued by Rick Madsen, the woman's Danville attorney. "Who knows how many officers have participated in this so-called 'game,' or how many more women have been victimized?" Browne acknowledged that a similar incident at a CHP office in Los Angeles occurred two years ago, as reported by this newspaper. But he said witnesses and "every member of command" at the Dublin office have been interviewed during the investigation -- and Contra Costa County prosecutors told him that they do not believe it reaches outside the East Bay office. At Saturday night's impromptu news conference to discuss the growing controversy, Browne called the allegations involving the Dublin-based officers "disappointing" and "disgusting." He then thanked the San Ramon woman, who had discovered that six explicit photos stored on her iPhone were allegedly forwarded to her arresting CHP officer's personal phone and shared with at least one other officer following her DUI arrest in August. Investigators in the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office said the photo exchange led to a crass stream of text messages between the two officers. "The callousness and depravity with which these officers commented about women is dehumanizing, horribly offensive and degrading to all women," Browne said. "This behavior gravely undermines the public's trust in our ability to perform our duties and creates unnecessary mistrust and skepticism (about) law enforcement." The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office said it will decide this week whether to file criminal charges. Browne's condemnation of the allegations were the strongest words yet from the state agency, whose leaders have spoken little about the specifics in a case that has shocked and disappointed the public and the law enforcement community. The chief said he was first briefed on the district attorney's investigation Oct. 8, shortly before the DA started serving search warrants on Officer Sean Harrington's Martinez house and Officer Robert Hazelwood's cellphone. He said he immediately launched an internal investigation. Browne told reporters that the first officer accused in the scheme has been barred from coming to work and that the second officer has been pulled from his patrol duties. A third officer mentioned in court documents is considered a witness and has not been relieved from his normal duties, Browne said. While the purported scheme to steal explicit photos off unsuspecting female arrestees' phones seems unbelievable to some, there have been several similar incidents over the years in which law enforcement officers were accused of strikingly similar plots. None were charged with crimes. [And based on that do you think any of the current criminals in the CHP who are accused of stealing nude photos from women will be charged with anything????] Browne provided further details about a 2012 CHP incident in the Los Angeles area in which the department found that two unidentified officers "allegedly accessed information on computers and individuals' telephones." One officer was fired and another quit as the investigation was concluding, he said. No victims came forward in the case, the chief said. Harrington told DA investigators he learned of the photo-sharing scheme while working at a Los Angeles CHP office and saw it practiced in the Dublin office, according to court records. He also told investigators he took photos from about a "half-dozen" female arrestees in the last "several years," according to a search warrant. Oakland attorney and mayoral candidate Dan Siegel, who represented a victim in a similar Morgan Hill case, questioned whether officers are receiving proper training in handling cellphones, particularly after a June U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring departments to get warrants before searching suspects' phones. [How much training does a cop need to know it's a violation of the 4th Amendment to illegally search a woman's phone, and illegal to steal the photos off of the phone???] "They're acting like a bunch of junior high students," Siegel said. In 2011, after her arrest on suspicion of public drunkenness by a Morgan Hill police officer, Casey Serrano alleged that a corporal found a nude photo stored on her phone and uploaded it to her Facebook profile while she was in custody. Serrano said another officer accessed her phone and deleted photos of his patrol car, according to court documents and Siegel. An internal investigation found then-Cpl. Mindy Zen uploaded a photo in which Serrano's naked breast was exposed onto Serrano's Facebook account, Siegel said. "She was really embarrassed by that. Fortunately, it was not up that long before one of her friends called her," Siegel said. "But you never know how many people see something like that -- and it can be reposted." Serrano filed a claim against the city and received a $75,000 settlement, Siegel said. Zen was demoted and Officer David Ray, who deleted the photos, was fired. He sued for wrongful termination, and in August a judge ruled that Ray's conduct was "egregious" when he arrested the Gilroy woman and her friend without probable cause and tampered with her cellphone to eliminate photos of his transgressions, according to court documents described in a Morgan Hill Times report. In May, a Long Island woman, Pamela Held, sued a New York police officer and the city of New York, alleging that nude photos stored on her phone were forwarded to her arresting officer's personal cellphone while she was in custody, according to federal court documents. "It makes me sick," Held told the New York Daily News. "I don't even want to think about what he's done with them." The officer, Sean Christian, remains on duty and will face a departmental trial on misconduct charges and could lose vacation days, be placed on probation or possibly dismissed, the paper in reported. A similar case happened in Houston in 2005. A patrol officer there arrested a driver for DUI and found nude photos of the woman stored on her phone, downloaded them and later showed them to other law enforcement officers and attorneys at a courthouse, according to the Houston Chronicle. Houston patrolman Christopher Green was fired, as well as his partner, Officer George Miller, who allegedly called the woman's house to ask her on a date, the paper reported. The woman's Houston attorney, Ned Gill, said the officers never were criminally charged because a decade ago Texas had no laws involving cellphone photos, which were still in their infancy. Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026 or mgafni@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.
Only in government do you get a 6 figure payout when you are fired!!!! http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Fired-school-leaders-get-big-payouts-5847735.php Fired school leaders get big payouts By Melody Gutierrez Updated 9:21 am, Sunday, October 26, 2014 SACRAMENTO — A former Union City superintendent took home more than $600,000 last year, making her the top earner on a new online database tracking salary and benefit information for California public school employees. Kari McVeigh, former superintendent of New Haven Unified School District in Union City, and two other superintendents from the Bay Area were among the highest-paid school employees in the state last year in large part because they were fired and received six-figure severance payouts, according to a Chronicle analysis of pay data recently made public by the state Controller’s Office. The data shows that both small and large public school districts awarded administrators six-figure salaries, sometimes with lifetime health benefits, low- or no-interest home loans and golden parachutes, even as California emerged from a financial crisis that forced huge cuts to social service programs for the poor and elderly. The information highlights the dilemma faced by public schools that seek to attract and retain the best administrators: Those contracted employees increasingly command pay and perks in line with private sector companies — compensation paid for by taxpayers that places them far above the $176,000 in annual pay and benefits collected by the state’s top executive — Gov. Jerry Brown. “Something is broken here,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. “Some of these perks may be common in California, but it’s perplexing to the average taxpayer. ... I think we are at a tipping point where there will be a backlash among taxpayers and parents over the way things are run in schools.” Interest-free home loan In May, Palo Alto Unified School District hired Glenn “Max” McGee as its superintendent by offering a four-year contract with annual pay starting at $295,000 to work 224 days, a $1 million interest-free home loan, a $9,000-a-year car allowance, and $6,000-a-year for life insurance premiums. Palo Alto Unified serves 12,400 students. “The board was very generous in putting that ($1 million loan) clause in there so that I can live within the school district,” said McGee, 64, who is currently renting and said he is probably not buying a home this year. A school district official said at least two previous superintendents had home loans in their contracts. McGee was a longtime Illinois superintendent and principal and was that state’s superintendent of education from 1998 to 2001. He receives a $222,000-a-year public pension from Illinois, records show. The controller’s new database does not include names, but the Chronicle identified superintendents through additional online payroll databases, public records and interviews with school personnel. At New Haven Unified in Union City, McVeigh made $630,000 in wages, benefits and severance pay in 2013 after the district fired her and paid out 18 months of her contract, which was to expire in three years. She is suing the 12,600-student school district, alleging she was fired after she objected to race-based hiring decisions, according to a lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court. McVeigh said she resigned and filed for retirement before the board fired her and that under her contract she is entitled to lifetime health and dental benefits for herself and her spouse, according to the court documents. A cross-complaint filed by the school district says that if McVeigh retired, she needs to return the $330,000 in severance pay the district gave her. Efforts to reach McVeigh were unsuccessful. Her attorney, Amanda Beck, said the case is pending. Severance package At Brentwood Union Elementary District in Contra Costa County, former Superintendent Merrill Grant collected $349,000 in wages and benefits in 2013, although he was fired in February. Most of that money was for severance pay awarded to Grant by the district with 8,500 students. Former Mount Diablo Unified Superintendent Steven Lawrence was fired in April 2013, according to media reports at the time, and the controller’s website shows he was paid $328,000 in salary, severance and benefits last year. Mount Diablo school district serves 32,000 students in Contra Costa County. Palmdale Elementary School District in Los Angeles County paid its outgoing superintendent Roger Gallizzi $585,000 last year after he resigned. Ontario-Montclair School District in San Bernardino paid its current superintendent James Hammond $492,000 last year, a total that included $187,000 in benefits, such as contributions to multiple retirement plans, according to the controller’s database. Hammond’s contract also includes lifetime health benefits for him, his spouse and dependents, a $100,000 home loan from the district, a work year of 222 days with 25 days of vacation that can be carried over and cashed out at his discretion, according to a copy of his employment contract. The district serves 23,000 students and awarded Hammond a 5 percent raise earlier this year. District size doesn’t matter Saratoga Union Elementary School District, which has 2,100 students, paid its superintendent Lane Weiss $317,000 in wages and benefits last year, which included a $48,000 a year housing allowance that the superintendent said has since ended. Weiss’ pay was nearly as much as San Francisco Unified paid its superintendent Richard Carranza, who oversees 58,000 students. Carranza’s contract includes $500-a-month car allowance and $20,000 a year housing allowance, bringing his total pay in salary, perks and health benefits to $319,000. “We’ve seen a considerable rise in superintendent salaries and perks,” said Dean Vogel, president of the California Teachers Association. “The superintendents are getting home loans at the same time teachers are having a hard time making their mortgage and rent. San Francisco is a classic example, where you have teachers who have a hard time living in the city without getting another job.” State Controller John Chiang began publishing the school employee salary data this month. It expanded an online public employee salary database Chiang created in 2010 after exorbitant — and criminally inflated — salaries in the city of Bell (Los Angeles County) raised questions about how government employees making so much could go unnoticed. The state website, www.publicpay.ca.gov, includes salaries for city, county, state, special district employees — and now school workers — and is meant to give the public easy access to the information. “The more information you can give voters about how taxpayer money is spent, the better,” said Phillip Ung, a spokesman for the public policy group California Forward. While open government advocates say the database is a step in the right direction, some contend that it doesn’t go far enough. Only a third of California public schools voluntarily submitted data following the controller’s request and the names of public employees are not included, just their job titles, despite the information being a public record. Chiang said that including names would have required independently verifying each of the 2 million entries on the website for accuracy and ensuring that those who require confidentiality for their safety were removed. The website, he said, is intended to raise red flags that the public can vet with the agency or school district that submitted the information. “You can go to our website and get the information and start asking questions,” Chiang said. “If someone is making something they see is an outlier that should be further investigated, we want to encourage that practice.” Bay Area salaries missing Among the Bay Area districts that did not submit salary data to the controller are the Alameda County Office of Education, Dublin Unified, Hayward Unified, Napa Valley Unified, Berkeley Unified and Fairfield-Suisun Unified school districts. Palo Alto Unified failed to submit the specific data requested and is listed as noncompliant. The controller’s database expansion effort comes as an increasing number of organizations move to put the information online themselves using public record requests. The California Policy Center, a conservative public policy think tank, began putting salary and pension data with the names of employees on a searchable website called TransparentCalifornia.com earlier this year. “People are very interested in this information,” said Mark Bucher, president of the California Policy Center. “People want to know how their money is being spent. They have a right to know.” Of the nearly 600 school districts that submitted salary data to the Controller’s Office, about 150 superintendents earned more than Gov. Jerry Brown. The high cost of superintendent pay is not unique to California. In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie instituted a superintendent salary cap in 2011 of no more than his own salary of $175,000, but the limit has faced mounting criticism that it’s driving qualified candidates out of the state. An effort to repeal the cap is under way. “Compensation of top leaders in any sector is always a controversial thing,” said state Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff of Diamond Bar (Los Angeles County). “I’m not a big fan of capping (superintendent pay), but there may be some merit if there is a formula that is reasonable.” Huff said there is a place for some contract perks for superintendents, “but anyone who is making $600,000, that’s over the top.” Centinela Valley Union High School District in Los Angeles County came under fire earlier this year over the $750,000 compensation package paid to its superintendent when including wages, benefits and contract perks. An audit made public in July found Jose Fernandez owed the school district $250,000 in overpayments. The Centinela school board that approved Fernandez’s contract later fired the superintendent following public outrage in the district of 6,700 students. Among the perks the board had approved was a $910,000 home loan with a 2 percent interest rate for Fernandez. Centinela is among the districts that failed to file the requested salary information to the Controller’s Office. Voters OKd contract “You hear too often that people are shocked and appalled, and some of those people are those who voted for the contract,” said Bill Lucia, executive director of the Sacramento education reform group EdVoice. “We are weeks away from an election, and this shows the importance of voting all the way down the ticket.” Lucia said the rising superintendent pay packages show there is a lot of dysfunction in the state’s education system — from a shallow pool of qualified superintendent candidates, a lack of training for elected school board members when it comes to their fiduciary duties and the tumultuous job of running a district. He added that many of the golden parachute clauses in superintendent contracts are the result of both sides hedging their bets — the board, which may want to avoid costly litigation, and the superintendent, who serves at the will of elected board members. When it comes to the best education leaders, Lucia added that a superintendent can be “worth their weight in gold.” McGee, the Palo Alto superintendent, said the public seems more concerned about the quality of education than it is over the pay and benefits of administrators. “It seems to me there is more of a public outcry to improve education,” McGee said. “Our history has shown that doesn’t happen incrementally, it takes bold leaders and I’m grateful to the board for bringing me here.” Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
CHP chief denounces nude photo trading as 'dehumanizing’ Of course the real question will these crooked cops be fired and sent to prison??? Based on past articles I have posted probably not. At most they will get a slap on the wrist. And if you consider a paid vacation a punishment, the will get one of those while their buddies investigate the crime and determine that there wasn't a crime. http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/CHP-chief-denounces-nude-photo-scandal-as-5848823.php CHP chief denounces nude photo trading as 'dehumanizing’ By Henry K. Lee Updated 5:07 pm, Sunday, October 26, 2014 The California Highway Patrol’s top Bay Area official has condemned the actions of officers who allegedly shared revealing photos stolen from women’s cell phones and promises to vigorously investigate the incidents — which may result in charges being filed this week. At a hastily called news conference late Saturday night, Avery Browne, chief of the CHP’s Golden Gate Division, denounced reports that at least two officers assigned to the CHP’s Dublin office had exchanged crude text messages commenting about the bodies of two women whom one of the officers had encountered while out on patrol. “The allegations that have been brought forward are disappointing,” Browne said at division headquarters in Vallejo. “They are disgusting, and they have angered my staff, top management, executive management of the California Highway Patrol. The callousness and depravity with which these officers communicated about women is dehumanizing, horribly offensive and degrading to all women.” Prosecutors are expected to decide this week whether anyone will face criminal charges. Bikini photos of a 19-year-old woman were allegedly stolen by CHP Officer Sean Harrington, 35, of Martinez as she was undergoing X-rays after being involved in a DUI crash in Livermore in August. “Taken from the phone of my 10-15x while she’s in X-rays,” Harrington allegedly texted fellow Dublin CHP Officer Robert Hazelwood. In police parlance, “10-15x” refers to a female arrestee. Hazelwood in turn responded, “No f— nudes?” senior inspector Darryl Holcombe wrote in a search warrant affidavit. Later that month, Harrington secretly forwarded at least five photos of a 23-year-old woman he had arrested for DUI in San Ramon, authorities said. That woman found out what happened when she looked at her iPad, which is synced to her iPhone, authorities said. She hired lawyer Rick Madsen and notified the district attorney’s office, investigators said. Madsen said he appreciated Browne’s statements but noted that his client had discovered what happened by chance. “It's a reasonable speculation to imagine how often it has occurred undetected,” Madsen said. “Who knows how many officers have participated in this so-called 'game,’ or how many more women have been victimized?” Prosecutors opted not to charge the woman in her DUI case because of Harrington’s alleged conduct, court records show. Browne lauded her for coming forward. Records from Harrington’s cell phone revealed he had traded texts about women’s photos with at least Hazelwood and another officer considered a witness in the case, authorities said. In an interview with district attorney’s inspectors, Harrington admitted to stealing photos and “described this scheme as a game,” the affidavit says. Holcombe wrote in the court records that he believed Harrington, Hazelwood and others unlawfully accessed a computer system and stole computer data. Without identifying any officers by name, Browne said two Dublin CHP officers have been removed from patrol duties and are facing an internal investigation. Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com
http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Iran-hangs-woman-for-killing-alleged-rapist-5847046.php Iran hangs woman for killing alleged rapist By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Updated 7:24 pm, Saturday, October 25, 2014 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran hanged a woman on Saturday who was convicted of murdering a man she alleged was trying to rape her, drawing swift international condemnation for a prosecution several countries described as flawed. Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged at dawn for premeditated murder, the official IRNA news agency reported. It quoted a statement issued by the Tehran Prosecutor Office Saturday that rejected the claim of attempted rape and said that all evidence proved that Jabbari had plotted to kill Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former intelligence agent. The United Nations as well as Amnesty International and other human rights groups had called on Iran's judiciary to halt the execution, which was carried out after the country's Supreme Court upheld the verdict. The victim's family could have saved Jabbari's life by accepting blood money but they refused to do so. According to her 2009 sentencing, Jabbari, 27, stabbed Sarbandi in the back in 2007 after purchasing a knife two days earlier. "The knife had been used on the back of the deceased, indicating the murder was not self-defense," the agency quoted the court ruling as saying. Britain, Germany, and a group of European parliamentarians, among others, condemned the execution, as did the United States. "There were serious concerns with the fairness of the trial and the circumstances surrounding this case, including reports of confessions made under severe duress," State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. "We join our voice with those who call on Iran to respect the fair trial guarantees afforded to its people under Iran's own laws and its international obligations," she added. IRNA said the police investigation found that Jabbari sent a text message to a friend saying she would kill Sarbandi three days before the deadly incident. Iranian media reports say Sarbandi's family insisted on their legal rights under the Islamic principle of "an eye for an eye" partly because Jabbari accused Sarbandi of being a rapist in what became a highly publicized media campaign. In a statement ahead of the hanging Amnesty said the investigation had been "deeply flawed" and that Jabbari's claims "do not appear to have ever been properly investigated." The group is opposed to the death penalty and has long condemned Iran's use of capital punishment. The number of executions in Iran has spiked this year, with over 170 people executed already in the first quarter of the year, according to the United Nations. Amnesty says 369 people were publicly put to death in the Islamic Republic last year. The majority of executions are for drug smuggling, which Iranian officials say reflects the large quantities of opium trafficked through Iran from Afghanistan to Europe. Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. Special Rapporteur for human rights in Iran, said in April that imposing the death penalty goes against the current international trend to encourage a moratorium on it and later abolish it. He had strongly urged Iranian authorities to immediately halt executions.
Who owns your home? You or the government??? In San Francisco if you want to convent YOUR rental home, to a home for YOU to live in you have to pay the tenants a kings ransom to make them move out. "The new San Francisco law makes getting evicted akin to winning the lottery" "The [San Francisco] City Controller’s Office computed a payout of $45,000 for [evicting someone from] a $900-per-month apartment. That’s a lot of money to pay someone to move. " http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/San-Francisco-s-land-mine-law-for-landlords-5844103.php San Francisco’s land-mine law for landlords By Debra J. Saunders Updated 1:59 pm, Saturday, October 25, 2014 San Francisco is a cauldron of rights, unless you own a home. Buy a property here, and you might as well paint a target on your back. That’s what Dan and Maria Levin discovered after they bought a two-unit North Beach home in 2008. They moved into the upstairs one-bedroom apartment and told the downstairs tenant that they eventually planned to use the downstairs apartment for friends and family. (The state Ellis Act allows property owners to evict tenants without cause if they plan to take the property off the rental market.) Five years later, the Levins served a notice of termination of tenancy and paid their tenant $2,600 — the first half of a city-mandated relocation payment, with the second half due when the tenant moved out 120 days later. The tenant claimed a disability, which entitled her to to a one-year extension and an extra $3,500. Dan Levin told me the couple knew the rules and expected to pay off the tenant. They were OK with that. But the couple didn’t expect what happened next. In the spring, by a 9-2 vote, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that “enhanced” the amount landlords would have to pay so it compensated tenants for renting a comparable place for two years at market rates. Mayor Ed Lee didn’t sign the bill, but with a veto-proof majority, the law went into effect in June, even for cases already in the works. Factor in city rent control, and the new ordinance can mean a big chunk of change. Suddenly, the Levins had to pay their tenant $118,000 to leave. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, a Clinton appointee, found San Francisco’s Tenant Relocation Ordinance unconstitutional. Breyer wrote that city law “requires an enormous payout untethered in both nature and amount to the social harm actually caused by the property owner’s action.” That is, the city wrongly is asking a handful of landowners to shoulder an unfair burden of the cost of an on-fire housing market. No lie. The new San Francisco law makes getting evicted akin to winning the lottery. There’s nothing to stop the recipient from using the windfall funds for recreation — or as a down payment on a property in a city that recognizes property rights. And without any needs test, Breyer wrote, “the ironic result” of the law is that “those tenants who can afford to pay the highest current monthly rents are entitled to a correspondingly higher payout amount.” Two tenants who moved into another building in 1997 and paid $8,500 per month in rent are now entitled to a payout of more than $220,000. And then there’s the fact that these huge new fees apply essentially retroactively. “I have talked to many people about this law, especially non-lawyers, from all sides of the spectrum, and I haven’t found one that thinks it’s reasonable,” said J. David Breemer, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing the Levins pro bono. Supervisor David Campos, who sponsored the ordinance, disagrees — and he’s a Harvard Law grad. When you consider “what landlords are making in this market,” he said, the new law “makes sense. I believe that it’s reasonable.” Evicted tenants will have to spend money on housing elsewhere. To Campos, the issue is “not just how much money (the Levins are) paying, but also how much money are they making in the sale of the property.” Except they aren’t planning to sell the property now. The Levins’ relocation payment, Campos added, presents a “most extreme case.” Better to look at “a typical case.” OK. The City Controller’s Office computed a payout of $45,000 for a $900-per-month apartment. That’s a lot of money to pay someone to move. Breyer doesn’t disagree that San Francisco has a housing problem. He just doesn’t think it’s fair to make the Levins pay six figures to atone for a market that is unaffordable for a host of reasons not of their making. City Attorney Dennis Herrera will appeal Breyer’s decision. Campos argues that the law is not retroactive, as it applies only to uncompleted and future evictions. Breemer would counter that the new ordinance upset the “legitimate expectations” of property owners by levying an “exorbitant” cost without proper notice. It came like a bomb you couldn’t hear until after it landed. I asked Levin about his politics. “I’m a lifelong Democrat myself,” he told me. “My wife is too. We vote that way.” It bothers the couple that there’s no means testing for tenants, that people with six-figure incomes enjoy a windfall that small property owners can ill afford. City Hall drove these Democrats into the loving arms of the usually conservative property-rights crowd. Levin tells me he doesn’t think it’s political; it’s “a constitutional issue.” Don’t be so naive. In San Francisco, everything is political, especially the U.S. Constitution. Debra J. Saunders is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: dsaunders@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DebraJSaunders Why is the Pacific Legal Foundation in this fight? “We sued the Bush administration a lot. It doesn’t really matter to us which party is stealing your property. We’re equal opportunity,” attorney J. David Breemer told me. “How (the Levins) choose to vote makes no difference to me. They have property rights.”
A $7.6 billion drug war failure in Afghanistan The drug problem is a MEDICAL problem, not a CRIMINAL problem. We need to end the immoral and unconstitutional "War on Drugs" http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/opinion/afghanistans-unending-addiction.html?hpw&rref=opinion&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well Afghanistan’s Unending Addiction By THE EDITORIAL BOARDOCT. 26, 2014 Over the last dozen years, the United States has poured $7.6 billion into combating Afghanistan’s opium production, and the results are now clear: The program failed. This effectively leaves the Afghan economy heavily dependent on criminal enterprises, rising corruption that undermines efforts to promote democracy, and increased drug addiction among the Afghan people. The uncontrolled opium trade also provides the Taliban with up to $155 million annually, or more than one-quarter of the total funding for its antigovernment insurgency. Yet this crisis is receiving far too little attention at a time when primary responsibility for the counternarcotics program shifts from the United States and its partners to the newly installed government of President Ashraf Ghani. In a speech at Georgetown University last month, John Sopko, the special inspector general in charge of assessing American programs in Afghanistan, said: “By every conceivable metric, we’ve failed. Production and cultivation are up, interdiction and eradication are down, financial support to the insurgency is up, and addiction and abuse are at unprecedented levels in Afghanistan.” The problem, as quantified by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other agencies, appears to be getting worse. In 2012, Afghanistan produced 95 percent of the world’s opium, with much of the product going to Iran, Europe and Russia. The following year, Afghan farmers grew an unprecedented 209,000 hectares (more than 516,000 acres) of opium poppy, outpacing the previous high of 193,000 hectares in 2007. The value of last year’s yield was $3 billion, up from $2 billion in 2012, a 50 percent increase in a single year. One province, Nangarhar, was declared “poppy-free” by the United Nations in 2008, but between 2012 and 2013, it had a fourfold increase in production. The narcotics program embraced multiple strategies, including interdicting drug traffickers, eradicating poppy fields, strengthening the Afghan legal system to prosecute drug dealers, persuading farmers to grow alternative crops and establishing treatment programs for addicts. The Pentagon, one of the lead agencies in the effort, has pinned the failure to reduce cultivation largely on a lack of support from the Afghan government. It must also be said, however, that American, European, Afghan and United Nations officials at times sabotaged their own mission by bickering over how the money should be spent and where best to focus resources. It seems unlikely that the new and still fragile Afghan government will soon do better on poppy eradication than the United States and its allies, whose forces in Afghanistan are expected to be reduced to 15,000 by the end of the year. The one bright spot is that Mr. Ghani seems to have a vision for what needs to be done. His campaign platform frankly acknowledged that legal farming in Afghanistan is less profitable and less efficient than the drug trade because it lacks an organized system of markets, financing, skilled workers and irrigation equipment. He has pledged to modernize farming and develop new markets for legitimate crops and other products. The American embassy in Kabul has said that the United States will help him in these efforts. The allies must pitch in as well. But one early order of business is to figure out where the counternarcotics strategy went wrong — why so much investment over the years has produced so little. An honest evaluation is a necessary first step to constructing a strategy that works and gives the new government a realistic shot at a building a productive economy and a stable nation.
More of the old "Do as I say, not as I do" from our religious leaders, government masters and police??? With Federal police agencies this corrupt do you really think a person can get a fair trial for crimes one of these crooked Federal agencies accuses them of??? And if you ask me there isn't much difference between Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Bush and Obama. Sure Hitler, Stalin and Mao all murdered millions while Obama and Bush only murdered a few hundred thousand people, but does that really mean mass murders Bush and Obama are good guys, while Hitler, Stalin and Mao are bad guys. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/us/in-cold-war-us-spy-agencies-used-1000-nazis.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 In Cold War, U.S. Spy Agencies Used 1,000 Nazis By ERIC LICHTBLAUOCT. 26, 2014 WASHINGTON — In the decades after World War II, the C.I.A. and other United States agencies employed at least a thousand Nazis as Cold War spies and informants and, as recently as the 1990s, concealed the government’s ties to some still living in America, newly disclosed records and interviews show. At the height of the Cold War in the 1950s, law enforcement and intelligence leaders like J. Edgar Hoover at the F.B.I. and Allen Dulles at the C.I.A. aggressively recruited onetime Nazis of all ranks as secret, anti-Soviet “assets,” declassified records show. They believed the ex-Nazis’ intelligence value against the Russians outweighed what one official called “moral lapses” in their service to the Third Reich. The agency hired one former SS officer as a spy in the 1950s, for instance, even after concluding he was probably guilty of “minor war crimes.” And in 1994, a lawyer with the C.I.A. pressured prosecutors to drop an investigation into an ex-spy outside Boston implicated in the Nazis’ massacre of tens of thousands of Jews in Lithuania, according to a government official. Evidence of the government’s links to Nazi spies began emerging publicly in the 1970s. But thousands of records from declassified files, Freedom of Information Act requests and other sources, together with interviews with scores of current and former government officials, show that the government’s recruitment of Nazis ran far deeper than previously known and that officials sought to conceal those ties for at least a half-century after the war. In 1980, F.B.I. officials refused to tell even the Justice Department’s own Nazi hunters what they knew about 16 suspected Nazis living in the United States. The bureau balked at a request from prosecutors for internal records on the Nazi suspects, memos show, because the 16 men had all worked as F.B.I. informants, providing leads on Communist “sympathizers.” Five of the men were still active informants. Refusing to turn over the records, a bureau official in a memo stressed the need for “protecting the confidentiality of such sources of information to the fullest possible extent.” Some spies for the United States had worked at the highest levels for the Nazis. One SS officer, Otto von Bolschwing, was a mentor and top aide to Adolf Eichmann, architect of the “Final Solution,” and wrote policy papers on how to terrorize Jews. Yet after the war, the C.I.A. not only hired him as a spy in Europe, but relocated him and his family to New York City in 1954, records show. The move was seen as a “a reward for his loyal postwar service and in view of the innocuousness of his [Nazi] party activities,” the agency wrote. His son, Gus von Bolschwing, who learned many years later of his father’s ties to the Nazis, sees the relationship between the spy agency and his father as one of mutual convenience forged by the Cold War. “They used him, and he used them,” Gus von Bolschwing, now 75, said in an interview. “It shouldn’t have happened. He never should have been admitted to the United States. It wasn’t consistent with our values as a country.” When Israeli agents captured Eichmann in Argentina in 1960, Otto von Bolschwing went to the C.I.A. for help because he worried they might come after him, memos show. Agency officials were worried as well that Mr. von Bolschwing might be named as Eichmann’s “collaborator and fellow conspirator and that the resulting publicity may prove embarrassing to the U.S.” a C.I.A. official wrote. After two agents met with Mr. von Bolschwing in 1961, the agency assured him it would not disclose his ties to Eichmann, records show. He lived freely for another 20 years before prosecutors discovered his wartime role and prosecuted him. He agreed to give up his citizenship in 1981, dying months later. In all, the American military, the C.I.A., the F.B.I. and other agencies used at least 1,000 ex-Nazis and collaborators as spies and informants after the war, according to Richard Breitman, a Holocaust scholar at American University who was on a government-appointed team that declassified war-crime records. The full tally of Nazis-turned-spies is probably much higher, said Norman Goda, a University of Florida historian on the declassification team, but many records remain classified even today, making a complete count impossible. “U.S. agencies directly or indirectly hired numerous ex-Nazi police officials and East European collaborators who were manifestly guilty of war crimes,” he said. “Information was readily available that these were compromised men.” None of the spies are known to be alive today. The wide use of Nazi spies grew out of a Cold War mentality shared by two titans of intelligence in the 1950s: Mr. Hoover, the longtime F.B.I. director, and Mr. Dulles, the C.I.A. director. Photo Mr. Lileikis' naturalization photo from 1976. Credit U.S. Department of Justice Mr. Dulles believed “moderate” Nazis might “be useful” to America, records show. Mr. Hoover, for his part, personally approved some ex-Nazis as informants and dismissed accusations of their wartime atrocities as Soviet propaganda. In 1968, Mr. Hoover authorized the F.B.I. to wiretap a left-wing journalist who wrote critical stories about Nazis in America, internal records show. Mr. Hoover declared the journalist, Charles Allen, a potential threat to national security. John Fox, the bureau’s chief historian, said: “In hindsight, it is clear that Hoover, and by extension the F.B.I., was shortsighted in dismissing evidence of ties between recent German and East European immigrants and Nazi war crimes. It should be remembered, though, that this was at the peak of Cold War tensions.” The C.I.A. declined to comment for this article. The Nazi spies performed a range of tasks for American agencies in the 1950s and 1960s, from the hazardous to the trivial, the documents show. In Maryland, Army officials trained several Nazi officers in paramilitary warfare for a possible invasion of Russia. In Connecticut, the C.I.A. used an ex-Nazi guard to study Soviet-bloc postage stamps for hidden meanings. In Virginia, a top adviser to Hitler gave classified briefings on Soviet affairs. And in Germany, SS officers infiltrated Russian-controlled zones, laying surveillance cables and monitoring trains. But many Nazi spies proved inept or worse, declassified security reviews show. Some were deemed habitual liars, confidence men or embezzlers, and a few even turned out to be Soviet double agents, the records show. Mr. Breitman said the morality of recruiting ex-Nazis was rarely considered. “This all stemmed from a kind of panic, a fear that the Communists were terribly powerful and we had so few assets,” he said. Efforts to conceal those ties spanned decades. When the Justice Department was preparing in 1994 to prosecute a senior Nazi collaborator in Boston named Aleksandras Lileikis, the C.I.A. tried to intervene. The agency’s own files linked Mr. Lileikis to the machine-gun massacres of 60,000 Jews in Lithuania. He worked “under the control of the Gestapo during the war,” his C.I.A. file noted, and “was possibly connected with the shooting of Jews in Vilna.” Even so, the agency hired him in 1952 as a spy in East Germany — paying him $1,700 a year, plus two cartons of cigarettes a month — and cleared the way for him to immigrate to America four years later, records show. Mr. Lileikis lived quietly for nearly 40 years, until prosecutors discovered his Nazi past and prepared to seek his deportation in 1994. When C.I.A. officials learned of the plans, a lawyer there called Eli Rosenbaum at the Justice Department’s Nazi-hunting unit and told him “you can’t file this case,” Mr. Rosenbaum said in an interview. The agency did not want to risk divulging classified records about its ex-spy, he said. Mr. Rosenbaum said he and the C.I.A. reached an understanding: If the agency was forced to turn over objectionable records, prosecutors would drop the case first. (That did not happen, and Mr. Lileikis was ultimately deported.) The C.I.A. also hid what it knew of Mr. Lileikis’s past from lawmakers. In a classified memo to the House Intelligence Committee in 1995, the agency acknowledged using him as a spy but made no mention of the records linking him to mass murders. “There is no evidence,” the C.I.A. wrote, “that this Agency was aware of his wartime activities.” This article is adapted from “The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler’s Men,” by Eric Lichtblau, to be published Tuesday by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Government can't pay money it owes school??? When I bought my Arizona Republic this morning one of the minor headlines was this article about how the state of Arizona can't afford to pay schools money it owes them. "the state [of Arizona] this week will try to convince a judge it simply can't afford the past-due payments" I thought wow!!! And the jerks in the Arizona House and Senate tell me that I need them to micromanage my life because my moral compass isn't as good as theirs. Personally I think we should get rid of the government schools, or public schools as most people call them. They are nothing but government propaganda camps to brainwash the kiddies into believing that they need our government masters to run their lives. I think the state of Arizona owes the schools this money because of a voter passed initiative, which the state of Arizona simply refused to obey. This isn't the first time the royal rulers of Arizona have f*cked over the people on initiatives they passed. In Prop 203, which is Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act the police and prosecutors have been routinely refusing to obey the law. The cops have been arresting medical marijuana patients for things that are clearly 100% legal under Prop 203. Prop 203 says patients can't be arrested for DUI because they have marijuana metabolites in the body. The cops have said f*ck that and have been writing anybody they stop and discover has a medical marijuana card a ticket for DUI. Prop 203 says medical marijuana patients can use any form of marijuana to treat their illness. The cops have been saying that many forms of marijuana such as hashish, hash oil and other forms are not really marijuana, and arresting patients for having those forms of marijuana. http://www.azcentral.com/search/schools/ Battle over Arizona education funding goes to trial Alia Beard Rau, The Republic | azcentral.com 6:52 a.m. MST October 27, 2014 Arizona's schools have come calling for $1.3 billion they say the state owes its children. Already faced with a looming $1 billion budget shortfall, the state this week will try to convince a judge it simply can't afford the past-due payments. During a five-day trial beginning today before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper, the state and the schools will argue their cases over whether the state must retroactively pay for inflation costs not fully paid during three years of the Great Recession. "The trial will look into the question of whether it is fair or feasible for the state to make back payments," said Peter Gentala, attorney for the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Gentala is part of the team representing the state. The courts have already ruled the state shorted public and charter K-12 schools by not fully covering inflation. Cooper ordered the state to immediately boost education funding by $336 million a year to catch schools up to where they should be under a voter-approved education-funding formula. Cooper requested a trial to resolve the dispute over the retroactive money. The state has not paid the additional $336 million for this year and is appealing, arguing it should get credit for years when schools received more than the minimum required for inflation. During the trial on the back payments, the state will explain why it didn't pay the inflation at the time and can't pay it now. The schools will argue that the state should still pay the money in this current economic situation, and that it is sensible even if those years — and those students — are now gone. Gentala said the state will describe the financial situation the Legislature and governor faced during the recession and why the inflation decision was made. "The state is going to show that it was a good-faith decision made in very difficult economic conditions, and because of the ability to make those adjustments and only provide minimum inflation, it made it so more painful cuts to key services were not necessary," he said. Without that flexibility during those years, he said, the cuts "would have been $1 billion worse." Gentala said the state will also detail the current budget situation. The latest data from state budget officials project a $520 million shortfall this fiscal year and a $1 billion shortfall next fiscal year. These amounts include the court-ordered $336 million-a-year boost for schools. "That is a budget disruption of such a magnitude that it will take across-the-board changes in order to meet that," he said. "It's just a staggering problem." Don Peters, one of the attorneys representing the school districts, said they are willing to stretch repayment of the amount owed over several years to ease the strain. But he says the state's dismal financial situation is irrelevant to the argument over whether it should pay. "The Legislature has a constitutional duty to raise the money necessary to properly maintain the public schools," Peters said. "When people have told you that you will disperse this money, it's your duty to make sure you have the money to disperse." The state has several options, he said. "One scenario could be to delay the implementation of corporate tax cuts for three or four years," Peters said. The Legislature approved the phase-in of $226 million in corporate tax cuts in 2011. The cuts began in July and were projected to cost the state $100 million the first year. Gentala said the tax policy has its supporters and its critics. "But if it's changed, that will have ripple effects," he said. "The whole economy is relying on the certainty reflected by the existing policy." Peters said the state could also look at eliminating some tax credits. "It's not as though revenue levels are set by an act of God," he said. "Even if this case didn't exist, they don't have the revenues to operate even a streamlined government." Without the added $336 million-a-year for schools, the latest budget projections show a $189 million shortfall for this current year and a $667 million shortfall for next fiscal year. Gentala said the state could try to raise its revenues to pay the bill. "But even during the worst of the economic years ... a temporary tax increase is a difficult thing to do," he said, explaining it would require a supermajority vote of three-fourths of the Legislature. Gentala said the state may have to consider cuts to education or public safety. John Arnold, the current state budget director under Gov. Jan Brewer, is expected to testify about that. There are limited areas of the budget where the Legislature and governor can adjust spending — many areas are predetermined by state statute, federal regulation or, in the case of prisons or social services, are based on usage. "One thing that will be key to watch is what the plaintiffs suggest would be good to have on the chopping block," he said. "It will be a good time for everyone to reflect about the magnitude of the budget challenges and the economic-policy changes that will have to be made in order to accommodate this idea that retroactivity is more important than the services the state is providing right now." He said if the state is forced to pay the money, it will likely have to cut other parts of the education budget. "It's really hard to imagine a scenario where, if the state is forced to accommodate multibillion-dollar judgments in this case, education wouldn't be something that would be looked at," he said. ON THE BEAT Alia Beard Rau covers the Arizona Legislature, the budget and state government. How to reach her: alia.rau@arizonarepublic.com Phone: 602-444-4947 Twitter: @aliarau
Police-brutality protest ends with clash with Phoenix PD I wonder did the Phoenix pigs start this fight??? About 10 years ago I helped "Copwatch" a woman's anti-war protest and march in downtown Phoenix. Joel Olsen got arrested while Copwatching that march. I almost got arrested. Usually I would always be the cameraman, but because I had broken my wrist I wasn't operating the camera and I was towards the back, not at the front. I think Joel was operating the camera that day. Joel Olson was released in a few hours and he wasn't charged with anything. A number of women involved in the march got arrested including Copwatch Amy and were charged with various crimes. Amy was not Copwatching the protest, but was a part of the protest. I went to Amy's trial and after sitting thru an hour or so of radio transmissions from the cops it was discovered that the Phoenix PIGS started the riot by charging the protesters. The judge called a recess and when the trial resumed he dropped all the charges against everybody, because the piggies were the cause of the riot. Joel Olson died a couple years back on a trip to London, which is why I used his name. Joel Olsen was a professor at NAU. I think he was on a sabbatical and teaching at a college in Spain. He went to a conference in London, where he died of a heart attack in bed. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/10/26/phoenix-police-brutality-protest-ends-clash/17967505/ Police-brutality protest ends with clash with Phoenix PD Yihyun Jeong, The Republic | azcentral.com 4:15 p.m. MST October 26, 2014 A protest against police brutality Saturday night in downtown Phoenix ended with a clash with officers, the arrest of six protesters, and the discharge of pepper-spray balls, officials said. The march that was organized by Wave of Action PHX, a collective of anonymous groups, began around 8:30 p.m. with about 40 to 50 people gathered at Civic Space Park between Central and First avenues on Van Buren Street. Though the march started peacefully, it almost immediately became a serious public nuisance and hazard when marchers entered the roadway and began obstructing traffic, Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Jonathan Howard said. The group was warned to stay out of the roadway many times but the majority of them disregarded the orders and continued to block traffic in the area, Howard said. They created additional hazards as they crossed against traffic signals near First and Washington streets. Footage taken at the event shows marchers clad in all black shouting "hands up, shoot back!" as they marched into traffic toward Cityscape Phoenix. The footage continues and shows officers dressed in tactical gear along the street and some on motorcycles telling protesters to get out of the street or they will be arrested. Several arrests were made for obstructing a thoroughfare and failing to obey officers regarding traffic control, Howard said. Several members of the group became violent toward the officers making arrests and began to throw flagpoles that they had been carrying at the officers, according to Howard. "Officers discharged pepper balls at these suspects to protect the officers, the suspects being arrested, and others in the area," Howard said. The assailants fled the scene and were not located, he said. A marcher, Tommy Johnson, said officers did not give ample warning. Johnson said an officer on a motorcycle rode into the group, hitting several marchers. He said one marcher suffered a broken foot. However, Howard said there were no reported injuries or damages. Following the arrests, no other incidents occurred that required police enforcement, he said. Johnson said the marchers "wanted a demonstration in solidarity to protest ongoing events in Phoenix and the terrorism of Phoenix police on the community." Phoenix police support the rights to free speech and peaceful assembly, Howard said. "After multiple warnings and attempts to obey the law were disregarded, police were forced to make several arrests to ensure the safety and well-being of all people in the downtown area," he said.
Fire shuts down hotel owned by Phoenix government The city of Phoenix built this government hotel so they could give the millionaire owners of the Sheraton Hotel chain a few million dollars in corporate welfare paid for of course by us taxpayers. I wonder how much money this current disaster is going to cost the taxpayers of the city of Phoenix??? Note: In my initial post I was correct guessing that this government corporate welfare hotel is the largest hotel in Arizona: "The hotel opened on Sept. 30, 2008, as the largest hotel in Arizona with 1,000 guestrooms." I still suspect the corporate welfare given to the folks at the Sheraton by the royal rulers of Phoenix has driven a few smaller hotels out of business. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/10/25/fire-prompsts-evacuation-at-downtown-sheraton-hotel/17905351/ Phoenix Sheraton hotel closed through Monday after fire An electrical fire at downtown Phoenix hotel forces evacuations and shuts down power Justin Price, Weldon Johnson, D.S. Woodfill and Maribel Castillo, 12 News | azcentral.com 3:07 p.m. MST October 26, 2014 The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel will remain closed through Monday as electricians and city officials work to repair the damage to a panel in the electrical room after an electrical fire Saturday that filled parts of the building and nearby city streets with thick, acrid smoke. According to Jane Shaver, a spokeswoman for APS, power in the south side of the building is fully restored along with half of the north side of the building. Officials are working to fully restore power and waiting for inspections by the city, Shaver said. Officials from the Sheraton and the City of Phoenix, which owns the hotel, safely evacuated and relocated about 800 guests around the Valley who were affected by the blaze and smoke, a statement from the Sheraton said. According to the statement, Sheraton staff is still working on finding accommodations for incoming guests. Sheraton officials say all costs for transportation and new rooms will be covered by the hotel. Shanna Wolfe, a spokeswoman for the Sheraton, said guests needing help finding accommodations should call 602-262-2500. She said the hotel also is calling those with reservations to help with making alternate arrangements. The hotel lobby is open, so anyone with reservations arriving at the hotel can get help there as well, she said. The hotel said it is providing buses and shuttles to transport guests to events at the Phoenix Convention Center, where many guests were sent after Saturday's evacuation. Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Troy Caskey said investigators suspect the fire late Saturday morning was put out by the hotel's sprinkler system. Engineers were surveying damage to the building. All nearby streets that were closed by emergency officials during the incident were reopened by 8 p.m. Some of the guests were being relocated to the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel about five blocks away at Adams Street and Central Avenue Saturday, according to hotel and fire department officials. Wolfe said guests were escorted to their rooms to gather their personal effects. John Weaver, in town from Australia for a project management conference, took the evacuation in stride. "You can't stay at a hotel with no power, mate," Weaver said as he gathered his bags to leave the hotel. After the fire, only emergency lights could be seen at the hotel late into the evening, but room lights could be seen by 10:30 p.m. Some guests were upset that the hotel did not provide transportation to the Renaissance Hotel. Andy Miller, from Wisconsin, didn't complain as he and his wife walked the roughly half-mile distance in the afternoon heat. He said he just hoped they would get a better location for their last night in town. "We're heading out tomorrow at 6 a.m.," Miller said. "I hope wherever we end up, it's closer to the airport." About 100 firefighters and at least 10 engines responded as smoke poured from one of the utility rooms. Firefighters wearing protective breathing masks went in and out as hundreds of onlookers lined the sidewalks outside. Hotel guests filed out the doors as fire alarms blared and police and fire crews blocked off the streets and sidewalks around the building. The hotel, which was booked at about 80 percent capacity, was safely evacuated and no injuries were reported, Caskey said. No flames were visible from the street, and the most of the building appeared undamaged. Scott Coniam was visiting the hotel on the second floor for a software training session and said he heard two loud booms, both of which shook the building. "It definitely shook us," he said. Guests outside the building asked a firefighter who had emerged from inside for an update. He announced to the group that crews had been chasing the smoke throughout the affected area inside the building trying to find the source. He said it was under control. Caskey later said crews weren't using water to extinguish the smoke because its source, whatever it was, was suspected to have an electrical origin. Most of the smoke had ceased by about noon, and by 1 p.m. authorities were escorting groups of guests who had flights scheduled for Saturday to collect their belongings. Others were escorted into the parking garage to get their vehicles. One of those groups was Angie Miranda, Rafe Sweet and Chris Johnson -- friends who had met up at the hotel Friday morning to spend the day seeing music shows in the area. Sweet and Miranda were musicians themselves, and had brought their guitars for their stay. Miranda described the moment of the reported explosions, saying she heard a booming sound before she went to check outside their room on the 17th floor to investigate. "I look out the door and just heard wind," Miranda said. Then a voice spoke through an intercom system instructing guests to evacuate. The group made sure to grab their most valuable possessions -- their two guitars, one of which was a Fender Telecaster. "Grab the Tele!" Sweet said, quoting Miranda's response to the evacuation notice. They carried their guitars and a few bags down 17 stories to go outside and wait. A spokesman for the hotel and authorities said guests were instructed to wait out the evacuation at the Phoenix Convention Center. The hotel opened on Sept. 30, 2008, as the largest hotel in Arizona with 1,000 guestrooms.
1) This is a government hotel that the city of Phoenix spent millions on giving our hard earned tax dollars to the millionaires that own the Sheraton Hotel chain. 2) I think it is the largest hotel in Arizona. If not the largest, it is one of the largest hotels in Arizona. Again built with our tax dollars as a government welfare program for the millionaire owners of the Sheraton Hotel chain. 3) I wonder how many of the smaller hotels in Phoenix went out of business because of the government welfare the city of Phoenix gave to the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel??? http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/10/25/fire-prompsts-evacuation-at-downtown-sheraton-hotel/17905351/ Phoenix Sheraton hotel closed after fire, smoke incident Justin Price, Weldon Johnson and D.S. Woodfill, 12 News | azcentral.com 2:51 a.m. MST October 26, 2014 The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel will remain closed throughout the weekend as officials investigate the source of an electrical fire that filled parts of the building and nearby city streets with thick, acrid smoke. Officials from the Sheraton and the City of Phoenix, which owns the hotel, continued to scramble Saturday night to find lodgings for the approximately 800 guests who were evacuated. Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Troy Caskey said investigators suspect the fire late Saturday morning was put out by the hotel's sprinkler system. Engineers were surveying damage to the building. All nearby streets that were closed by emergency officials during the incident were reopened by 8 p.m. Shanna Wolfe, a spokeswoman for the Sheraton, said guests needing help finding accommodations should call 602-262-2500. "I don't know how long the closure will be" beyond Sunday, Wolfe said. Some of the guests were being relocated to the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel about five blocks away at Adams Street and Central Avenue, according to hotel and fire department officials. The Sheraton said in a statement that it is coordinating the relocation of all current and incoming guests with other properties throughout the Phoenix area. Wolfe said guests were escorted to their rooms to gather their personal effects. John Weaver, in town from Australia for a project management conference, took the evacuation in stride. "You can't stay at a hotel with no power, mate," Weaver said as he gathered his bags to leave the hotel. After the fire, only emergency lights could be seen at the hotel late into the evening, but room lights could be seen by 10:30 p.m. Some guests were upset that the hotel did not provide transportation to the Renaissance Hotel. Andy Miller, from Wisconsin, didn't complain as he and his wife walked the roughly half-mile distance in the afternoon heat. He said he just hoped they would get a better location for their last night in town. "We're heading out tomorrow at 6 a.m.," Miller said. "I hope wherever we end up, it's closer to the airport." About 100 firefighters and at least 10 engines responded as smoke poured from one of the utility rooms. Firefighters wearing protective breathing masks went in and out as hundreds of onlookers lined the sidewalks outside. Hotel guests filed out the doors as fire alarms blared and police and fire crews blocked off the streets and sidewalks around the building. The hotel, which was booked at about 80 percent capacity, was safely evacuated and no injuries were reported, Caskey said. No flames were visible from the street, and the most of the building appeared undamaged. Scott Coniam was visiting the hotel on the second floor for a software training session and said he heard two loud booms, both of which shook the building. "It definitely shook us," he said. Guests outside the building asked a firefighter who had emerged from inside for an update. He announced to the group that crews had been chasing the smoke throughout the affected area inside the building trying to find the source. He said it was under control. Caskey later said crews weren't using water to extinguish the smoke because its source, whatever it was, was suspected to have an electrical origin. Most of the smoke had ceased by about noon, and by 1 p.m. authorities were escorting groups of guests who had flights scheduled for Saturday to collect their belongings. Others were escorted into the parking garage to get their vehicles. One of those groups was Angie Miranda, Rafe Sweet and Chris Johnson -- friends who had met up at the hotel Friday morning to spend the day seeing music shows in the area. Sweet and Miranda were musicians themselves, and had brought their guitars for their stay. Miranda described the moment of the reported explosions, saying she heard a booming sound before she went to check outside their room on the 17th floor to investigate. "I look out the door and just heard wind," Miranda said. Then a voice spoke through an intercom system instructing guests to evacuate. The group made sure to grab their most valuable possessions -- their two guitars, one of which was a Fender Telecaster. "Grab the Tele!" Sweet said, quoting Miranda's response to the evacuation notice. They carried their guitars and a few bags down 17 stories to go outside and wait. A spokesman for the hotel and authorities said guests were instructed to wait out the evacuation at the Phoenix Convention Center. The hoptel opened on Sept. 30, 2008, as the largest hotel in Arizona with 1,000 guestrooms.
Cellphone kill switches are to protect the POLICE from YOU??? Some folks say these cellphone kill switches are designed to protect you from criminals who steal your phone. Some recent articles are saying that these cellphone kill switches are really to allow the police to shut down your cellphone so you can't use the phone against the police. "But the trend is alarming privacy advocates, who say law enforcement agencies can rely on the legislation to remotely shut down phones ... in the event of a violent public demonstration. Such power could be used to rob citizens of the ability to use their phones' camera and recording functions to document police activity or to communicate with one another during a demonstration" And you thought the Soviet Union, Red China and Cuba had a monopoly on government terrorism. If cell phone kill switches exist, they should only be in the hands of the people that provide telephone services, not some police thugs!!!! http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/22/cellphone-kill-switch/17749759/ States, privacy advocates battle over phone 'kill switch' Anjeanette Damon, USA TODAY 9:07 p.m. EDT October 22, 2014 A handful of states are pursuing legislation to require cellphone manufacturers to equip their devices with "kill switch" technology that would allow the phone to be remotely shut down and wiped of its information if it is stolen. Those sponsoring the measures argue the requirement is necessary to combat a surge in cellphone thefts and to protect consumers from having not only their phone but much of their personal information stolen. But the trend is alarming privacy advocates, who say law enforcement agencies can rely on the legislation to remotely shut down phones for public safety reasons, for example, in the event of a violent public demonstration. Such power could be used to rob citizens of the ability to use their phones' camera and recording functions to document police activity or to communicate with one another during a demonstration, they said. "The idea of this being co-opted as an anti-protest tool is especially disturbing," said Jake Laperruque, a fellow on privacy, surveillance and security at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington, D.C.-based policy organization. Laperruque noted, for example, that police officers targeted protestors and journalists in Ferguson, Mo., ordering them to stop recording. So far, two states, California and Minnesota, have passed legislation requiring manufacturers to equip phones with a kill switch. Both laws take effect next year. Two more states are considering legislation: Nevada and New Jersey. In Nevada, the Attorney General's Office is sponsoring the legislation, which will be considered when the Legislature convenes in February. "The point of the bill is to deincentivize the effectiveness of smartphones to thieves," said Deputy Attorney General Laura Tucker. "If a thief knows that if they steal a phone they can be 100% certain it can be wiped remotely, smartphones will be a less attractive target for thieves." Smartphone thefts are on a sharp rise, particularly in large cities, where as many as one in three robberies involve a mobile device, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Cellphone thefts nearly doubled from 2012 to 2013, when 3.1 million phones were stolen, according to Consumer Reports. In reaction, the industry has taken its own steps to help deter thefts. "The safety and security of wireless users is the wireless industry's top priority, and we've taken significant actions to provide consumers with the tools and information needed to help deter smartphone theft," said Jamie Hastings, vice president of external affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association, in a written statement. "We've rolled out stolen phones databases, consumer education campaigns, anti-theft apps and features and most recently a 'Smartphone Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment,' which provides a uniform national technology solution at no cost to the consumer." “The point of the bill is to deincentivize the effectiveness of smartphones to thieves. ” Nevada Deputy Attorney General Laura Tucker The association refused an interview on the topic, sending a written statement instead. Given the voluntary steps, Hastings said the industry opposes state-by-state legislation mandating kill switches, which threatens the industry's ability to manufacture a uniform phone for distribution nationally. "State-by-state technology mandates stifle innovation to the ultimate detriment to the consumer," she said in the statement. Some states scuttled proposed legislation after the industry implemented the voluntary measures. But Tucker said legislation is still needed. "We didn't feel like it went far enough," Tucker said of the industry's steps, adding that consumers should be able to deactivate their phone from abroad and that a phone's default setting should include the kill switch. "Ultimately, the goal is to protect consumers." USA TODAY Can a 'kill switch' cut the rate of smartphone theft? But privacy advocates say that protection could come at a cost to civil rights if law enforcement is given access to the kill switches, or the ability to request a company activate a kill switch on phones in a certain area. "While it may address theft, you're essentially creating a backdoor system of shutting down the phone that could be abused by law enforcement," said Adi Kamdar, an activist with the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation. “While it may address theft, you're essentially creating a backdoor system of shutting down the phone that could be abused by law enforcement.” Adi Kamdar, activist with Electronic Frontier Foundation In California, the legislation explicitly authorizes law enforcement to use the kill switch under certain conditions to address a public safety threat. The Minnesota law is silent on the question, Laperruque said. While both Laperruque and Kamdar said they oppose any new legislation, they added that if states are determined to pass bills they should be carefully written. "One of the main things is the law should be explicit about who has access to this kill switch device," Kamdar said. "The law should be explicit that it is up to the user only to trigger (the kill switch) unless they give law enforcement explicit permission as opposed to the other way around." Laperruque said pending federal legislation is a good model. It would allow law enforcement access to a kill switch only through a warrant. In Nevada, bill language won't be available until next year. Tucker said the state is looking to California as a model for the legislation. She isn't sure yet how the Nevada legislation will address the question of law enforcement access to the kill switch. "The main thrust behind this bill is consumer protection," she said. "That's first and foremost what the issue is. The other issues will be addressed later." How to keep your smartphone safe: • Consider your surroundings and use your phone discreetly in public. Never leave it unattended or visible in a vehicle. • Write down the device's make, model number, serial number and IMEI/MEID numbers, which may be needed on a police report. • Use a password-protected lock on your phone and install anti-theft software that will enable you to locate and lock the phone remotely. Such software is available through app stores for iPhone and Android phones. Damon also reports for Reno Gazette-Journal. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/12/26/kill-switch-mobile-phone-ctia-the-wireless-association-editorials-debates/4211127/ 'Kill switch' isn't the answer: Opposing view USA TODAY 7:20 p.m. EST December 26, 2013 Leave control of operation, and denial of service, within the network and not in the mobile device. CTIA — The Wireless Association — declined to provide an opposing view. The organization, which represents cellphone carriers, has put out this fact sheet detailing its opposition to proposals that all new phones carry technology that would render them inoperable if stolen: A "kill switch" is a way to permanently disable a mobile phone or device. It is essentially a function within the mobile equipment, so that when a message of some format (such as a special SMS) is sent to it, the mobile will cease to operate, and cannot be reactivated or reused. Even if technically feasible to develop, a permanent "kill switch" has very serious risks. If created, this capability would be in every handset and the "kill" message would be known to every operator and therefore could not be kept secret. Anyone replicating this "kill" message — such as forging an SMS or any other message sent to the mobile device — can effectively disable the mobile device forever. The risk is that by sending multiple messages — such as incrementing the MSISDN (the telephone number) or IMSI (the unique identity of the customer) or the IMEI (the equipment identifier) — groups of mobiles can be permanently disabled. This could be used to disable entire groups of customers, such as the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security or emergency services/law enforcement. This could be used to disable random customers as retaliation by a variety of persons or entities. Where mobile devices are permanently disabled by malicious use of a "kill switch," the safety of subscribers may be jeopardized as they will be unable to make emergency calls. This risk of denial of service is far too large and is the reason the operator community has always maintained that control of operation (and denial of service) be done in the network and not in the mobile device. If a consumer's device was permanently disabled because it was reported as lost or stolen, that device would be unusable if it was later found by the customer. This could result in a consumer likely having to pay several hundred dollars when a more consumer-friendly, effective solution is already being implemented. Visit CTIA's "Before It's Gone" website (ctia.it/Y01lpA) for more information, tips and apps to help deter theft and protect personal information.
Sadly government is frequently the cause of the problem, not the solution to the problem. These articles seem to say that may be the case in the Ebola problem. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/25/ebola-stricter-quarantines/17900749/ Experts: Quarantines may dissuade Ebola volunteers Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY 9:55 a.m. EDT October 26, 2014 Stricter quarantines for dealing with potential Ebola cases in the U.S. could discourage health workers from volunteering in the impacted West African countries, thereby making the outbreak harder to contain, experts say. New York, New Jersey and Illinois announced mandatory 21-day quarantines for those arriving back in the United States after having direct contact with Ebola-infected individuals in West Africa. The outbreak — the largest in history — has left more than 10,000 people infected and nearly 5,000 dead, the World Health Organization announced Saturday. "It may be politically the obvious thing to do but it may well be counterproductive," said Stephen Morse, an epidemiology professor at Columbia University. "If people are forced to quarantine for three weeks that means most of them will not be able to do any sort of work and that means essentially lost income." The new mandates are also worrisome since people in the general public, if included in mandatory quarantines, may be less likely to come forward if they have symptoms because such measures will increase the stigma surrounding the virus, Morse added. "We need to rethink this with science and reason," said Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, located in New York City's Upper East Side. "It's going to discourage health care workers from going out to the source, which is where we need to be." http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/10/26/obama-ebola-quarantine-samantha-power-anthony-fauci/17955781/ Obama aides criticize Ebola quarantine rules The Oval David Jackson, USA TODAY 12:15 p.m. EDT October 26, 2014 Aides to President Obama are criticizing decisions by three states to quarantine people who are returning from Ebola-stricken West Africa. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and United Nations ambassador Samantha Power said quarantines may discourage health workers from traveling to West Africa to help block the disease at its source. "If you put everyone in one basket, even people who are clearly no threat, then we have the problem of the disincentive of people that we need," Fauci said on ABC's This Week. "Let's not forget the best way to stop this epidemic and protect America is to stop it in Africa, and you can really help stopping it in Africa if we have our people, our heroes, the health care workers, go there and help us to protect America." Power, who is traveling in West Africa, told NBC News that quarantine plans in New York, New Jersey and Illinois are "haphazard and not well thought out," and could discourage health workers from going to West Africa in the first place. "We cannot take measures here that are going to impact our ability to flood the zone," Power said. "We have to find the right balance between addressing the legitimate fears that people have and encouraging and incentivizing these heroes." Officials in New Jersey, New York and Illinois, who acted in the wake of a new Ebola case in New York, said they cannot rely on people to quarantine themselves. "I don't think when you're dealing with something as serious as this you can count on voluntary system," said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, speaking on Fox News Sunday. "This is the government's job." He added: "I think this is a policy that will become a national policy sooner or later." Republican members of Congress have also called on the Obama administration to enact more travel restrictions into and out of West Africa. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told CNN's State of the Union that state officials are taking action in the absence of federal leadership. "Governors of both parties are reacting because there isn't a trust in the leadership of this administration," Issa said.
Government - it's all about $$$$ MONEY $$$$ Sadly the Democrats and the Republicans are pretty much the same crooks that rob us blind every year and micro-manage us with their silly laws that usually only benefit the special interest groups that got them into power. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/10/26/lobbyists-aid-campaigns-ducey-duval/17951005/ Lobbyists aid campaigns of Doug Ducey, Fred DuVal Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Rob O’Dell | The Republic | azcentral.com 2:53 a.m. MST October 26, 2014 The attacks on Fred DuVal's time as a lobbyist began a few hours after the primary-election celebrations ended. The Republican Governors Association's TV ad, which began airing the morning of Aug. 27, twice referred to the Democratic nominee for governor as "lobbyist Fred DuVal." Other allies of Republican nominee Doug Ducey sought to hang the label on DuVal, including Ducey's campaign staff, which tweeted about his "dark lobbyist past," and outside groups that have so far spent $3.4million to attack DuVal, much of it on ads echoing the lobbying line of attack. "Fred DuVal made a cushy career as a slick lobbyist," says an ominous voice in one ad funded by the RGA Arizona political action committee. "Now he's lobbying you to elect him governor." What the ads don't say is that both DuVal and Ducey have relied heavily on the state's lobbying corps for advice and to finance their campaigns. Ducey, who has benefited most from this line of attack on DuVal, also counts lobbyists among his key supporters and advisers — including former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl who defends the occupation as an essential part of the democratic process. Combined, the candidates have raked in at least $435,000 from donors who have registered as lobbyists and many of whom hope to have access to the next governor and his administration. Lobbying and politics Both Doug Ducey and Fred DuVal have financed their gubernatorial campaigns with lobbyist' dollars. Here's a look at Fred DuVal's contributions. The money began pouring in last year, during the crucial early months of the campaigns, with lobbyists providing at least $80,000 in seed money for DuVal's campaign and $70,000 for Ducey's bid, an Arizona Republic analysis of lobbyist data and campaign-finance figures from the Secretary of State's Office found. To date, DuVal has accepted at least $250,000 from lobbyists or onetime lobbyists while Ducey took at least $185,000, the analysis found. The Republic looked at donations by individuals who had registered as lobbyists since the mid-1990s. (See accompanying article for more detail on how The Republic identified lobbyists.) As a group, lobbyists have almost always been among the top political spenders in elections here and nationally, political experts say. Their business relies on their ability to influence elected officials and their staffers on behalf of the interests they represent. So it's no surprise so many would donate large sums of money, host fundraisers for the candidates and have seats at the candidates' campaign tables. It's disingenuous — even hypocritical, some say — for one candidate to attack the other when he, too, is benefiting from lobbyists. "Welcome to politics," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "Lobbyists are premier players on both sides, and these lobbyists represent big interests that have large stakes in the outcome of the election — far more than average people in a lot of cases. They do what comes naturally: They try to influence the results." Russell Smoldon, who has lobbied for nearly three decades, wrote checks early in the campaign to DuVal, Ducey and GOP primary gubernatorial candidates Christine Jones and Ken Bennett. This election cycle, he estimates he's donated nearly $30,000 to statewide and federal candidates. And some aren't even up for re-election. Smoldon said of his occupation: "I don't think we're bad. I think we're good people. "The fact of the matter is, I have never had this many requests in all the years I've been doing this," from statewide and federal candidates, he said. "All I ask for is the ability to get a phone call returned or a meeting set up. I just want to be able to know they're going to take the phone call," Smoldon said. "I'm not afraid of doing the work to make my case. All I want is the ability to have access. That's all I've asked for from many of them." Find all of the candidate information you need! Need help getting started? Register to vote here. Attacks dismissed DuVal was an aide to Gov. Bruce Babbitt in the 1980s. He parlayed that into a long career in government and the private sector, moving through the revolving door of politics and lobbying. He has worked with two lobbying firms, an international public-relations firm and his own consulting firm, which he ran from 2002 to 2012. As a member of the Board of Regents, which sets tuition and policies for the three state universities, he lobbied lawmakers. DuVal's lobbying included working with the town of Eloy to petition lawmakers to fund an amusement park that was never built, working with the city of Tucson to keep spring-training games there, and working with Orange County, Calif., to persuade federal officials to transfer control of a closed Marine base to the county for use as an airport. Ducey supporters have used DuVal's resume to brand him as an influence peddler who would put "special interests" before the public's interest. The state GOP party and Ducey's campaign have suggested DuVal is linked to the blood-diamond trade and the Saddam Hussein regime. The accusations are based on the client list of Hill & Knowlton Strategies, a PR firm where DuVal worked but did not handle the controversial clients, and newspaper articles about a going-away party Hussein's Washington, D.C., lobbyist hosted for DuVal when he left his post in the Clinton administration. "LobbyistFreddyD" made an appearance on Twitter, describing itself as a parody of "a liberal lobbyist who parties with Saddam Hussein's consultant and won't release his secret list of clients." Republicans repeatedly issued e-mails calling on DuVal to identify his clients, a line of attack that has befuddled DuVal and his campaign. His clients, they said, are a matter of public record or have been disclosed by the campaign. "Fred has about as much responsibility for clients of Hill & Knowlton as Doug (Ducey) does of his mobbed-up uncles," said DuVal campaign consultant Rodd McLeod, referring to a Phoenix New Times story tracing the organized-crime ties of some of Ducey's relatives in Ohio. "Fred is responsible for talking about the work that he did, not work that other people did." DuVal said he has been transparent about his lobbying work. "They have indicated that I've lobbied people I've never heard of and don't know anything about, so it lacks some accuracy," DuVal said. "My life has been about being hired to get big things done, to move things through the public process." In September, following weeks of attacks, DuVal tried to distance himself from his lobbying career, telling a reporter: "Let me put this issue to rest: I'm not ever lobbying again." DuVal says Ducey and his campaign are being hypocritical. They point to Ducey's ties to lobbyists or onetime lobbyists, including Kyl, U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, former Gov. Fife Symington, former U.S. Rep. John Shadegg and Center for Arizona Policy President Cathi Herrod. On the evening of Sept. 18, there was a reception for Ducey at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley. Attendees were asked to wear business attire and consider donating the maximum general-election contribution of $2,000 per person. The minimum suggested contribution was $500 per person. Forty lobbyists and their employees headlined the event, according to an invitation. "That was a pretty public advertisement of Doug's coziness with insiders at the state Capitol," DuVal said. Ducey said it's "perfectly acceptable" to highlight DuVal's insider status. "A political insider is his only real experience, it's his calling card for the governor's office," Ducey said. Asked if it's all right to have support from lobbyists, Ducey said, "There's a big difference between running for office as a lobbyist and accepting donations from lobbyists." Melissa DeLaney, Ducey's spokeswoman, said the difference is lobbyists' campaign contributions are disclosed but DuVal's "lobbying fees have not been disclosed because he refuses to list the clients for whom he lobbied but never registered." McLeod said DeLaney's accusation is untrue. She's "deliberately trying to muddy the water, but that's just how Ducey operates," he said. He pointed out that Ducey refuses to disclose details of a dispute over the sale of Cold Stone Creamery. As state treasurer, one of Ducey's top employees is registered as a lobbyist. Ducey said he did not employ lobbyists while CEO of Cold Stone. Began flowing in 2013 Money from individuals who have registered as lobbyists started flowing into the candidates' coffers beginning in 2013, records show. Arizona defines a lobbyist as someone who attempts to influence the passage or defeat of legislation, communicates directly with any legislator, attempts to influence rule-making by communicating directly with state employees, and in some cases, those who attempt to influence the procurement of materials, services or construction by a state agency. Lobbyists are requiredto register with the Secretary of State's Office before they start trying to influence officials. DuVal's first contributions from lobbyists arrived on Feb. 27, 2013, from public-relations consultant Karen Kruse, from Schaller Anderson co-founder Joseph Anderson the following day, and from lawyer Ernest Calderón on March 1. Ducey's first donations from lobbyists came on Sept. 17, 2013, from Tucson energy executive Paul Bonavia and attorney-lobbyist couple Mark and Wendy Briggs and PR-attorney couple Jason and Jordan Rose. Through mid-October, about 11percent of DuVal's $2.3million in contributions from individuals came from those who have registered as lobbyists, while more than 6.5percent of Ducey's $2.8million in donations from individuals was from lobbyists. In all, Ducey has raised nearly $6million, including $3million of his own money, while DuVal has raised nearly $2.7million, according to campaign finance reports. Lobbyist Stuart Goodman gave to both candidates. His contributions are just one more "occupational hazard," he said. His clients' philosophies meshed with the candidates', he said, and he expects nothing in return except the opportunity "of being able to articulate your client's point of view." The profession has been defined by the media, he said, as being negative or dirty: "It's a great word to use if you're trying to use a smear tactic on a candidate, but it doesn't necessarily reflect the character of that candidate because they happen to be a lobbyist." A 2013 Gallup poll showed Americans view lobbying as the least honest and ethical profession. The left portrays lobbyists as tools of big money. The right portrays them as the tools of crony capitalism. "Voters don't like lobbyists ... they see them as fixers who game the system," said Rick Hasen, an election-law expert at the University of California-Irvine who has written about lobbyists' influence in politics and government. "And so trying to sully someone up as being a lobbyist even though you may be benefiting from them is a very common political strategy." In a recent interview with USA TODAY, Kyl, who supports Ducey, defended lobbying. "The right to petition government is embedded in the Constitution," Kyl said. "Charities have lobbyists, farmers have lobbyists, teachers have lobbyists. There's nothing wrong with it. It's the American way." Lobbyist Mario E Diaz agrees. First and foremost, he said his donations to DuVal are part of his constitutional right to support candidates who will advance public policy. "No. 2, I'm an Arizonan and I want nothing but success for my state," he continued. "No. 3, I've known Fred DuVal for at least 20 years and so I have a sense of loyalty and friendship. And then down the line somewhere, I do represent clients." Diaz said it's "hypocritical" for the Republican Governors Association to "single out" DuVal when other GOP officials have also "made a living off" the state Capitol. "If that's the narrative, then shame on the DGA (Democratic Governors Association) for not pointing the finger back." Republic reporters Vivian Padilla and Julia Shumway and USA TODAY reporter Erin Kelly contributed to this article. How we did it The Arizona Republic set out to determine how much lobbyists had contributed to the two major-party candidates for governor after the term "lobbyist" seemingly became a slur during this general-election cycle. Reporters Rob O'Dell and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez matched the names in a database of registered state lobbyists with a database of campaign finance contributions for this year's election. The Republic obtained the databases from the Secretary of State's Office; the information is current through mid-October. Once they created the list of contributors to gubernatorial candidates Doug Ducey and Fred DuVal that matched the names of lobbyists, O'Dell, Wingett Sanchez and reporters Vivian Padilla and Julia Shumway examined an estimated 1,500 entries to ensure contributions were made by those registered as lobbyists. The Republic considered as a lobbyist anyone who had registered as a lobbyist with the Secretary of State's Office since the mid-1990s who had not terminated their registration. The database provided by the Secretary of State's Office does not make a distinction between inactive and active lobbyists. Those who terminated their lobbying status are not included in The Republic's calculations.The calculations also did not include employees of lobbyists, which would have made the totals higher.
Usually you only hear about the pigs who think because they have a gun and a badge they can rape any woman they want. These CHP pigs are nice enough not to rape hot woman they stop. They just steal any photos of the women they find on the women's cellphones and email them to their pig buddies to ogle over. Remember the pigs are here to protect and serve us. Well at least that is the line of BS these *ssholes tell us. Yes, we do have a lot of DAMN good reasons to HATE the police and to call them PIGS. F*ck the b*stards. They are worse then the criminals they pretend to protect us from. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/25/officers-suspected-sharing-nude-photos/17905801/ 3 officers suspected of sharing nude photos Associated Press 11:45 a.m. MST October 25, 2014 MARTINEZ, Calif. — Authorities say a California Highway Patrol officer suspected of stealing nude and racy photos from the cellphones of women arrested on drunken driving charges sent those photos to at least two fellow officers. The Contra Costa Times reported Friday that Officer Sean Harrington confessed to investigators in what he and other officers called a game. Investigators say Harrington sent photos to fellow officers in Dublin, but learned it working in Los Angeles. He confessed to doing this half a dozen times over several years. CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow says his agency has launched an investigation, adding that the allegations anger and disgust him. Contra Costa County prosecutors are considering criminal charges. Attempts by the Associated Press to reach Harrington and two other officers under investigation were unsuccessful.
James Woods an atheist running for Congress
James Woods an atheist running for Congress
I will usually vote for an atheist any day of the year over a religious person, because I know they won't be passing laws forcing their religion on me.
A couple of months ago I sent James Woods a message on Facebook asking for his position on the "War on Drugs" and on legalizing marijuana. I was kind of p*ssed because he never responded to my message.
I also think that James Woods is against the Second Amendment and wants to take our guns away from use.
He mentioned something along those lines at either a Phoenix Freedom From Religion Foundation meeting or a Phoenix Americans United for Separation of Church and State meeting.
U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema is the only other atheist I know in govenrment.
I am not too happy with her either because when she was a member of the Arizona legislator she tried to flush Prop 203 or Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act down the toilet by slapping a 300% tax on medical marijuana. That attempt failed.
U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema says she supports decriminalizing marijuana, but I think she is lying because of the tax she tried to slap on medical marijuana.
I used to know U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema when she was an anti-war activist, but it looks like she has sold out the cause since she got elected. While she talks like she supports the little guy she consistently votes to support the police state and military industrial complex.
U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema is also a big time gun grabber who would love to flush the 2nd Amendment down the toilet.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/10/26/arizona-congressional-district-matt-salmon-james-woods/17952887/
Disability, demographics not stopping James Woods
Dan Nowicki, The Republic | azcentral.com 2:11 a.m. MST October 26, 2014 v Progressive Democrat James Woods is running against Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., in a Republican-dominated Arizona district. Woods hopes to become the first blind member of Congress since 1941.
Before he gives an address at an East Valley event, congressional hopeful James Woods listens for a campaign staffer to cough. That way, he knows which direction to face as he speaks.
Woods, 35, has been blind since January 2007, a consequence of diabetes and a flesh-eating MRSA infection.
If elected Nov. 4 as a Democrat in Arizona's Republican-dominated 5th Congressional District, he would become the first blind member of the U.S. House of Representatives since U.S. Rep. Matthew Dunn, a Pennsylvania Democrat, left in 1941.
"It provides some humor for the campaign sometimes," Woods said. "It has presented some challenges, but it's been a really good experience for me overall, because it's gotten me out of my comfort zone."
The first-time political candidate faces daunting political odds. He is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., who has dramatically outraised him. As of Oct. 15, Woods' campaign had $136 on hand compared with Salmon's $540,260.
The voter demographics of the 5th District, which includes Gilbert and parts of Mesa and Chandler, pose an almost impossible hurdle for a Democrat under normal political conditions. As of Aug. 26, the district's voter-registration breakdown was 180,647 Republicans, 145,597 independents and 84,652 Democrats. Find all of the candidate information you need! Need help getting started? Register to vote here.
Woods says he is under no illusions about his chances, and, in fact, is making no compromises to the political realities. Rather than trying to run as a centrist or a conservative Democrat in an attempt to appeal to the red district's middle ground, he is campaigning as an unapologetic progressive and open atheist.
"One of the goals of the campaign is presenting the other side of the argument, and trying to discuss that there are other options," Woods told The Arizona Republic during an interview at his campaign headquarters at a Gilbert home. "I am representing my true self."
Salmon, 56, told The Republic that Woods has earned his respect by sticking to his beliefs and has presented voters with a clear contrast of left vs. right political philosophies. Salmon said his brand of conservatism is a better reflection of the district's deep-redcomplexion.
"I really think it's kind of refreshing for the voters to have such a stark choice," Salmon said. "You have the classic conservative and the classic liberal. It is what it is, and let the chips fall where they may."
Woods' battle with the antibiotic- resistant infection, which put him in the hospital and care facilities for 19 months, made him even more passionate about health care, which he considers "a human right."
He supports comprehensive immigration reform and is a critic of the Supreme Court's Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission decision, which ruled that political spending is protected as free speech under the First Amendment and gave corporations and labor unions the go-ahead to try to influence elections through expensive advertising campaigns.
Another priority of the Woods campaign is to show compassion for people with disabilities and to give a voice to immigrants and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Woods supports abortion rights and said he would fight for a "secular government that doesn't discriminate based on faith or lack of faith."
Woods said atheism focuses on something he doesn't believe in, whereas "humanism is what I do. I believe everyone has the right to dignity and respect."
The Woods campaign, which includes three paid staffers and otherwise relies on interns and volunteers, is the underdog but has shown a flair for public relations and social media.
Woods garnered national attention after he replied to a candidate questionnaire from the anti-abortion National Pro-Life Alliance with condoms in packages labeled "Prevent Abortion." More recently, his campaign spotlighted how easy it was for Woods to buy a firearm without a background check at a Mesa gun show.
His campaign news releases regularly refer to Woods as a "blind congressional candidate," and he says he doesn't mind when people describe him that way. "It's accurate," he deadpanned.
House and Senate historical records show several visually impaired lawmakers have served on Capitol Hill, including longtime U.S. Rep. Mo Udall, D-Ariz., who lost an eye as the result of a childhood accident.
There have been three blind senators and two other senators who had one eye removed.
Longtime Mesa City Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh, a Democrat, said he has been impressed with Woods' candidacy, even if it is the longest of long shots in what most would consider a safe Republican district, and hopes that he will stay active in East Valley politics.
"It's a quixotic campaign, but he's very refreshing," Kavanaugh said. "I'm really impressed by his willingness to do it and to speak up on issues that, all too often, other politicians will obscure. His approach to issues, and his approach to life, is uniquely honest."
Now Sheriff Joe's thugs will violate your Constitutional rights in grammatically correct Spanish!!!! Is it OK to say "Chinga Arpaio"? http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/2014/10/25/arizona-sheriff-arpaio-citizens-academy-spanish/17909223/ Arpaio asks for dialogue, understanding at 1st citizens academy in Spanish Megan Cassidy, The Republic | azcentral.com 1:13 p.m. MST October 25, 2014 The first Maricopa County Sheriff's Office citizens academy held in Spanish attracted a student body that has been demographically coveted, if not elusive, for the agency's controversial leader. Immigrants and other members of the Latino community with positive — or at least receptive — opinions of the office gathered Saturday morning at the agency's central Phoenix training facility to begin their four-day course and pose for a photo with Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "Two years ago, during my re-election, I said I wanted to get closer with the Hispanic community," he told the class of about 20 during his introduction. Arpaio insisted that the choice to begin the course's Spanish-language offshoot was his alone, not that of a federal judge who last year found that his office had systematically violated the constitutional rights of Latinos during traffic stops. The patrols were about traffic enforcement, the Sheriff's Office said, but many critics came to view them as a way for the agency to target Hispanic drivers under the assumption that many were undocumented. U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow subsequently ordered sweeping reforms that included bias-free training for deputies, in-vehicle recording devices and a court-appointed monitor to prevent discriminatory practices in the future. Snow also initially ordered the agency to conduct various community-outreach events, but later, after noting Arpaio's aversion to such outings, transferred the reigns to his monitor, Robert Warshaw. Arpaio has not attended Warshaw's community meetings, much of which served as a scathing forum for citizens to air grievances on how the agency had harmed its Hispanic community and to rally for the sheriff's removal from office. But the tone of his Saturday audience was jovial, eager to learn, and excited to meet the celebrity sheriff in person. [And ready to start terrorize people in grammatically correct Spanish] Sisters Elizabeth Cruz and Magdalena Schwartz, immigration-rights activists and church leaders, said they were personally invited by the sheriff after he attended a church gathering to honor Hispanic deputies for their service. Cruz and Schwartz are legal Chilean immigrants. Cruz said she and her sister attended the event to gain a better understanding about Arpaio's method of applying the laws in Arizona and to help educate their community. "I think it's a big issue to understand both sides. Every story has two sides," she said, adding that she hoped to open up the lines of communication between the agency and its Hispanic citizens. "We want our community to leave the fear behind," she said. "Because when you have conversations, it opens up the ways of better trust." Another student, Carlos de los Santos, emigrated illegally from Mexico and echoed Cruz's sentiments. "We want to understand what the sheriff is doing and how he is working with the community," he said through a translator. "We're Christians, we pray for the sheriff so he can do good work," he said. "The church that we attend, it informed us not to be afraid of the sheriff — they're just protecting our community — and that we should be respectful." [Obviously the leader of that church has saw dust for brains!!] The academy will mirror the standard English-language course, including an introduction to aviation operations, a tour of the jails, firearm education at a shooting range and class presentations on narcotics. [Como se dice mota en ingles?] The academy will be held over four alternating Saturdays, with Arpaio also attending the graduation. "I just went to a doctor — a heart doctor — and he said I still have a heart," he joked with the students in closing. "I'm really a nice guy if we can sit down and talk. And one way to solve all the problems is to sit down and talk."
LAPD officer accused of beating, kicking restrained suspect in the head And no folks, when Chandler pig Ariel Werther falsely arrested me last week she did not beat the living sh*t out of me. Although after she put the handcuffs on me, she did grab my hand and yank them up words causing me intense pain. The unknown Chandler pig that she ordered to search me also did the same thing to me while I was handcuffed and he was illegally searching thru my pockets. He was holding me by my hands which were handcuffed behind my back and he yanked them upward causing me pain. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-officer-probed-in-injuring-of-restrained-suspect-20141024-story.html LAPD officer accused of beating, kicking restrained suspect in the head By Joel Rubin contact the reporter An LAPD officer is being investigated for allegedly kicking a restrained suspect in the head Chief Charlie Beck says he's "extremely concerned about this particular use of force" A Los Angeles police officer is under investigation after being accused of beating and kicking a suspect who was being held down by other officers, according to sources close to the probe. The altercation was captured by a private company’s security camera. Several police officials who saw the video told The Times that the officer delivered a powerful kick to the suspect’s head. One said the officer resembled “a football player kicking a field goal.” Another described it as “horrific.” The suspect, they said, had surrendered and was not resisting the officers. A lawyer for the officer confirmed that the suspect was kicked but said the blow landed on the man’s shoulder. He said the officers used appropriate force on the suspect while trying to handcuff him. After inquiries from The Times, Chief Charlie Beck released a statement Friday saying he was “extremely concerned about this particular use of force.” “This investigation is ongoing, and there is still much that needs to be done to determine the facts of this matter, but let me be very clear, any officer that is found to abuse the public is not welcome in this department, and we will apply whatever legal or administrative means necessary to insure the community’s trust without exception,” Beck said. The four officers involved in the arrest and a sergeant who arrived on scene afterward have been relieved of duty with pay as the department investigates the Oct. 16 incident. The suspect, Clinton Alford, 22, sustained a gash on his ear and was taken to a hospital for stitches and a head scan. He was booked on suspicion of drug possession and resisting arrest and later released on his own recognizance. He has pleaded not guilty. In an interview at his South Los Angeles home, Alford denied the drug charge and said he feared for his life during the encounter. “I was just praying that they wouldn’t kill me. I just closed my eyes and tried to hold on,” he said. Alford said he was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk along Avalon Boulevard near 55th Street when a car pulled up behind him. A man shouted a command to stop, but Alford said he continued pedaling because the man did not identify himself as a police officer. When someone grabbed the back of the bike, Alford said he jumped off and ran. After a short foot pursuit, two officers caught up to Alford. Footage from the security camera on a nearby building captured Alford voluntarily laying down on the street and putting his hands behind his back, according to several people who viewed the recording. The officers restrained Alford, who made no movements and did not resist, the sources said. Seconds later, a patrol car pulled up and a uniformed officer, who the sources described as “heavyset” or “very large,” rushed from the driver’s side, according to sources. The officer moved quickly over to Alford, who was still held on the ground by the other officers, and immediately stomped or kicked, the sources said. The officer then dropped to the ground and delivered a series of strikes with his elbows to the back of Alford’s head and upper body, sources said. Alford’s head can be seen on the video hitting the pavement from the force of the strikes, two sources recounted. Afterward, the officer leaned his knee into the small of Alford’s back and, for a prolonged period, rocked or bounced with his body weight on Alford’s back, the sources said. At one point, the officer put his other knee on Alford’s neck, a source said. Throughout much of the altercation, two officers restrained Alford but eventually they moved away. Two officials who viewed the video said it was clear to them Alford was handcuffed as soon as he got on the ground. Others said it is difficult to tell from the video when Alford was placed in handcuffs. Alford said he had already been handcuffed when he was first kicked. When it was over, Alford’s body was limp and motionless, according to sources who viewed the video. It took several officers to carry him to a patrol car, they said. “He looked like a rag doll,” one person said of Alford. Gary Fullerton, an attorney representing the officers, declined to discuss details of the incident but disputed that Alford had his hands behind his back when the officers used force. “It is my belief once everything is explained and all the nuances of the incident are understood, it will be clear the force the officers used was appropriate and necessary,” he said. Fullerton said the officers were responding to a detective’s radio call for help in locating a robbery suspect when they spotted Alford and attempted to apprehend him. Alford turned out not to be the man the detective was pursuing. An arrest record given to Alford by police listed the names and serial numbers of four officers involved in the arrest. The document, reviewed by The Times, identified the “arresting officer” as Julio Cortez, who joined the LAPD in 2000 according to department records. The “second arresting officer” was Richard Garcia, who records show has been on the force for 10 years. Other officers involved were Joshua Tornek and Ruben Rosas, according to the arrest record. Several sources identified Garcia as the officer who struck Alford. None of officers responded to emails seeking comment. The sources who reviewed the video of the incident also raised concerns about the officers’ actions following the arrest. Several minutes after Alford is put in the patrol car, they appear to notice the security camera on the building wall. The officer who kicked Alford knocked on the door of the building, which houses a small garment factory, until someone opened the door and he disappeared inside.
Another article from a Bay area newspaper about those California pigs in the CHP who think they have a God given right to look at nude photos of every woman they stop. I wonder if Chandler piggy Ariel Werther illegally searched my camera for hot photos of me when she falsely arrested me last week? http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_26793089/warrant-chp-officer-says-stealing-nude-photos-from Warrant: CHP officer says stealing nude photos from female arrestees 'game' for cops By Matthias Gafni and Malaika Fraley Contra Costa Times Posted: 10/24/2014 01:58:27 PM PDT49 MARTINEZ -- The California Highway Patrol officer accused of stealing nude photos from a DUI suspect's phone told investigators that he and his fellow officers have been trading such images for years, in a practice that stretches from its Los Angeles office to his own Dublin station, according to court documents obtained by this newspaper Friday. CHP Officer Sean Harrington, 35, of Martinez, also confessed to stealing explicit photos from the cellphone of a second Contra Costa County DUI suspect in August and forwarding those images to at least two CHP colleagues. The five-year CHP veteran called it a "game" among officers, according to an Oct. 14 search warrant affidavit. CHP Investigation by the Bay Area News Group Harrington told investigators he had done the same thing to female arrestees a "half dozen times in the last several years," according to the court records, which included leering text messages between Harrington and his Dublin CHP colleague, Officer Robert Hazelwood. Contra Costa County prosecutors are investigating and say the conduct of the officers -- none of whom has been charged so far -- could compromise any criminal cases in which they are witnesses. CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a statement that his agency too has "active and open investigations" and cited a similar case several years ago in Los Angeles involving a pair of officers. "The allegations anger and disgust me," Farrow said. "We expect the highest levels of integrity and moral strength from everyone in the California Highway Patrol, and there is no place in our organization for such behavior." Rick Madsen, the Danville attorney for the 23-year-old San Ramon woman who was the first to report Harrington, said the implications of the case are "far-reaching and very damaging." "The callousness and depravity with which these officers communicated about my client is dehumanizing, horribly offensive and degrading to all women," he said. "It's going to lead to another level of mistrust and skepticism to the motive of law enforcement in general." The San Ramon woman's DUI case has already been dismissed because of the investigation into Harrington's conduct, and the CHP confirmed that one of its officers, a 5-year veteran, has been placed on "administrative duties" and is not on patrol, although they did not mention Harrington by name. Deputy district attorney Barry Grove said he expects a decision about charges against officers in the CHP probe to be made next week. In the search warrant affidavit, senior Contra Costa district attorney inspector Darryl Holcombe wrote that he found probable cause to show both CHP officers Harrington and Hazelwood and others engaged in a "scheme to unlawfully access the cell phone of female arrestees by intentionally gaining access to their cell phone and without their knowledge, stealing and retaining nude or partially clothed photographs of them." That behavior constitutes felony computer theft, the affidavit said. As this newspaper first reported earlier this week, the investigation began with a single incident: Harrington's conduct during the Aug. 29 arrest of the San Ramon woman. The woman discovered that photos had been stolen from her phone five days after her release, when she noticed on her iPad that the photos had been sent to an unknown number. A record of the messages had been deleted from her iPhone, but the phone had been synced to the iPad. In his investigation, Holcombe compared video surveillance and time-stamped text messages from the woman's phone and determined Harrington was in possession of the woman's phone at the moment the photos were forwarded. The woman -- who registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.29 percent, more than three times the legal limit -- was being processed in the Martinez County Jail when the photos were stolen, according to court records. During questioning, Harrington admitted to stealing five photographs from the woman and said he forwarded at least one to Hazelwood, according to court records. Reached by phone by this newspaper on Friday, Hazelwood declined to comment. Messages to the other two officers were not returned. "Harrington said he first learned of this scheme when he was working in the Los Angeles office," Holcombe wrote in the affidavit. "Harrington said when he was assigned to the Dublin office, he learned from other officers that they would access the cell phones of female arrestees and look for nude photographs of them. Harrington said if photographs were located, the officers would then text the photographs to other sworn members of the office, and, to non-CHP individuals. Harrington described this scheme as a game." The new court documents describe a second incident involving a 19-year-old woman who was in a DUI crash in Livermore on Aug. 7. On Harrington's phone, Holcombe located two photos of that DUI suspect in a bikini accompanied by a text message from the day of the arrest from Harrington to Hazelwood: "Taken from the phone of my 10-15x while she's in X-rays. Enjoy buddy!!!" A "10-15x" is CHP code for a woman in custody. The woman may have been at a hospital to have X-rays taken after the crash. Hazelwood replies: "No f------ nudes?" A short time later, the affidavit says, Harrington sent another Dublin CHP officer, Dion Simmons, the bikini photos with the same message indicating they were of a female arrestee. Simmons texted back "Nice" and "Hahahaaaa" and Harrington replies: "Just rerun a favor down the road buddy. :)" Holcombe also detailed Aug. 29 text messages between Harrington and Hazelwood discussing the photos of the first woman in various states of undress. Hazelwood asked to see her "dl," possibly referring to her driver's license photo, and Harrington texted back: "When we get back to office. And we'll have MDF (county jail) mug shot too." The pair continued the text back-and-forth, commenting on her "rocking" body and breasts. Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026 or mgafni@bayareanewsgroup.com and Malaika Fraley at 925-234-1684 or mfraley@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Disturbing texts in CHP officers’ nude-photo 'game,’ records show Protect and serve??? Well, only when they are not looking at hot photos they stole from women they stopped for trivial traffic violations??? http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Disturbing-texts-in-CHP-officers-nude-photo-5846327.php Disturbing texts in CHP officers’ nude-photo 'game,’ records show By Henry K. Lee Updated 8:57 am, Saturday, October 25, 2014 CHP officers are accused in court documents of taking photos from suspects’ phones and forwarding them to others. California Highway Patrol officers have been sharing explicit photos of female suspects for years as part of a “game,” an officer implicated in the scandal told investigators, court records show. CHP Officer Sean Harrington, 35, of Martinez, acknowledged to Contra Costa County prosecutors that he had forwarded photos from the cell phone of a woman he had arrested in a DUI case, sent them to his own phone and had shared them with at least two other CHP officers, according to a search warrant filed in Superior Court. Harrington said he had done the same thing to at least six other female arrestees in the past several years, authorities said. After taking arrestees’ photos, officers would share pictures with one another and exchange comments about each woman’s looks, Harrington told district attorney inspectors. Harrington said he first learned of the practice while working for the CHP in Los Angeles, investigators said. “Harrington described this scheme as a game,” Darryl Holcombe, a senior inspector wrote in a search warrant affidavit. One alleged victim was a 19-year-old woman, identified in court records only as Jane Doe 2, who had been involved in a DUI crash in Livermore on Aug. 7. The woman had two photos of her in a bikini taken from her phone as she was undergoing X-rays after being in a crash, investigators said. “Taken from the phone of my 10-15x while she’s in X-rays,” Harrington allegedly texted fellow Dublin CHP Officer Robert Hazelwood. In police parlance, “10-15x” refers to a female arrestee. Hazelwood in turn responded, “No f— nudes?” the affidavit says. Holcombe wrote in the affidavit that he believed Harrington, Hazelwood and others unlawfully accessed a computer system and stole computer data. Prosecutors are to decide next week whether anyone will face criminal charges. Harrington has not responded to a request for comment. A woman who answered Hazelwood’s phone Friday said he would not discuss the case. The case originated from the Aug. 29 arrest of a 23-year-old woman in a San Ramon DUI case. After being released from jail, the woman, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe 1, realized from using her iPad that six photos of her in various stages of undress had been forwarded from her iPhone while she was in custody, investigators said. Harrington also exchanged text messages with Hazelwood less than a half-hour after Harrington allegedly stole six photos from a woman identified as Jane Doe 1, the affidavit says. “Nudes are always better with the face,” Hazelwood allegedly wrote. Harrington responded with a crude comment about her face, and Hazelwood allegedly wrote, “Let’s see the dl,” referring to the woman’s driver’s license photo. Harrington then responded, “When we get back to the office. And we’ll have the MDF mug shot, too,” court records said. Harrington is referring to the Martinez Detention Facility where he had taken Jane Doe 1. Hazelwood commented that Jane Doe’s “body is rocking though,” authorities said. Prosecutors opted not to charge the woman in her DUI case because of Harrington’s alleged conduct, court records show. Harrington has had his peace officer powers revoked and is on desk duty, authorities said. CHP Sgt. Diana McDermott said she did not know of any other Bay Area CHP officers who had been similarly removed from patrol duty. Jane Doe 1’s attorney Rick Madsen said Friday, “This is the worst-case scenario come true.” He said of his client’s photos, “Once they’re out there, they’re out there for good. The trauma that has been inflicted by these officers could be lifelong. It’s almost akin to a chronic disease — you don’t know when it’s going to manifest itself again and take over your life again, and so the anxiety that’s associated with it is incalculable.” This isn’t the first time that the CHP has been embroiled in controversy over photos, although in a much different context. In Orange County, grisly photos of an 18-year-old woman who died in 2006 while crashing her father’s Porsche were leaked by CHP dispatchers and ended up online. Her family settled a lawsuit against the CHP for $2.4 million. Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee
Why does NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio remind me of Arizona U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema??? Well it seems that when it comes to decriminalizing marijuana that NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is all talk and no action like U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema. Both of them seem to be willing to say anything to get elected. But once in power they vote to continue to support the police state. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/opinion/no-progress-on-marijuana-arrests.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region®ion=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region No Progress on Marijuana Arrests By THE EDITORIAL BOARDOCT. 24, 2014 When he ran for mayor, Bill de Blasio condemned police practices under which young black and Latino men were unfairly — sometimes illegally — charged with possessing tiny amounts of marijuana, placing them at risk of losing jobs, access to housing or eligibility for military service even though such charges are often dismissed. His promise to address this problem was supported in minority communities that bear the brunt of this destructive policy. But a new analysis of state data shows that low-level marijuana arrests during the de Blasio administration have continued at roughly the same level as under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. That’s not what the voters signed up for. Since 1977, state law has barred arrests for possession of trivial amounts of the drug unless it is being smoked or displayed in public. In 1990, there were fewer than 1,000 such arrests in New York City. Yet in 2011, that number had shot up to an astonishing 50,000. By then it was clear that police officers were illegally charging people with “public possession” by tricking them into removing the drug from their pockets during constitutionally questionable searches. Arrests for this misdemeanor dropped to 28,600 last year — still more than any city in the world — after Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly ordered officers to follow the law. Defense lawyers, however, say that defendants who have noncriminal amounts of marijuana are still being cuffed and taken to jail by officers who purposely seek out concealed amounts of marijuana. This week, for example, Jim Dwyer of The Times reviewed a case in which the occupants of a car were taken to jail for a marijuana pipe — containing only residue — that was allegedly in “public view” when cops riffled through the car and found it. The new analysis of state arrest data on people caught with tiny amounts of the drug, by the Marijuana Arrest Research Project and the Drug Policy Alliance, shows that between March and August this year, during the de Blasio administration, officers made 15,324 misdemeanor arrests under the statute that contains the “public view” provision — or about 500 more than in the comparable period in 2013, during the Bloomberg administration. Despite the common argument that such arrests take criminals off the streets, three-quarters of those arrested had no prior criminal conviction. The report notes that the people arrested for marijuana possession “are not criminals; they are ordinary high school and college students and young workers” who will be saddled with arrest records that colleges, employers, landlords, creditors and occupational licensing boards can easily find online. Race drives arrests, with black neighborhoods having arrest rates many times those of white neighborhoods with residents of the same class and income levels. Moreover, 86 percent of people arrested were black or Latino, despite data showing that whites and minorities use marijuana at similar rates. The report attributes the racial imbalance in arrests to the fact that police officers patrolling white neighborhoods typically do not search the vehicles and pockets of white citizens, thus allowing them to go about their lives without fear of arrest and incarceration. Mr. de Blasio’s team has produced contrived numbers in an unpersuasive attempt to prove that the arrest picture is somewhat improved. But there’s no hiding the fact that New York City is still administering unfair police practices that disproportionately penalize communities of color and damage the lives of the overwhelmingly young people who are targeted. Public anger around this issue will continue to grow until Mr. de Blasio changes the very ugly status quo.
I suspect this article is mostly propaganda and that the author is mostly interested in getting government money. Here is a quote from the author that seems to verify that: "I received my first federal grant to study counseling for marijuana addiction." If you ask me all this talk about "marijuana addition" is just a bunch of BS from the government to justify their insane, unconstitutional "war on drugs". When I was in high school not one person every told us that marijuana was addictive like heroin. Nor did ever read any literature claiming marijuana was addictive. In those years I did learn that some drugs like cocaine are alleged psychologically addictive. And that other drugs are physically addictive like barbiturates. It just seems that in the last 5 or 10 years that this lie has been used to demonize marijuana. And when you read the current literature on "marijuana addiction" it's mostly very petty stuff used to claim marijuana is "addictive", not any real symptoms like the withdrawal symptoms from heroin, tobacco or even mildly addictive caffeine. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marijuanas-addictive-risk-shouldnt-be-ignored/2014/10/24/e1960bf0-5af0-11e4-b812-38518ae74c67_story.html?hpid=z2 Marijuana’s addictive risk shouldn't be ignored By Roger Roffman October 24 at 8:20 PM Roger Roffman is a professor emeritus of social work at the University of Washington and the author of “Marijuana Nation: One Man’s Chronicle of America Getting High — From Vietnam to Legalization.” On a warm Seattle summer evening in 1978, my wife wanted to talk about my increasingly frequent pot smoking: “I feel you’ve abandoned me, that the person I married — even when you’re sitting next to me on the couch — is not there.” She had complained before about my use, and I’d tried to reassure her. “It’s not as if I’m stoned every day,” I’d counter. “Is it that different from having a drink or two?” I’d promise to cut back, but my resolve would give way, and I’d start to cut corners, making exceptions to the rules I’d set. Eventually I’d slide right back to where I started. But this time Cheryl broke through: “Your mind goes to a different place, and talking with you when you’re stoned is really frustrating. I can’t help but think that, if you really cared about me, you’d want to be with me. You, not the stoned you. I feel rejected by you, and it hurts.” She began to cry, and I felt terrible. Cheryl and I had at one time enjoyed getting stoned together occasionally, and then we changed. For her it became less desirable; for me it became more so. I tried to ignore the warning signs, among them the negative impact smoking marijuana was having on my teaching and writing. At 38, there was no avoiding the fact that I was addicted. I needed to quit. Hoist by my own petard, it would seem. In the mid-1970s, I’d been the volunteer coordinator for the Washington chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, lobbying across the state for the removal of criminal penalties for small-scale possession by adults. Now, my struggle stimulated a new research interest in my work. Several years after quitting, I received my first federal grant to study counseling for marijuana addiction. My colleagues and I found that our typical subject — an adult who voluntarily sought support — had first smoked pot at age 15, first used daily at 19, typically was high for six hours a day, had been using daily or near daily for 10 years and had tried seriously to quit six times. Today, about 2.7 million Americans over age 12 are dependent on marijuana, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. For those who’ve used the drug at least once, the risk of becoming addicted is roughly 9 percent. It’s 17 percent for those who begin in adolescence, and for those who get high daily, the addiction risk is 25 percent to 50 percent. Still, despite marijuana’s addictive potential, legalizing makes far more sense than prohibition. For that reason I was one of the sponsors of Washington state’s Initiative 502, which was approved by 56 percent of the voters in 2012. In addition to mandating a tightly regulated market, this new law earmarks excise taxes to support public education about marijuana, proven prevention programs targeting teens, treatment services for youth who get in over their heads with pot, research on marijuana and a systematic evaluation of the law’s impact on public health and safety. Under prohibition, illicit marijuana enterprises have flourished, leading to horrific violence among competitors and other steep fiscal and social costs, including egregious racial inequities in how enforcement has been carried out. We are paying another price by maintaining a criminal approach as well, and that is the large-scale distortion of the truth about pot. Those arguing against legalization often exaggerate marijuana’s risks, rarely acknowledging that most occasional users are not harmed, while proponents of legalization tend to give short shrift to the risks to health and safety. Legalization needs to be accompanied by a substantial investment in marijuana education, prevention, treatment, research and policy evaluation. The Washington model deserves a close look by others heading down the same path. Several weeks ago, during a reading of my memoir in a Maine bookstore, I noticed a woman, likely in her mid-30s, sitting by herself. She moved all of us by talking about the struggle she had been undergoing trying to quit pot over the past nine months. Seventeen years of regularly getting high had brought her to a crossroads. “I didn’t want to leave myself behind,” she told us. Clear away the hyperbole, and the rationale for legalizing marijuana is compelling. But stories like hers — and mine — about marijuana’s addiction potential absolutely have to be part of the discussion.
Think of it as a govenrment welfare program for cops, prosecutors, judges, prison guards, and probation officers. http://www.havasunews.com/news/taking-aim-at-party-spot-image-parker-group-gets-grant/article_f915a874-5b4c-11e4-ad4c-9793acb17567.html Taking aim at party-spot image, Parker group gets grant to fight drug use Posted: Friday, October 24, 2014 12:01 am By LAUREN LOFTUS Cronkite News PARKER – Roughly a million visitors pass through La Paz County every year, ranging from so-called river rats drawn to the Colorado River to RV-driving snowbirds seeking mild winters. Though the influx is good for the economy, officials say this area’s reputation as a party spot can give children the wrong message – namely that daily partying and drug use are normal. The Parker Area Alliance for Community Empowerment, or PAACE, was established in 1995 to combat this perception among the 3,000 or so permanent residents in the county seat of Parker. And after years of trying, this year the group was one of 197 programs nationwide to be awarded a federal Drug Free Communities grant. “Around here, we’ve changed the old line, ‘The third time is the charm.’ No, it’s the fourth time is the charm,” said Duce Minor, the group’s executive director. Minor said the $125,000 the group will receive each of the next five years will boost its efforts to empower children. “We have kids in leadership roles in everything we do,” he said. “If we do things their way, we’re generally successful.” PAACE offers several programs to keep kids involved in their community, including the Players After School Learning program for second- and third-graders and a parenting academy. They operate out of the Players 9th Street Youth Center, where those up to 18 years old are invited to just hang out. Everything is focused on positive messaging. “I wouldn’t say we beat kids over the head with the ‘just say no’ message. It’s more about making good life choices,” Minor said. [But most of us do think that you are beating kids over their heads with the silly just say no message] Sheriff’s Lt. Curt Bagby, commander of the La Paz County Narcotics Task Force, said anti-drug education by the PAACE program is generally successful. [Successful at putting lots of overtime pay in his pocket and the wallets of the cops that work with him. But other then that it's a huge waste of tax dollars] “When they get the kids over there on a daily basis, they get familiarity with them and they get respect … and when they talk to kids there, they can hear what’s really happening, you know who’s doing what, what’s going on,” he said. To Bagby, PAACE organizers can sometimes be more successful than law enforcement when educating kids about drugs. “A lot of kids don’t really to care to listen to a cop talk about drugs,” he said. [For that matter a lot of kids don't care to listen to cops talk about anything] The Drug Free Community grant is given to communities that ensure effective, local solutions to local drug problems. According to Bagby, the two most abused drugs among local youth are alcohol and prescription drugs. [well thank god he knows that it's impossible to abuse marijuana :) - Just joking, the latest police propaganda on marijuana seems to be that taking one toke will make you gay!!] “A kid selling a handful of Vicodin or Xanax or something like that, selling them for 5 bucks a pop. And the only reason a handful or a pocketful is because that’s what they were able to get a hold of (from parents or a neighbor’s house),” he said. [Not really. The real reason is that the insane, unconstitutional "war on drugs" has created a huge black market for drugs. If drugs were legal you could buy all the drugs you need at Walgreens for a few bucks at most] According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Arizona had the sixth-highest rate of prescription drug abuse at 5.66 percent of residents over the age of 12. In 2010, more than 10 percent of surveyed youth admitted to abusing prescription painkillers in the last 30 days. To address this particular issue, PAACE works with the Sheriff’s Office to organize prescription take-back events and educate parents about the dangers of keeping old prescriptions in the house. Sixteen-year-old Raven Evans, who volunteers with PAACE, said some of her peers have a hard time breaking away from drugs because their parents abuse drugs. “But the kids that I hang out with, they had that problem with their parents, but they break away from it. Most of them hang out here,” Evans said at the 9th Street Youth Center. Evans said at PAACE, there’s not the same pressures of school and work to just say no to drugs. “That’s like someone saying be careful when you’re swimming instead of teaching them how to swim,” she said. Parker native and former PAACE participant Oretensia Yazzie, whose two children now attend the after-school program, said she knows first-hand how the program can be effective. “A lot of kids turn to drugs,” she said. “I was one of those kids, I got stuck in that lifestyle.” Yazzie said being involved in the PAACE program made her more aware that she was heading down a dangerous path. “I realized that I was going to mess up my life if I didn’t make a change,” she said. PAACE director Minor said local kids can be influenced by what they see as a steady stream of partying weekenders who pass through the area. “What they see throughout the summer and the winter is an ongoing, daily party atmosphere,” he said. “But they’re (the visitors) only here for a few days and then they’re going back home where they’re responsible adults, but I don’t think the kids make that connection.” In response, Minor said PAACE has worked to draw focus away from that transient party scene and into the local, permanent community. As a result, Minor said PAACE has received a lot of support from law enforcement, the school district, the Colorado River Indian Tribes and now the Drug Free Communities Support Program. “At our monthly coalition meetings, we’ll have 30 to 35 people sitting around one big table talking about the issues together,” he said. “Attacking it from all those different angles is what’s making a difference.”
Translation - I think what this article really says his that Democratic Governor candidate Fred DuVal is a big time supporter of union pork. The message seems to be, teachers vote for me and I will shovel you and your unions lots of money. Of course that's not to say that Republican Doug Ducey is any more ethical. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/2014/10/25/newly-aggressive-duval-attacks-ducey-education/17885461/ Newly aggressive DuVal attacks Ducey Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, The Republic | azcentral.com 11:44 p.m. MST October 24, 2014 Democratic governor candidate Fred DuVal blasted his GOP rival over education funding Friday, taking a more aggressive tone as the race barrels toward Election Day. DuVal went on the attack as polls show him tied with or trailing Republican Doug Ducey, and as Ducey's allies prepare to spend another $900,000 in an attempt to seal the victory for their candidate. DuVal on Friday characterized Ducey as educators' Public Enemy No. 1. He stood alongside teachers at the Arizona Education Association's headquarters in central Phoenix as he leveled his attack. "Doug Ducey is the most anti-public-education candidate for governor in my lifetime," said DuVal, a former staffer to President Bill Clinton, lobbyist and Board of Regents chairman. DuVal took aim at Ducey's vow to submit legislation each year to eliminate the state's income tax despite a projected $1billion state deficit next year. "He wants to do giant tax giveaways to the rich that would cause the largest funding cuts to education in our state — it is simple math," DuVal said. "The fact that he won't admit that his plan doesn't add up shows that Doug Ducey isn't honest enough to be our governor." Ducey has said he believes the state is on the verge of a rapid comeback that would accelerate if he implements his plan to get rid of income taxes. He has pledged to "submit legislation to reduce taxes every year, with the goal of eliminating personal and corporate income taxes in Arizona." He has said it would take two terms to accomplish. DuVal has shied away from combative politics during the campaign and has been criticized by some in his party for playing too nice. The aggressive posture comes in response to an onslaught of attack ads by pro-Ducey groups, including the 60 Plus Association, which accuses DuVal of helping Puerto Rican terrorists gain clemency from the Clinton administration. DuVal has said the allegations are false. Asked how his campaign would be heard over the din of the attack ads against him, DuVal said voters "are getting sick of the deceptive ... wrong, factually wrong, deceptive, mean-spirited ads." He accused Ducey of "using other people, attacking other people, pitting them against each other in order to get him ahead" in both his career as CEO of Cold Stone Creamery and now as a candidate. "He did it in the primary, he's trying to do it now, it's not going to work, people are sick of it," he said. "People want to feel positive about Arizona's future." Ducey campaign spokeswoman Melissa DeLaney criticized DuVal's career as a lobbyist and said Ducey is running a positive campaign. "As more and more polls show DuVal trailing, he is growing increasingly desperate and making fictional claims with no basis in reality," she said. Rodd McLeod, DuVal's campaign consultant, said DuVal'smedia consultant alerted the campaign that pro-Ducey groups are spending an additional $900,000 on ads attacking DuVal in the final week before the general election. DuVal made his remarks with 11 days remaining until Election Day, after many voters have already returned their early ballots. DuVal's congenial tone to this point in the campaign may play well with some voters, "but some people would expect him to respond to the attacks and he really hasn't," said David Berman, a senior research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy. "He's not an aggressive kind of guy." DeLaney said DuVal's remarks are "dishonest and false." "Arizona voters will remember the ... debate on education just a few short weeks ago when Doug demonstrated a deep proficiency on the subject matter and was clearly better prepared than DuVal to address it as governor," DeLaney wrote in a statement. "In just over one week, we are confident Arizona voters will elect Doug Ducey to lead on both education and the economy, and as governor, he will make certain there are no winners and losers in Arizona's schools." Education has been the cornerstone of DuVal's campaign, while Ducey has highlighted "kick-starting the economy" as his top issue. DuVal has repeatedly accused Ducey of planning to undermine schools because he wants to appeal a ruling that would direct an extra $317million a year to the public and charter K-12 system. In August, a Maricopa County Superior Courtjudge issued a ruling in a long-standing lawsuit challenging school funding, requiring the state to boost funding to the schools by more than $300million this fiscal year and in following years. The courts had already determined that the state shorted the public-school system during the Great Recession by not fully covering inflation costs required under the voter-approved Proposition 301. Ducey has said he wants to appeal the judge's decision because it would buy time for state officials to come up with cost-saving reforms to K-12. He said he would make the first payment "once the appeal is exhausted." Follow the reporter on Twitter: @yvonnewingett.
Mesa city government shovels millions of dollars in corporate welfare to rich owners of professional baseball teams. It often makes you cry when you see the government take our hard earned tax dollars and hand them out as corporate welfare to the millionaire owners of professional sports teams. Sure I can barely afford 89 cents to buy my daily 44 ounce shot of Mountain Dew, but it almost makes me cry when the government takes my hard earned money and gives it to the owner of a baseball team so he can make his $1,000 a month payments on that Mercedes he owns. He needs that 89 cents a lot more then I do. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2014/10/23/mesa-renovated-hohokam-stadium-ready-oakland-as/17782241/ Mesa's Hohokam Stadium ready for Oakland A's Parker Leavitt, The Republic | azcentral.com 9:33 a.m. MST October 24, 2014 Although you probably won't run into actor Brad Pitt at Mesa's newly renovated Hohokam Stadium, the Oakland Athletics are bringing their brand of baseball — made increasingly popular by Pitt's 2011 film "Moneyball" — to town starting next year. Mesa and the Oakland A's are putting the finishing touches on the team's new spring-training home, where major-league stars and minor-league prospects will be on display during Cactus League games and year-round player-development activities. A's owner Lew Wolff and team President Michael Crowley were among those present Oct.22 for an early look at major renovations to forge a new identity at the 17-year-old ballpark, which was previously occupied by the Chicago Cubs. For now, a Cub-blue door leading out of the home-team clubhouse is the last visible reminder of the stadium's past. A fresh coat of green paint across the exterior and giant left-field scoreboard topped with "Athletics Mesa Arizona" have given the place an entirely different look. The renovation project costs an estimated $26.9 million, with Mesa contributing as much as $17.5 million and the A's kicking in $9.4 million. What's new at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa Here’s a round-up of some of the key changes at the Oakland Athletics’ new spring home: (Photo: Photo by: Charlie Leight/The Republic) The A's in 2013 reached a 20-year agreement with Mesa to train at Hohokam Stadium, and the team holds two five-year options that could extend the contract to 30 years. This is Oakland's second stint in Mesa, as the organization trained at now-demolished Rendezvous Park and Hohokam Park from 1969 to 1978, winning three World Series titles over that span. The A's return to the Southeast Valley after a 33-year run at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The Hohokam renovations added nearly 26,000 square feet to the minor-league facilities at nearby Fitch Park, including a strength-training room nearly three times larger than the team previously had. A hydrotherapy room will include an underwater treadmill, and locker rooms were designed to accommodate up to 200 players and about 50 coaches at one time. "This is where kind of the dream starts for these young men who come into our organization," Crowley said. "With the renovations here, we're providing an environment where they can develop and learn and our coaches can prepare them for that journey to the big leagues." Mesa Mayor John Giles said the renovated stadium brings economic-development benefits but also provides a boost for quality of life in the city. "In March, Mesa, Arizona, is the center of the universe," Giles said. "And we doubled down on that with adding (a second team) to Mesa." The Oakland Athletics’ logo brightly sits atop the The Oakland Athletics’ logo brightly sits atop the 56- by 29-foot high-definition video screen/scoreboard that towers above the left-field lawn-seating area.(Photo: Charlie Leight/The Republic) Wolff, a real-estate developer and co-owner of the A's, said he expects an increase in Oakland fans who travel to Arizona for spring training. "We have such a great facility and a great community," Wolff said. "They can watch us one day and the Cubs the next day without going too far. "And they can all stay at the Hyatt," Wolff said, joking, alluding to the Hyatt Place hotel his company opened at nearby Mesa Riverview in 2009. The Cubs earlier this year moved into a new ballpark in northwest Mesa's Riverview area, setting Cactus League attendance records in the process.
Medical Marijuana Vapor Lounge opens in Tempe
News 12 did a segment on Billy Hayes Vapor Lounge in Tempe.
The Vapor Lounge is near Mill Avenue & Baseline Road
And remember the Vapor Lounge is "Ebola Free" as the subtitle on the news says :)
Hash Bar opens in Tempe