Enjoy a fun day in scenic Young, Arizona, with holiday shopping too!
On Dec. 2-4, Braswell's Chuckwagon in the heart of Young will host its annual Community Holiday Bazaar featuring handcrafted gifts, delectable homemade goodies, and fabulous handmade quilts, quilting materials, supplies, and helpful expertise.
Across the road, Pleasant Valley Winery's little log cabin wine shop will be open for wine tasting on Saturday, Dec. 3 from Noon-5 p.m. Please try a taste of our holiday special treat, mulled Honey Mead Wine and get the free recipe too. Bottled wines and wine glasses are available for sale.
Young's annual Community Holiday Bazaar is always a great event for the whole family. Please join us this year for a fun pre-Christmas outing in beautiful Young.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Student art work from Stained Glass, Drawing, Digital Photography, Photoshop, Watercolor, Oil Painting, Printmaking, Ceramics, Paper Crafts, Folk Art, Jewelry, Sculpture, and Quilted Clothing will be on display.
The show will run from 5-7 p.m.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
When the world goes crazy on your cell phone
LIFE'S OUTTAKES
By Daris Howard
Gazette Contributor
I think that my cell phone must be reincarnated from a past life, because I am supposedly the first owner of the given number and yet have received some very strange calls. Perhaps it is simply because it is two digits in alternating sequence and easy to hit. What I do know is that the calls I have received are bizarre enough that people might feel I am making this up. I might exaggerate a little at times, but some times the truth is much stranger than fiction, and this is even too strange for me to make up. Oh, I receive the usual calls from little kids who think they have punched their dad’s phone number, but recently the strangeness has escalated.
Just last week I received a call from a lady. “Roger,” she said, “if you think you can just dump me this way you’ll be sorry.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but you’ve got the wrong number.”
Her anger was evident as she responded. “Oh, you think you’re so cute playing these little mind games, but you can’t fool me, you big jerk.”
“No, I’m serious,” I told her. “You have the wrong number.”
At this she started to cry. “You are such a big liar! You don’t care about anybody but yourself!”
I consider trying to ease the tension by pretending I was Roger and saying something funny like, “Hey, I’m not as big a liar as I used to be now that I’m on the Atkins Diet,” but somehow I didn’t think she was in the mood to be teased and besides, Roger might be some guy that was roughly the size of a gorilla, so I again gently tried to tell her she had the wrong number.
“Okay,” she yells, “just be that way! You wait until I get hold of you!” With that she hung up making me feel like a real heel and appreciative of the fact my name wasn’t Roger.
I didn’t think the calls could get any stranger, but I got two incredibly weird calls a day apart. The first was from a man who’s phone number indicated he was from a big city back east. He called me Jeff and before I could say a word he started giving me some very critical and confidential information on a big company and its internal problems. When he finally stopped to ask my advice I was tempted to advise him to sell any stock he had, but instead I told him he had the wrong number. “Aren’t you, Jeff?” he asked. I told him I wasn’t. “Are you sure?” he responded. I checked in the mirror and then assured him I wasn’t. “Don’t you work for BIG COMPANY?” he queried further. I told him I didn’t. At that point, due to things that have been going on in board rooms lately, especially at HP, I thought he might respond, “Oh great! Now I’m going to have to kill you!” Instead he just cussed and hung up.
I thought I had pretty much received my lifetime allotment of strange phone calls, when the next afternoon I received a call. I looked at the number and it was a strange long number - very long, perhaps originating in a foreign country. When I answered it a lady with a strong, unfamiliar accent responded. “Ello. I call about you pet rhino.”
“I don’t have a pet rhino,” I told her.
“Then vhy you say you do?”
“I didn’t say I do.”
“Oh, sure, you think funny go post ad for pet rhino when you no have one.”
“I didn’t post an ad for a pet rhino.”
“You, fink I stupid or something?”
I was beginning to think that might be the first thing she got right in our whole conversation, but I didn’t like the tone of the conversation or where it was heading, so I tried to inform her she had the wrong number. “Ya, right, you no fool me!” she said angrily and hung up.
Now every time my phone rings I warily look at the number. I don’t know a lot of things, but I do know a company whose stock I don’t plan to invest in. I also know that, Roger if you’re listening, you might want to skip the country. Perhaps, if you have a pet rhino, I know a number you can call and they might hide you.
(Daris Howard, award-winning, syndicated columnist and playwright, is author of “Super Cowboy Rides” and can be contacted at daris@darishoward.com; or visit his website at http://www.darishoward.com)
Payson Choral Society Christmas concert Dec. 17
Mark your calendars now! The Payson Choral Society’s Christmas concert “BELIEVE” directed by Daria Mason with accompaniment by Victoria Harris comes to the Payson High School auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 17. Performances are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Please note this is a change in performance times from last year’s concert.
Concert tickets are $10 at the door for adults, and $8 advance sale. Children and students up to age 18 are admitted free. Tickets may be purchased in advance from Choral Society members, The Rim Country Regional Chamber of Commerce, and at the library. Tickets will also be available at the door before each concert.
Proceeds from the concerts provide musical scholarships to middle school and high school students. These are awarded each year at the Spring concert.
For added information call John Landino 928-468-0023
Concert tickets are $10 at the door for adults, and $8 advance sale. Children and students up to age 18 are admitted free. Tickets may be purchased in advance from Choral Society members, The Rim Country Regional Chamber of Commerce, and at the library. Tickets will also be available at the door before each concert.
Proceeds from the concerts provide musical scholarships to middle school and high school students. These are awarded each year at the Spring concert.
For added information call John Landino 928-468-0023
TCCA TONIGHT: 'Chaplin - A Life in Concert'
Part theater, part concert - David Pomeranz fully reveals his considerable writing and composing skills in the creation of “Chaplin - A Life in Concert.” The show dramatizes the life story of the brilliant yet controversial career of Charlie Chaplin.
On stage, the role demands that Mr. Pomeranz portrays more than 25 personalities and that he accompanies himself on the piano. David’s songwriting career includes 22 platinum and 18 gold records including Barry Manilow’s hit single, “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again,” as well as original songs for major motion pictures and hit television shows.
Previous musical theater credits include “Time,” starring Cliff Richard and Sir Laurence Olivier in London (2008), “Under the Bridge” in collaboration with Kathie Lee Gifford in New York (2007), and “Saving Aimee,” opening at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre in October of 2011.
“…touching, clever, theatrical, wonderful.” -- Michael Feinstein
Single tickets are $35. Children and youth, grade 12 and under, will be admitted free when accompanied by a ticket holding adult. For more information visit the association website at www.tccarim.org or call 928-478-4363 or 928-474-4189. To view a promotional video of this artist, please follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/liveonstageinc2011#p/u/24/C4iGOHbwViE
The Tonto Community Concert Association is committed to bringing high quality entertainment to the Rim Country through an annual concert series and support of the fine arts in Payson schools. This series is intended as an enriching cultural experience for the people of Payson and those in surrounding communities.
Live On Stage, Inc. provides acclaimed, affordable entertainment attractions and support services to an American community of concert presenters. For more information, visit www.LiveOnStage.biz.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
After Thanksgiving comes the loafing
OUT TO PASTOR
By Rev. James L. SnyderGazette Contributor
Twenty-four hours ago, I was seated with my family and friends around the Thanksgiving table. Now, I am seated in my chair and cannot move. I won’t say I ate too much yesterday. I did, I just won’t say it.
Why is it on Thanksgiving we give ourselves permission to gorge ourselves to the point of semi-consciousness? The difference between consciousness and semi-consciousness is that with semi-consciousness you feel like you have been run over by a semi-truck.
Of course, a great thing about Thanksgiving is the fabulous dinner spread, surrounded by family and friends. It is truly a time to give thanks to God for the manifold blessings he has showered on us throughout the year. Although there have been a few drought times during the past year, God’s showers of blessing always came at the right time.
Thanksgiving Day is for the diet-challenged person. Nothing is more challenging to me than my diet. And of this in particular I am most grateful for Thanksgiving. It is the one day of the year I can toss caution to the wind (which is the only exercise I get on Thanksgiving) and forget my diet carefully supervised by the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage.
It is not that I take advantage of the situation … okay, so I do take advantage of the situation. However, that is the glorious aspect of holidays like Thanksgiving. The person, me in particular, can get away with things that the rest of the year would be impossible. And I’m not just thinking of that second piece of pumpkin pie.
The second great thing about Thanksgiving is the day after. The business community refers to this day as Black Friday. They mean, of course, it is a day when they turn their ledger from red to black.
Whoever invented the shopping frenzy associated with the day after Thanksgiving should be congratulated and offered the Nobel Peace Prize. Black Friday in our home is when my wife and our daughters leave the house early in the morning to spend the entire day shopping and I get the opportunity to black out for the entire day. If I may say so, it is a glorious day of loafing.
The feast like we usually have on Thanksgiving Day requires at least one full day of concentrating and allowing the meal to digest, no matter how long it takes. The older I get the longer it takes my digestive system to complete its work. My philosophy is, don’t rush the process.
I’m all for cooperation. I believe this world would get along much better if everybody would just cooperate. I set the example by cooperating with my digestive system for the entire day.
I have found the best way to assist my digestive system is to spend the day loafing. And I have managed to bring loafing to a finely developed art. It has taken years for me to get to this point of expertise. Throughout the years, I have developed the finesse associated with total loafing that should be recorded somewhere.
My expertise in this area is most remarkable for the simple fact that I only get to practice this one day out of the year. I can assure you that one day is intensely devoted to the strenuous activity of loafing.
If you promise not to let this get back to you know who, I do get in an odd day every now and again to practice for this day. Nobody can reach the pinnacle of success I have on this matter without some kind of practice throughout the year. I am completely devoted to my art, as any other artist would be.
In case someone gets the wrong idea about all of this, let me assure you that loafing has certain health benefits. Of course, if I am caught practicing my loafing when my wife has instructed me to do some things around the house, it has an adverse effect on my health. The key here is to practice loafing when your wife is out of the house shopping the entire day, which is why Black Friday was invented.
It is a proven fact that most of the people in our country today are overworked and totally stressed out by their lives. In spite of all the technology available to us, we are a nation that has forgotten how to rest.
Years ago in our country, when we were more Christian than we are today, we set aside Sunday as the day of rest. That has completely gone by the wayside as we became a culture of 24/7 activity. The only solution all our experts have come up with is to pop a pill and keep on going.
A friend of mine has a marvelous saying, “Either come apart and rest a while, or you will simply come apart.” I like that.
Jesus said something similar. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 KJV.)
We have learned how to feast and our buffet table is loaded with goodies. Perhaps it would be a good time to take some time to rest and let our soul settle and digest the rich blessings of god.
The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road. He and his wife, Martha, live in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240, or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church Web site is www.whatafellowship.com.
America has become a fascist state
Reader Supported News
PERSPECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE
Reader Supported News
26 November 11 - George Orwell's "1984" wasn't meant to be an instruction manual.
One word that emerged from the novel was the word "doublespeak," where truth is deliberately obfuscated through clever wording. In some cases, the meaning of a word is reversed entirely. Oceania, the totalitarian regime in Orwell's book, used doublespeak as a matter of course. The Ministry of Truth specialized in propaganda. The Ministry of Love was a secretive torture complex.
In the early years of public school, or in public addresses by politicians, America is touted as the Land of the Free, or the Land of Opportunity, or the Greatest Country on Earth. We're taught from near-infancy that this country was founded on the right to say what you want, whenever, wherever, to whomever. We're told we have the freedom to assemble peacefully, to petition our leaders for a redress of grievances. We're taught that if you're apprehended by the law, you have the right to a fair trial and legal representation.
Yet, today we live in a country where government aids the corporate takeover of elections. Here, banks who fraudulently took Americans' homes for profit can get bailed out by the taxpayers, and use the money to pay themselves 12-figure bonuses. This is a country where even US citizens can be detained without due process, tortured, and even assassinated overseas.
Today, in the Land of the Free, nonviolent political protesters using their First Amendment rights to speak out against all of the above can be beaten, tasered, and maced by heavily-militarized police forces, using military-grade equipment, without any provocation.
•Students sitting down in the quad at UC Davis were covered with military-grade pepper spray, before cops in riot gear knelt on them and sprayed indiscriminately down student's throats according to Professor Nathan Brown of UC Davis.
•At UC Berkeley, Robert Hass, a former poet laureate, was clubbed by police while nonviolently protesting with students.
•In Seattle, cops clad in riot gear pepper-sprayed an 84-year-old woman and an expectant mother.
•In Oakland, veterans who served overseas to allegedly protect the rights we hold dear come home and get aggressively beaten without warning, and shot in the face with tear-gas canisters. Oakland police even threw a flash-bang grenade at people rushing to give medical attention to the wounded vet.
The recent Black Friday mobs of consumers pitching tents in parking lots and rioting over $2 waffle irons were met with silence from the police. Yet, 10 people speaking out in a Wal-Mart about the company's CEO making $19,000 per hour while his employees are forced to work on a holiday for less than poverty-level wages apparently provokes police to tackle and arrest the citizens nonviolently encouraging shoppers to buy local. In today's America we can Occupy for Capitalism, but not for Democracy.
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan has openly admitted that the recent police crackdowns on Occupy Wall Street solidarity encampments were the result of careful coordination between mayors on a series of conference calls. There are also reports that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI gave advice on the crackdowns, encouraging municipalities to deploy large numbers of police, equip them with riot gear, and break up encampments when the media were least likely to be present. Reports from New York allege that reporters were asked to raise their hand if they had press credentials, before being penned in an area far from the protests. Those trying to get through were arrested, and told that it was illegal to "take pictures on the sidewalk."
It is no longer extreme to say we now live in a fascist police state. Thanks to the Patriot Act, the SCOTUS' Citizens United decision, and a complacent electorate, our First Amendment rights of free speech and free assembly now only exist on paper. In Tienanmen Square, the Chinese government also censored the press and violently cracked down on peaceful protesters. All that's missing here are the tanks.
Mussolini said, "Fascism should be more accurately called corporatism, because it is a merger of state and corporate power." It is Orwellian doublespeak to call this country "free" while freedom is actively suppressed with aid from a corporate-owned government. The people are not free if their leaders are actively making war with them.
Carl Gibson, 24, of Lexington, Kentucky, is a spokesman and organizer for US Uncut, a nonviolent, creative direct-action movement to stop budget cuts by getting corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. He graduated from Morehead State University in 2009 with a B.A. in Journalism before starting the first US Uncut group in Jackson, Mississippi, in February of 2011. Since then, over 20,000 US Uncut activists have carried out more than 300 actions in over 100 cities nationwide. You may contact Carl at carl@rsnorg.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
First Annual Occupy Thanksgiving Celebration
Reader Supported News
Perspective
Perspective
By Scott Galindez
Reader Supported News
readersupportednews.org
25 November 11 - I arrived at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, just after midnight on Thanksgiving Day, where most were already asleep in their tents. I made my way to the info table where two volunteers were there to welcome me. They showed me to my tent, which was provided by a kind woman named Crystal who was home visiting her family for Thanksgiving.
I decided to head to McPherson Square to check out the Occupy K Street encampment before calling it a night. It was much livelier, the protesters are younger there and they are located near some hip DC nightclubs.
I finally settled into my tent around 3 am and got a few hours sleep. I awoke to a busy park; there was a charity run for hunger relief in the area. The real heroes of the day were busy in the kitchen making breakfast and preparing to cook the Thanksgiving meal for the Freedom Plaza community.
The kitchen, led by Tom, is very organized. Everyone was pitching in with cleanup and unloading donations from members of the community. The cooks were fantastic, Tom and his crew pulled out all the stops. One of the highlights of the meal for me was the mac and cheese, too bad Pat Robertson wasn't around to try some.
There was shrimp wrapped in bacon along with all the usual trimmings. There were four turkeys, three were donated already cooked, and one was a masterpiece that was deep-fried on-site by Tom. Many of those in the camp came down from New York or other encampments, and I heard many touting this as the best kitchen among all of the Occupies.
For me, this was the first Thanksgiving in years that I felt like I was at home. Home, to me, is living in a community of people working for change. That spirit was present in Freedom Plaza this Thanksgiving. Following the meal a makeshift theatre was set up and Occupiers watched movies.
I will be embedded in Freedom Plaza for the next week before moving on to Zuccotti Park where 5,000 people were served a Thanksgiving meal. I will be reporting from Occupy encampments for the next few months. Tonight I am thankful that I am part of a community that is working to improve the lives of millions of people around the world. And we at Reader Supported News are thankful for the support you have shown us.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Scott Galindez is the Political Director of Reader Supported News, and the co-founder of Truthout.
How to live in the real world this Christmas
By Tawra Kellam
Gazette Contributor
Less is More this Christmas!
After laying down my last women’s magazine telling me how to be less stressed during the holidays, I’m even more confused and stressed then ever. On one page I’m told to take time for myself and indulge in a lovely spa bath. As I turn the page, I’m told to give all my friends and family homemade ornaments. Then there are articles telling me how not to gain weight at Christmas parties. Isn’t that like telling a three year old to not get dirty while making mud pies?
To top it all off (and the part I like the best) is after they tell us how to get rid of stress and not gain weight, they give us 10 pages of recipes for Christmas cookies made with real butter and cream that are decorated so elaborately in the pictures that it probably took a trained kitchen staff of 10 a week to make one cookie.
Doesn’t anyone live in the real world any more? If you are like me and can’t stand that kind of stress, try some of these Christmas ideas from www.LivingOnADime.com to help you have a relaxed and Merry Christmas.
Don’t over-spend – It may be tempting to fixate yourself on the sparkling look in little Johnny’s eye when he sees that $300 play car under the tree. Advertising people are really good at feeding many parents’ fantasies of their children thinking that mom and dad are the peaches and cream for shelling out the cash and looking fondly back on the moment for the rest of their lives. In reality, most kids have lost all interest in that particular toy long before the credit cards are paid off.
When we were growing up, my mom pulled out all of the stops at Christmas to make it as wonderful for us as she possibly could. The funny thing is that now that we are grown, the things we remember the most fondly are Mom’s red jello salad (made with red hots – yummy!) and sitting together and reading the Christmas story before opening our presents. I can’t remember what presents I received, but I always look back fondly on the Christmas story.
Do a few things well – Instead of trying to do everything and ending up depressed with how it all turns out, focus your energy on a couple of things that are the most important to you. You may be tempted to extravagantly decorate every room in your house, but if you don’t have the time or energy, focus on one room, like a living or family room. If your entire house is beautiful but you have to go see a therapist when it’s all over, the romantic mystique will be lost. Trust me, I know about this one from personal experience.
Limit activities – Think of the holiday season as triage for activities. Don’t commit to do too many things. One or two parties during the holiday season will make you get all tingly in that “It’s a Wonderful Life” kind of way. One or two parties a week may send you over the edge, especially if you have kids. (Refer to my therapist comments above.)
This also applies to all of those appealing looking activities around town like Victorian Christmas events, Christmas celebrations at the zoo or winter carnivals. One or two can be a lot of fun, but too many will ruin the fun.
Limit cookie baking- Don’t try to make 15 different kinds of cookies like Martha. She may look like she is super woman, but did you know she has a lot of people that help her? How much help do you get with your baking? I mean real help, not your five year old who makes everything twice as difficult for you. This is great for grandma, but you have to see your daughter every day and grandma can send her back when the house is sufficiently covered in flour. Again, pick your two or three top favorite cookies to bake and ce lebrate the fact that you had few enough priorities that you remembered to put the sugar in them.
Everything doesn’t have to be homemade. I know that we advocate making your own stuff, but Marie Callendar’s makes some great pies that you can pass off as homemade if you want to soothe your guilty Martha Stewart conscience. In 20 years, your kids will look fondly back on it as the best pie they ever had. But seriously, if you are making things homemade just to save money, remember that some things like candies and pies are often more expensive to make homemade, especially if you cut your finger while slicing the apples. Don’t ask me how I know, just trust me on this one.
These aren’t the only things you can do to reduce your stress, but if you stick to doing a few things well, you can truly relax and enjoy the season with your family. In the end, they would rather have fond memories of their time with you than memories of how strun g out mom was after she burned the cookies.
Tawra Kellam is the publisher of the website www.LivingOnADime.com and the author of Dining On A Dime Cookbook.
Gazette Contributor
Less is More this Christmas!
After laying down my last women’s magazine telling me how to be less stressed during the holidays, I’m even more confused and stressed then ever. On one page I’m told to take time for myself and indulge in a lovely spa bath. As I turn the page, I’m told to give all my friends and family homemade ornaments. Then there are articles telling me how not to gain weight at Christmas parties. Isn’t that like telling a three year old to not get dirty while making mud pies?
To top it all off (and the part I like the best) is after they tell us how to get rid of stress and not gain weight, they give us 10 pages of recipes for Christmas cookies made with real butter and cream that are decorated so elaborately in the pictures that it probably took a trained kitchen staff of 10 a week to make one cookie.
Doesn’t anyone live in the real world any more? If you are like me and can’t stand that kind of stress, try some of these Christmas ideas from www.LivingOnADime.com to help you have a relaxed and Merry Christmas.
Don’t over-spend – It may be tempting to fixate yourself on the sparkling look in little Johnny’s eye when he sees that $300 play car under the tree. Advertising people are really good at feeding many parents’ fantasies of their children thinking that mom and dad are the peaches and cream for shelling out the cash and looking fondly back on the moment for the rest of their lives. In reality, most kids have lost all interest in that particular toy long before the credit cards are paid off.
When we were growing up, my mom pulled out all of the stops at Christmas to make it as wonderful for us as she possibly could. The funny thing is that now that we are grown, the things we remember the most fondly are Mom’s red jello salad (made with red hots – yummy!) and sitting together and reading the Christmas story before opening our presents. I can’t remember what presents I received, but I always look back fondly on the Christmas story.
Do a few things well – Instead of trying to do everything and ending up depressed with how it all turns out, focus your energy on a couple of things that are the most important to you. You may be tempted to extravagantly decorate every room in your house, but if you don’t have the time or energy, focus on one room, like a living or family room. If your entire house is beautiful but you have to go see a therapist when it’s all over, the romantic mystique will be lost. Trust me, I know about this one from personal experience.
Limit activities – Think of the holiday season as triage for activities. Don’t commit to do too many things. One or two parties during the holiday season will make you get all tingly in that “It’s a Wonderful Life” kind of way. One or two parties a week may send you over the edge, especially if you have kids. (Refer to my therapist comments above.)
This also applies to all of those appealing looking activities around town like Victorian Christmas events, Christmas celebrations at the zoo or winter carnivals. One or two can be a lot of fun, but too many will ruin the fun.
Limit cookie baking- Don’t try to make 15 different kinds of cookies like Martha. She may look like she is super woman, but did you know she has a lot of people that help her? How much help do you get with your baking? I mean real help, not your five year old who makes everything twice as difficult for you. This is great for grandma, but you have to see your daughter every day and grandma can send her back when the house is sufficiently covered in flour. Again, pick your two or three top favorite cookies to bake and ce lebrate the fact that you had few enough priorities that you remembered to put the sugar in them.
Everything doesn’t have to be homemade. I know that we advocate making your own stuff, but Marie Callendar’s makes some great pies that you can pass off as homemade if you want to soothe your guilty Martha Stewart conscience. In 20 years, your kids will look fondly back on it as the best pie they ever had. But seriously, if you are making things homemade just to save money, remember that some things like candies and pies are often more expensive to make homemade, especially if you cut your finger while slicing the apples. Don’t ask me how I know, just trust me on this one.
These aren’t the only things you can do to reduce your stress, but if you stick to doing a few things well, you can truly relax and enjoy the season with your family. In the end, they would rather have fond memories of their time with you than memories of how strun g out mom was after she burned the cookies.
Tawra Kellam is the publisher of the website www.LivingOnADime.com and the author of Dining On A Dime Cookbook.
Friday, November 25, 2011
ROBERT REICH: Why we must Occupy Democracy
By Robert Reich
Reader Supported News
readersupportednews.org
You've been seeing this across the country … Americans assaulted, clubbed, dragged, pepper-sprayed … Why? For exercising their right to free speech and assembly - protesting the increasing concentration of income, wealth, and political power at the top.
And what's Washington's response? Nothing. In fact, Congress's so-called "supercommittee" just disbanded because Republicans refuse to raise a penny of taxes on the rich.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court says money is speech and corporations are people. The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision last year ended all limits on political spending. Millions of dollars are being funneled to politicians without a trace.
And a revolving door has developed between official Washington and Wall Street - with bank executives becoming public officials who make rules that benefit the banks before heading back to the Street to make money off the rules they created.
Other top officials, including an increasing proportion of former members of congress, are cashing in by joining lobbying power houses and pressuring their former colleagues to do whatever their clients want.
Millionaires and billionaires on Wall Street and in executive suites aren't contributing all this money out of sheer love of country. Their political spending is analogous to their other investments. Mostly they want low tax rates and friendly regulations.
Why else do you suppose tax rates on the super rich are now lower than they've been in three decades, and why - even though the long-term budget deficit is horrendous - those rates aren't rising? Why else do the 400 richest Americans (whose wealth is larger than the combined wealth of the bottom 150 million Americans) now pay an average tax rate of only 17 percent?
Why do you think Wall Street got bailed without a single string attached - not even being required to help homeowners to whom they sold mortgages, who are now so far under water they're drowning? And why does the financial reform legislation have loopholes big enough for bankers to drive their Ferrari's through?
And why else are oil companies, big agribusinesses, military contractors, and the pharmaceutical industry reaping billions of dollars of government subsidies and special tax breaks?
Experts say the 2012 presidential race is likely to be the priciest ever, costing an estimated $6 billion. "It is far worse than it has ever been," says Republican Senator John McCain.
If there's a single core message to the Occupier movement it's that the increasing concentration of income and wealth at the top endangers our democracy. With money comes political power.
Yet when real people without money assemble to express their dissatisfaction with all this, they're told the First Amendment doesn't apply. Instead, they're treated as public nuisances - clubbed, pepper-sprayed, thrown out of public parks and evicted from public spaces.
Across America, public officials are saying Occupiers have to go. Even in universities - where free speech is supposed to be sacrosanct - peaceful assembly is being met with clubs and pepper spray.
The First Amendment is being stood on its head. Money speaks, and an unlimited amount of it can now be spent bribing and cajoling politicians. Yet peaceful assembly is viewed as a public nuisance and removed by force.
This is especially worrisome now that so many Americans are in economic trouble. The jobs recession grinds on, seemingly without end. Homes are being foreclosed upon. Qualified students cannot afford college. Or they're forced to take on huge debt loads they can't repay in a jobless economy. Schools are firing teachers. Vital social services are being axed.
How are Americans to be heard about what should be done about any of this if they are not allowed to mobilize and organize? When the freedom of speech goes to the highest bidder, moneyed interests have a disproportionate say.
Now more than ever, the First Amendment needs to be put right side up. Nothing less than the future of our democracy is at stake.
Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including "The Work of Nations," "Locked in the Cabinet," "Supercapitalism" and his latest book, "AFTERSHOCK: The Next Economy and America's Future." His 'Marketplace' commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.
Reader Supported News
readersupportednews.org
You've been seeing this across the country … Americans assaulted, clubbed, dragged, pepper-sprayed … Why? For exercising their right to free speech and assembly - protesting the increasing concentration of income, wealth, and political power at the top.
And what's Washington's response? Nothing. In fact, Congress's so-called "supercommittee" just disbanded because Republicans refuse to raise a penny of taxes on the rich.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court says money is speech and corporations are people. The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision last year ended all limits on political spending. Millions of dollars are being funneled to politicians without a trace.
And a revolving door has developed between official Washington and Wall Street - with bank executives becoming public officials who make rules that benefit the banks before heading back to the Street to make money off the rules they created.
Other top officials, including an increasing proportion of former members of congress, are cashing in by joining lobbying power houses and pressuring their former colleagues to do whatever their clients want.
Millionaires and billionaires on Wall Street and in executive suites aren't contributing all this money out of sheer love of country. Their political spending is analogous to their other investments. Mostly they want low tax rates and friendly regulations.
Why else do you suppose tax rates on the super rich are now lower than they've been in three decades, and why - even though the long-term budget deficit is horrendous - those rates aren't rising? Why else do the 400 richest Americans (whose wealth is larger than the combined wealth of the bottom 150 million Americans) now pay an average tax rate of only 17 percent?
Why do you think Wall Street got bailed without a single string attached - not even being required to help homeowners to whom they sold mortgages, who are now so far under water they're drowning? And why does the financial reform legislation have loopholes big enough for bankers to drive their Ferrari's through?
And why else are oil companies, big agribusinesses, military contractors, and the pharmaceutical industry reaping billions of dollars of government subsidies and special tax breaks?
Experts say the 2012 presidential race is likely to be the priciest ever, costing an estimated $6 billion. "It is far worse than it has ever been," says Republican Senator John McCain.
If there's a single core message to the Occupier movement it's that the increasing concentration of income and wealth at the top endangers our democracy. With money comes political power.
Yet when real people without money assemble to express their dissatisfaction with all this, they're told the First Amendment doesn't apply. Instead, they're treated as public nuisances - clubbed, pepper-sprayed, thrown out of public parks and evicted from public spaces.
Across America, public officials are saying Occupiers have to go. Even in universities - where free speech is supposed to be sacrosanct - peaceful assembly is being met with clubs and pepper spray.
The First Amendment is being stood on its head. Money speaks, and an unlimited amount of it can now be spent bribing and cajoling politicians. Yet peaceful assembly is viewed as a public nuisance and removed by force.
This is especially worrisome now that so many Americans are in economic trouble. The jobs recession grinds on, seemingly without end. Homes are being foreclosed upon. Qualified students cannot afford college. Or they're forced to take on huge debt loads they can't repay in a jobless economy. Schools are firing teachers. Vital social services are being axed.
How are Americans to be heard about what should be done about any of this if they are not allowed to mobilize and organize? When the freedom of speech goes to the highest bidder, moneyed interests have a disproportionate say.
Now more than ever, the First Amendment needs to be put right side up. Nothing less than the future of our democracy is at stake.
Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including "The Work of Nations," "Locked in the Cabinet," "Supercapitalism" and his latest book, "AFTERSHOCK: The Next Economy and America's Future." His 'Marketplace' commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
With Black Friday looming, AG offers shopping tips
Attorney General Tom Horne’s Top Tips for Holiday Shopping
(1) Bring ads for sales and “special deals” with you to the store.
Advertising a set of sales or “deals” and refusing to honor the terms of the advertisement is deceptive advertising and illegal in Arizona. Consumers using holiday sales and coupons should be careful that the specials advertised match what is advertised in stores.
Consider bringing ads with you to the store to see if prices charged match advertised prices. Read all fine print or disclosures before making your purchase. When checking out, watch the cash register display to be sure the scanned price matches the advertised or posted price. Check your receipt for accuracy before leaving the store. If you have pricing questions, ask to see the store’s pricing error policy.
(2) Understand the new rules for gift cards.
Gift cards issued by merchants (single or group, i.e. chain stores) and those issued by financial institutions (many with Visa, American Express, MasterCard and Discover brand logos) will have to follow new guidelines recently set up by Congress. Under the Credit Card Act of 2009, limitations have been placed on fees and expiration dates for gift cards. Service fees can no longer be charged until the card has been inactive for 12 months and only after that time can one fee be charged per month. Fee details and terms need to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously prior to purchase. Also, gift cards now carry an expiration date of at least 5 years from the date of purchase or the date the card was last reloaded with funds. Make sure you understand any terms or details disclosed about any fee or expiration date prior to purchasing your gift card.
(3) Do online shopping at secure Web sites.
Using secure Web sites will help ensure that personal information, such as your name, address and credit card number, is transmitted to the merchant safely, without being intercepted by a third party. You can identify secure Web sites by looking for Web addresses that begin with “https” and check for a small padlock icon at the bottom of the page. Also look for SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates which allow for safe browsing and purchasing (“VeriSign” is a commonly used SSL). Credit cards are still preferred over debit cards for online shopping security.
(4) Watch out for restocking fees.
Certain stores will charge you a percentage of the price for “restocking” an item that you return for refund or credit. These fees most often apply to larger purchases such as furniture, electronic equipment or appliances. If a business charges a restocking fee, it should disclose the fee in print advertising and promotional materials as well as post a clearly visible notice disclosing the fee and how consumers can obtain the full restocking fee policy. Before making a purchase, ask if the store charges a restocking fee. If so, make sure you understand the full cost and restocking policy.
(5) Save all receipts, warranties and service agreements.
Keeping printed copies of receipts, warranties and service agreements helps you negotiate any refunds or exchanges should you have a problem or decide to return the product.
During the time of purchase, request warranties and service contracts in writing and save receipts from all of your purchases. Bring them with you if you need a refund, exchange or repair.
(6) Be cautious of toys bought for children.
Make sure you read all labels and fine print on packages of toys purchased for children. Many toys are meant for children of certain ages and may contain small pieces hazardous to very young children. Also, to verify that the toy you have bought is safe, you can check the Consumer Product Safety Commission, http://www.cpsc.gov for more information.
(7) Travel safe this holiday season.
As you are booking your travel to see family this holiday season, take caution when booking through agents and online Web sites. Make sure you are working with a legitimate travel agent and remember, if the deal sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. It never hurts to take extra time researching a company or business online before using their service. Major airlines and travel companies often offer coupons and discounts while traveling over the holidays – be mindful of the small print and details regarding when purchase needs to be made and when travel dates are valid.
(8) Seasonal Employment Opportunities.
Many consumers seek seasonal employment to earn more cash during the holiday season. Be mindful of the employer you seek work from and make sure you are familiar with the company and its seasonal employment policies. Use caution when seeking employment from online job boards. Online employment boards may display employment opportunities that do not exist only as a means to obtain information from potential candidates. Use caution when providing identifying information over the internet and research companies that may not be familiar to you. Most job boards, such as Craigslist, allow users to report advertisements that are bogus are fraudulent.
If you believe you have been a victim of fraud, please contact the Attorney General's Office in Phoenix at 602.542.5763; in Tucson at 520.628.6504; or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at 1.800.352.8431. To file a complaint in person, the Attorney General’s Office has satellite offices throughout the state with volunteers available to help. Locations and hours of operation are posted on the Attorney General’s Web site, www.azag.gov. Consumers can also file complaints online by visiting http://www.azag.gov/consumer/complaintform.html.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Loeffler responds to biased Roundup editorial
TIME TO PLAY FAIR
(Editor's note: The following was also submitted to the Payson Roundup, which played its usual "this is too long" game. Loeffler has now submitted a shorter version to the Roundup. The question: will the Roundup, which is and always has been clearly biased in favor of whatever Payson Mayor Kenny Evans says or wants, run the shorter version? The Gazette Blog implores them to be fair for a change.)
GCC Governing Board Member
In this somewhat charged atmosphere I would like to try to set the record straight on the Gila Community College Campus land transfer. The State of Arizona, several years back, deeded over to Gila County about 54 acres to be use for the future campus of a community college. At a later date the Gila Community College District was formed as well as a governing board to oversee the community college which has been in existence for several years.
In a Nov. 15 editorial the Payson Roundup told the GCC Governing Board, an elected body by the taxpayers, to “GET OUT THE WAY” and let a small group representing private investors determine how part of our campus is to be used. In other words, a private group would take the responsibility away from the elected Governing Board to decide the future of taxpayer land. The taxpayers’ opinions would therefore not be represented in this land transfer. Does that sound like Democracy to you? What was the Roundup drinking?
At a special meeting to discuss the situation, the GCC Governing Board voted unanimously, yes unanimously, to support the position of a four year university in Payson and to transfer a portion of the campus land for that purpose only. The operative word being for the four year university. The Governing Board voted to restrict the land deed to allow only “educational endeavors” be built on the land and not to be used for any "industrial purposes” If the intent of the Separate Legal Entity (SLE) is to only build such buildings as classrooms, dorms and a cafeteria on the land, then there should not be a problem with the deed restrictions for educational buildings only.
To have the elected board of the community college just hand over (transfer) campus land without anything in writing and without any restrictions would be irresponsible on their part. With nothing in writing, anything could be built on the land once it was sold. We desire to have a campus that is suited for educational pursuits and not be next to an industrial park or something. The fact that the SLE is opposing the education only restriction makes one think of the famous line, “Methinks they protest too much.”
The County Board, who is the sell agent in this situation, has turned over about 32 of the 54 acres to the community college, about 5 acres less than the GCC Board’s resolution. How does that translate? Your Community College will get 32 acres for the potential 4,000 to 6,000 students when the town buildout is complete. The SLE will get 22 acres for the 1,000 students they plan to build for in phase one.
One reason the County Board gave for this division was that some residents of Graham Ranch Road wanted their road to extend to the highway and that there was already an easement on the campus for such. Town records do not show any road easement and neither the community college nor the SLE is in favor of such a road going through their campuses.
Remember what was said at the beginning of this article: the State turned over this land for a Gila Community College. The County Board and the GCC Governing Board have both voted to support the four year university in Payson. The GCC Board has asked for deed restrictions on the portion of land to be sold. The County Board’s Dec. 6 board meeting will decide the final disposition of this land. Taxpayers have one more opportunity to voice their views. This land transfer can and should be accomplished for the mutual benefit of all and needs to be done in an open transparent manner.
No highway closures over Thanksgiving weekend
ADOT still encourages drivers to allow extra travel time during peak holiday travel periods and to use extra caution in existing work zones along state highways.
Driving behavior will be a key factor in efforts to reduce tragic crashes during the holiday travel season. Thirteen people were killed in a total of 12 fatal crashes on Arizona’s highways and local roads during Thanksgiving weekend last year.
Drivers are urged to make sure they buckle up, along with their passengers. ADOT and other safety agencies also ask drivers to obey speed limits, get adequate rest before traveling, avoid distractions and never drink and drive.
Although no construction closures are scheduled over the holiday weekend, existing state highway work zones include:
■ Yuma, San Diego, Rocky Point Travel: State Route 85 is narrowed to one lane in both directions for an existing B-8 (Butterfield Trail Road) bridge work zone in Gila Bend. Drivers traveling to or from Yuma or San Diego can consider alternate routes during peak travel times, including Interstate 10 and US 95 north of Yuma. Drivers traveling to or from the Phoenix area also can consider using I-8 and I-10 through the Casa Grande area. For more visit www.azdot.gov/HolidayTravel.
■ Flagstaff, Northern Arizona Travel: Interstate 17 narrowed to one lane in each direction approximately 20 miles south of Flagstaff for an existing bridge reconstruction work zone at Munds Park. Allow extra time during peak travel periods.
■ Kingman, Las Vegas Travel: US 93 open with no passing zone and reduced 55 mph speed limit along a seven-mile-long stretch for a widening project north of Wikieup. Use caution and allow extra travel time.
■ Phoenix – Tucson Travel: Interstate 10 widening work zones are in place in the Casa Grande area and between Ruthrauff and Prince Roads in Tucson. Use caution and obey reduced speed limits in existing work zones.
Drivers also are urged to be prepared for unscheduled highway closures due to accidents, disabled vehicles or other events. Motorists should be alert to changing weather conditions while traveling.
Portion of Fossil Creek Road closed for winter
The road is closed from 1/2 mile west of the Fossil Creek entrance to the Upper Fossil Springs Trailhead extending west and down canyon to immediately east of the Waterfall Trailhead (old Flume Trail Trailhead).
“It is anticipated that this temporary closure will be in effect until around mid-April to provide for public and employee safety due to repeat unsafe road conditions resulting from winter storm activity,” said Angie Elam, district ranger.
For further information, please contact the Payson Ranger District administrative office at 928-474-7900. The closure order is available on the Tonto National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/Tonto.
Young's Holiday Bazaar includes wine tasting
Jim and Marie Petroff own Pleasant Valley Winery
On December 2-4, Braswell's Chuckwagon in the heart of Young will host its annual Community Holiday Bazaar featuring handcrafted gifts, delectable homemade goodies, and fabulous handmade quilts, quilting materials, supplies, and helpful expertise.
Across the road, Pleasant Valley Winery's little log cabin wine shop will be open for wine tasting on Saturday, December 3rd from Noon-5:00 p.m. Please try a taste of our holiday special treat, mulled Honey Mead Wine and get the free recipe too - You will love it :-) Bottled wines and wine glasses are available for sale. Pleasant Valley wines are available anytime in Young and from the Beverage Place in Payson and in Globe.
Young's annual Community Holiday Bazaar is always a great event for the whole family. Please join us this year for a fun pre-Christmas outing in beautiful Young.
Monday, November 21, 2011
PUBLIC NOTICE
GILA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS
SUBMISSIONS TO THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FOR PRECLEARANCE UNDER SECTION 5 OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Gila County Department of Elections has submitted the following requests for preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act:
Gila County Supervisorial Redistricting Plan
Gila County Community College Redistricting Plan
Gila County Precinct Boundary and Polling Place Change Plan
Submission materials are available for public review at the Gila County Department of Elections, 5515 S Apache Ave, Globe, AZ 85501, or at the Gila County Administration Building, 610 E Hwy 260, Payson, AZ 85541.
Questions or comments may be directed to the Gila County Department of Elections, 928.402.8709. Citizens may also contact the Department of Elections for Apache or Spanish translation assistance.
Dated at Globe, Gila County, AZ this 28th day of November, 2011
/s/ Linda V. Eastlick
Director, Gila County Department of Elections.
AVISO PÚBLICO:
El DEPARTAMENTO ELECTORAL DEL CONDADO DE GILA SOLICITA AUTORIZACIÓN
PRELIMINAR AL DEPARTAMENTO DE JUSTICIA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS
EN VIRTUD DEL ARTÍCULO 5 DE LA LEY DE DERECHOS ELECTORALES
POR ESTE MEDIO SE NOTIFICA que, en virtud del Artículo 5 de la Ley de Derechos Electorales, el Departamento Electoral del Condado de Gila ha solicitado autorización preliminar de:
Plan de Redistribución de Distritos de Supervisores del Condado de Gila
Plan de Redistribución de Distritos del Colegio Comunitario del Condado de Gila
Plan de Cambios a los Límites de Recintos Electorales y Lugares de Votación
Los informes referidos están disponibles para revisión del público en el Departamento Electoral del Condado de Gila, 5515 S Apache Ave., Globe, AZ 85501 y en el Edificio Administrativo del Condado de Gila ubicado en 610 E. Hwy 260, Payson, AZ 85541.
Puede dirigir preguntas y comentarios al teléfono 928.402.8709 del Departamento Electoral del Condado de Gila. Los ciudadanos también pueden solicitar al Departamento Electoral asistencia para interpretar los informes en los idiomas apache y español.
Publicado el 28 de Noviembre de 2011, en Globe, Condado de Gila, Arizona.
/s/ Linda V. Eastlick, Directora
Departamento Electoral del Condado de Gila
Labor room nurses fail to see turkey humor
LIFE'S OUTTAKES
By Daris HowardGazette Contributor
If a person is asked what they are most thankful for, nearly one-hundred percent of the time they mention family. Thus it was appropriate that one particular Thanksgiving, I found myself in the birthing room at a hospital, waiting for the arrival of my second child. We thought she would never come, but Thanksgiving morning found us putting our turkey back in the deep freeze as we headed for the sterile environment of the hospital.
The smell of rolls, pies, and cranberry sauce gave way to the odors of disinfectants. The sounds of parades and football games on TV were replaced by the hum of an obnoxious monitor broken only by intercom voices calling doctors and nurses to assignments. The nervousness I always feel when a child is born, nervousness for my wife’s and my child’s safety - makes me giddy, and sometimes I talk excitedly. (Actually, I talk stupidly is more like it.) So, as we sat watching the monitors, I started joking about how, since our little girl was going to be born on Thanksgiving, I could call her my little turkey. I joked about the different names we could name her, most of which, if mentioned here, might give me a night sleeping on the couch.
My poor wife started laughing and yelling at me at the same time, telling me that laughing during contractions made it hurt worse, and finally she took her pillow and hit me.
When the nurse came in the monitor had gone clear off of the chart. She was concerned until I told her I was telling my wife jokes. She was very stern with me. “Don’t make her laugh,” she said threateningly, “or I might just give you a taste of it yourself!” I’m not sure what she meant, but I knew by her tone that I didn’t want to find out.
I don’t know if it is just me, but I think labor room nurses are an interesting lot. The whole time the woman is in labor they never smile, never joke, never laugh, and act like a storm cloud hangs over them. Then, once the baby arrives, it is as if the cloud lifts and they are born again and they smile and laugh and joke and celebrate. I asked one of them about it once and she said it is because they are all women and they feel empathy for the lady having the baby. The nurse I asked poked me in the chest and said, “You just have a baby sometime, buster, and you’ll feel the same way.”
For some reason a man in the birthing room is never the most popular person. It is like they think all the grief in the world, at that moment, is our fault. I’ve even seen male doctors told off for an unintentional remark, like “this might hurt a little”, when he should have said something like “this may hurt so much you will want to kick me through the wall.”
My wife had been going to a female doctor. The doctor called the day before Thanksgiving and asked how things were going. At that point, already a week overdue, it seemed like the baby was not in a particular mood to change addresses, so the doctor went to Salt Lake to be with family. That was all it took for the baby to decide to make her grand, or should I say, prolonged, entrance onto the stage of life.
Thus we found ourselves with a doctor we didn’t know, nurses that at first acted like either they or myself had been sucking on lemons, and a noisy monitor that had an attitude, but our little Thanksgiving bundle was finally born. To celebrate, the now-happy nurses brought us freezer burned turkey, dried out stuffing, and barely edible cranberry sauce, but it didn’t really matter because the true meaning of Thanksgiving was locked deep in my heart when the sweet little bundle was placed in my arms.
(Daris Howard, award-winning, syndicated columnist and playwright, is author of “Super Cowboy Rides” and can be contacted at daris@darishoward.com; or visit his website at http://www.darishoward.com)
'We are the ones we have been waiting for'
PERSPECTIVE:
OCCUPY WALL STREET
Occupy activists are thinking deeply about how we might incorporate opposition to racism, class exploitation, homophobia, xenophobia, ableism, violence done to the environment and transphobia into the resistance of the 99%. Of course, we must be prepared to challenge military occupation and war. And if we identify with the 99%, we will also have to learn how to imagine a new world, one where peace is not simply the absence of war, but rather, a creative refashioning of global social relations.
Thus, the most pressing question facing the Occupy activists is how to craft a unity that respects and celebrates the immense differences among the 99%. How can we learn how to come together? This is something those of the 99% who are living at Occupy sites can teach us all. How can we come together in a unity that is not simplistic and oppressive, but complex and emancipatory, recognising, in June Jordan's words that "we are the ones we have been waiting for."
Angela Davis
Political Activist
Sunday, November 20, 2011
UA scientists find evidence of megadrought
The second century A.D. saw an extended dry period of more than 100 years characterized by a multi-decade drought lasting nearly 50 years, says a new study from scientists at the University of Arizona.
UA geoscientists Cody Routson, Connie Woodhouse and Jonathan Overpeck conducted a study of the southern San Juan Mountains in south-central Colorado. The region serves as a primary watershed for the Rio Grande and San Juan rivers.
"These mountains are very important for both the San Juan River and the Rio Grande River," said Routson, a doctoral candidate in the environmental studies laboratory of the UA's department of geosciences and the primary author of the study, which is upcoming in Geophysical Research Letters.
The San Juan River is a tributary for the Colorado River, meaning any climate changes that affect the San Juan drainage also likely would affect the Colorado River and its watershed. Said Routson: "We wanted to develop as long a record as possible for that region."
Dendrochronology is a science of using annual growth rings of trees to understand climate in the past. Because trees typically add a normally clearly defined growth ring around their trunk each year, counting the rings backwards from a tree's bark allows scientists to determine not only the age of the tree, but which years were good for growth and which years were more difficult.
"If it's a wet year, they grow a wide ring, and if it's a dry year, they grow a narrow ring," said Routson. "If you average that pattern across trees in a region you can develop a chronology that shows what years were drier or wetter for that particular region."
Darker wood, referred to as latewood because it develops in the latter part of the year at the end of the growing season, forms a usually distinct boundary between one ring and the next. The latewood is darker because growth at the end of the growing season has slowed and the cell walls are more dense.
To develop their chronology, the researchers looked for indications of climate in the past in the growth rings of the oldest trees in the southern San Juan region. "We drove around and looked for old trees," said Routson.
Literally nothing is older than a bristlecone pine tree: The oldest and longest-living species on the planet, these pine trees normally are found clinging to bare rocky landscapes of alpine or near-alpine mountain slopes. The trees, the oldest of which are more than 4,000 years old, are capable of withstanding extreme drought conditions.
"We did a lot of hiking and found a couple of sites of bristlecone pines, and one in particular that we honed in on," said Routson.
To sample the trees without damaging them, dendrochronologists use a tool like a metal screw that bores a tiny hole in the trunk of the tree and allows them to extract a sample, called a core. "We take a piece of wood about the size and shape of a pencil from the tree," explained Routson.
"We also sampled dead wood that was lying about the land. We took our samples back to the lab where we used a visual, graphic technique to match where the annual growth patterns of the living trees overlap with the patterns in the dead wood. Once we have the pattern matched we measure the rings and average these values to generate a site chronology."
"In our chronology for the south San Juan mountains we created a record that extends back 2,200 years," said Routson. "It was pretty profound that we were able to get back that far."
The chronology extends many years earlier than the medieval period, during which two major drought events in that region already were known from previous chronologies.
"The medieval period extends roughly from 800 to 1300 A.D.," said Routson. "During that period there was a lot of evidence from previous studies for increased aridity, in particular two major droughts: one in the middle of the 12th century, and one at the end of the 13th century."
"Very few records are long enough to assess the global conditions associated with these two periods of Southwestern aridity," said Routson. "And the available records have uncertainties."
But the chronology from the San Juan bristlecone pines shows an even earlier drought:
"There was another period of increased aridity even earlier," said Routson. "This new record shows that in addition to known droughts from the medieval period, there is also evidence for an earlier megadrought during the second century A.D."
"What we can see from our record is that it was a period of basically 50 consecutive years of below-average growth," said Routson. "And that's within a much broader period that extends from around 124 A.D. to 210 A.D. – about a 100-year-long period of dry conditions."
"We're showing that there are multiple extreme drought events that happened during our past in this region," said Routson. "These megadroughts lasted for decades, which is much longer than our current drought. And the climatic events behind these previous dry periods are really similar to what we're experiencing today."
The prolonged drought in the 12th century and the event in the second century A.D. may both have been influenced by warmer-than-average Northern Hemisphere temperatures, Routson said: "The limited records indicate there may have been similar La Nina-like background conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which are known to influence modern drought, during the two periods."
Although natural climate variation has led to extended dry periods in the southwestern U.S. in the past, there is reason to believe that human-driven climate change will increase the frequency of extreme droughts in the future, said Routson. In other words, we should expect similar multi-decade droughts in a future predicted to be even warmer than the past.
Routson's research is funded by fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the Science Foundation Arizona and the Climate Assessment of the Southwest. His advisors, Woodhouse of the School of Geography and Development and Overpeck of the department of geosciences and co-director of the UA's Institute of the Environment, are co-authors of the study.
Give us this day our turkey ... hold the leftovers
OUT TO PASTOR
By Rev. James L. SnyderGazette Contributor
Thanksgiving is my kind of holiday. Apart from the "thanks" part, the primary purpose of this celebration is eating. That is the one thing I do quite well.
Thanksgiving is the beginning of a feasting frenzy that would make Richard Simmons sweat to the goodies. Any thoughts of dieting at this time of the year are merely blowing in the wind. Hopefully, not in my direction.
Our Pilgrim Fathers came up with the idea of a Thanksgiving feast. The Pilgrim Mothers were too busy doing the wash and caring for the children to think of any more work.
The Pilgrim Fathers were sitting around waiting for someone to invent television so they could all watch a football game when someone had an idea. Most ideas are born in the midst of great boredom. That is why so many of them are...well...stupid.
"There's nothing to do," one bored Pilgrim Father said. "Let's get together and have a feast." Because nothing else was happening, the other Pilgrim Fathers got excited about this idea. The Pilgrim Mothers, however, had some different thoughts about this crazy feast idea.
After all, they would have to do all the work and Oprah Winfrey had not been born yet to lead them in a chorus of whining and complaining and getting in touch with their real feelings.
The Pilgrim Mothers wanted a Tupperware party, but since it was not yet a two-party system, they could only do one party. The Pilgrim Fathers won this one.
However, like the good Puritan wives they were, they humored their husbands and began preparations for the first Thanksgiving feast. Because this was the first Thanksgiving, it was a simple affair compared with the ones to follow.
At the first one nobody said, "We've always done it this way." Because it was never done before. However, the second Thanksgiving was beset with this sort of thing. A tradition, someone wisely pointed out, is something done at least once.
What the Pilgrim Mothers did not count on was company for dinner. After all, they were thousands of miles from their nearest relatives with a big pond between them. They assumed, and rightly so, that they were safe from the intrusion of company on what would be the heaviest workday for the kitchen crew.
Have you ever noticed that when you are planning a feast of some kind, relatives who never bother you the rest of the year (something to be thankful for) seem to gravitate to your gravy bowl?
There is nothing like unexpected company to put pizzazz in a Thanksgiving celebration. Who wants pizza for Thanksgiving when there is so much turkey?
Imagine the Pilgrim Mother's surprise when the Pilgrim Fathers told them (probably on Thanksgiving morning) that they had invited guests for the feast. I can imagine some ears were stinging that first Thanksgiving Day. The Pilgrim Fathers braved through the stinging rebukes from their wives...for months.
Perhaps the biggest anomaly of Thanksgiving is the mountain of leftovers the next day and for weeks to follow. No matter how much turkey is gobbled up or how many people are around that Thanksgiving table, the leftovers are enormous.
There is more turkey on Friday than on Thanksgiving.
I cannot prove this, but I highly suspect the turkeys we have today keep growing even after we cook them. Maybe when placed in a cold refrigerator over night, they expand.
I really do not know what takes place, but something happens to that turkey when left overnight in a refrigerator. The big challenge is how to prepare leftover turkey so it does not look or taste like turkey.
Thanksgiving is a marvelous time for family and friends to get together to celebrate the goodness of the Lord. Each family has its own special tradition that seems to bring it together. This year, especially, we have so much to be thankful for.
For some it starts with a Thanksgiving Eve service. Gathering as a congregation to express to God thanks for another year of bounty and blessing is important for Christians.
Personally, I like a Thanksgiving eve service over a Thanksgiving morning service. In the evening service, you do not have to rush through the celebration to get home in time for the big feast. Giving thanks to God should be a leisurely thing, not something rushed through while thinking of something else.
At Thanksgiving, we should bring a bouquet of blessing that fills the room with a sweet fragrance of praise that lingers all year long.
Some of the best and most fragrant bouquets are the small ones. Remembering the big blessings is easy. The smaller blessings are much harder to keep in mind. Some of them we even take for granted.
This Thanksgiving I am going to make a point to look over some blessing I have been overlooking. It is those small blessings that truly sustain us throughout the year.
The Bible reminds us why we are to give thanks, not only at Thanksgiving time, but also all year long. "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:57-58 KJV).
There is so much to thank God for; one day is not near enough. Let us thank God every day for His goodness. Even for leftover blessings.
The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Politicians need to heed four Lessons of Ohio
AFL-CIO President
Reader Supported News
readersupportednews.org
16 November 11 - Remember Ohio."Those two words should carry new meaning to politicians in Congress and state houses who think they can respond to unemployment, budget crises and voter anger with faux solutions that serve up red meat to their right-wing base.
With their now-famous rejection of a state law limiting public employees' right to bargain collectively, Ohio voters sent this emphatic reminder to Republicans (and some Democrats as well): Cutting taxes for millionaires and billionaires, scapegoating working Americans and their unions and downsizing Social Security and Medicare may get you a standing ovation from the 1%, but the voters who decide elections will not be fooled - and you may just get more than you bargained for.
Four lessons to remember from Ohio:
1. 2010 didn't mean what you think.
Challengers in the 2010 mid-term elections benefited from a formidable current for change, but the change voters wanted was a solution to the economy and the jobs crisis - not political maneuvers and overreach. Keep in mind, too, that voter turnout in mid-term elections is unrepresentatively low: Fewer votes were cast to elect John Kasich governor in 2010 than were cast last week to defeat SB5, the anti-worker law pushed forward by the governor and the Republican majority in the state legislature.
Across the board, voters in the Buckeye state said the anti-worker law "was not the kind of change Ohio was looking for in 2010," according to a post-election survey conducted by Hart Research for the AFL-CIO.
Voters, in fact, are more leery than ever of partisan games. Ohio voters said they perceived the law as a political maneuver by Gov. Kasich and state Republicans to weaken labor unions (53%) rather than a genuine effort to make state government more efficient (33%).
Just as Ohioans voted down the anti-worker law, voters in other states rejected right-wing overreach, defeating a Maine law prohibiting a same-day voter registration law that had been in effect for almost 40 years and recalling the state senate president in Arizona, who had championed the state's anti-immigrant law.
2. In 2011 and 2012, fronting for the 1% is a nonstarter.
Remember, 2011 is not 2010, and politics in 2012 will evolve even more. Give credit to the Occupy Wall Street movement (and historic inequality) for redefining the political narrative.
Fifty-six percent of Ohio voters in the Hart survey agreed that Kasich and his allies "are putting the interests of big corporations ahead of average working people."
These attitudes are widely shared by the swing voters who supported President Obama in 2008 but elected Republican governors and US representatives in 2010 - and will decide the presidential and congressional elections in 2012. They're working Americans with modest incomes, moderate views and little patience for policies that aren't fair and don't work.
More than 26 percent of 2010 Kasich voters, in fact, were part of the overall 61 percent majority who rejected the limits on collective bargaining.
This sea change was strongest among voters in the middle of the economic and ideological spectrums. Yes, public employees, union members, Democrats and liberals voted overwhelmingly against the controversial law. But they were joined by definitive majorities of voters from households with no public employee, workers without union representation and independents, as well as 30 percent of Republicans and 36 percent of conservatives.
3. The myth of the pampered public employee has been busted.
The demonization of public employees is neither a strategy nor a solution and the heartland Americans who voted last week to restore rights for public employees understood that. Public employees didn't cause the economic crisis and they're not the enemy. They're our neighbors and our friends, mainstays of the working middle class, and the services they provide - from police and fire protection to education, health care and environmental protection - are essential to the economy and our quality of life.
And yes, taking away the right to bargain collectively in the public sector, which maintains standards at a time when the private sector is running away from them, will lower living standards for everybody.
Voters in the Hart poll said the anti-worker law would have a mainly negative rather than positive impact on the state's middle class. The attack on public employees would be more harmful than helpful to wages and benefits for all Ohio workers, they said (by a 20 point margin), to public safety (by 21 points), to public education (by 14 points) and to jobs and the economy (by 12 points).
4. Working people joined together will win.
Firefighters, teachers and other public employees were joined by plumbers and pilots and all kinds of private-sector employees to win. Worker to worker, neighbor to neighbor, the message spread, and what began as an attempt to divide workers flopped famously. In the end, working people's solidarity was the message.
Lest there be any doubt, voters in Ohio showed that when fundamental rights and livelihoods are targeted, working people will not only defend themselves, but come back stronger. Conversely, when politicians listen to and champion working people, they can win.
The 2011 elections are over, but their lessons are lasting. Rather than pander to economic elites and an ideological fringe, public officials and office-seekers who want to be winners this time next year should support public policies for the 99 percent - policies that create jobs, invest in America's future, safeguard Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and promote fiscal sanity at the federal and state levels by requiring millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share.
At a time of near-double-digit unemployment and growing concerns about economic insecurity and inequality, the overwhelming majority of Americans are seeking solutions, not scapegoats.
It's time for politicians to listen.
Occupiers occupied: Highjacking 1st Amendment
Occupy Wall Street:
Take the Bull by the Horns
Robert Reich's Blog
readersupportednews.org
16 November 11 - A funny thing happened to the First Amendment on its way to the public forum. According to the Supreme Court, money is now speech and corporations are now people. But when real people without money assemble to express their dissatisfaction with the political consequences of this, they're treated as public nuisances and evicted.
First things first. The Supreme Court's rulings that money is speech and corporations are people have now opened the floodgates to unlimited (and often secret) political contributions from millionaires and billionaires. Consider the Koch brothers (worth $25 billion each), who are bankrolling the Tea Party and already running millions of dollars worth of ads against Democrats.
Such millionaires and billionaires aren't contributing their money out of sheer love of country. They have a more self-interested motive. Their political spending is analogous to their other investments. Mostly they want low tax rates and friendly regulations.
Wall Street is punishing Democrats for enacting the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation (weak as it is) by shifting its money to Republicans. The Koch brothers' petrochemical empire has financed, among many other things, candidates who will vote against environmental protection.
This tsunami of big money into politics is the real public nuisance. It's making it almost impossible for the voices of average Americans to be heard because most of us don't have the dough to break through. By granting First Amendment rights to money and corporations, the First Amendment rights of the rest of us are being trampled on.
This is where the Occupiers come in. If there's a core message to the Occupier movement it's that the increasing concentration of income and wealth poses a grave danger to our democracy.
Yet when Occupiers seek to make their voices heard - in one of the few ways average people can still be heard - they're told their First Amendment rights are limited.
The New York State Court of Appeals along with many mayors and other officials say Occupiers can picket - but they can't encamp. Yet it's the encampments themselves that have drawn media attention (along with the police efforts to remove them).
A bunch of people carrying pickets isn't news. When it comes to making views known, picketing is no competition for big money.
Yet if Occupiers now shift tactics from passive resistance to violence, it would spell the end of the movement. The vast American middle class that now empathizes with the Occupiers would promptly desert them.
But there's another alternative. If Occupiers are expelled from specific geographic locations the Occupier movement can shift to broad-based organizing around the simple idea at the core of the movement: It's time to occupy our democracy.
Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including "The Work of Nations," "Locked in the Cabinet," "Supercapitalism" and his latest book, "AFTERSHOCK: The Next Economy and America's Future." His 'Marketplace' commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Poll: Most Arizonans support nonpartisan primary
By JOANNE INGRAM
Cronkite News Service
PHOENIX – More than half of Arizonans support switching from partisan primaries to a nonpartisan ballot that would send the highest-polling candidates on to the general election regardless of party affiliation, according to a poll released Monday by a public policy research group.
Bruce Merrill, poll director and senior research fellow at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, said the results show that Arizonans are ready for a change.
“It’s an attempt really to get away from the overrepresentation of ideologues in the Legislature,” Merrill said in a phone interview.
The poll found that 58 percent of Arizonans favor such a system, while 33 percent oppose it and 9 percent are uncertain.
Under Arizona’s current system, Democrats and Republicans vote in their own party’s primary and independent voters must choose a party’s ballot if they want to participate.
Merrill said that because few Arizonans vote in primaries the most extreme candidates from either side often move forward to the general election.
“What people don’t realize is the majority of all of the electoral outcomes are determined in primary elections,” he said.
The poll of 600 Arizonans was conducted from Oct. 4-11. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed live in Maricopa County, 17 percent in Pima County and 24 percent in other counties. The sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
A group calling itself the Open Government Committee wants Arizonans to decide whether to switch to what often is referred to as an open primary, meaning the top two vote-getters would move forward in a runoff election if neither receive the majority vote.
Paul Johnson, former Phoenix mayor and the group’s chairman, said this poll mirrors feedback he’s heard consistently on changing the system.
“I’m pleased to see Bruce Merrill’s poll confirm what we already know,” he said in a phone interview.
Johnson’s group recently filed an initiative called the Open Elections/Open Government Act. It needs 259,213 signatures by July 5 to make the November 2012 ballot.
Similar systems have been in place in Louisiana since 1975 and in Washington state since 2008, and California voters approved an open primary measure in 2010.
Jennifer Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party, said the party doesn’t take an official position on open primaries, adding that whether such a system would work in Arizona “remains to be seen.”
A message left with the Arizona Republican Party wasn’t returned by late Monday afternoon.
• Among Republicans, 58 percent supported nonpartisan primaries, 37 percent were opposed and 5 percent weren’t sure.
• Among Democrats, 52 percent favored the idea, 36 percent opposed it and 12 percent weren’t sure.
• Among independent voters, 67 percent favored the idea, 27 percent opposed it and 6 percent weren’t sure.
Cronkite News Service
PHOENIX – More than half of Arizonans support switching from partisan primaries to a nonpartisan ballot that would send the highest-polling candidates on to the general election regardless of party affiliation, according to a poll released Monday by a public policy research group.
Bruce Merrill, poll director and senior research fellow at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, said the results show that Arizonans are ready for a change.
“It’s an attempt really to get away from the overrepresentation of ideologues in the Legislature,” Merrill said in a phone interview.
The poll found that 58 percent of Arizonans favor such a system, while 33 percent oppose it and 9 percent are uncertain.
Under Arizona’s current system, Democrats and Republicans vote in their own party’s primary and independent voters must choose a party’s ballot if they want to participate.
Merrill said that because few Arizonans vote in primaries the most extreme candidates from either side often move forward to the general election.
“What people don’t realize is the majority of all of the electoral outcomes are determined in primary elections,” he said.
The poll of 600 Arizonans was conducted from Oct. 4-11. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed live in Maricopa County, 17 percent in Pima County and 24 percent in other counties. The sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
A group calling itself the Open Government Committee wants Arizonans to decide whether to switch to what often is referred to as an open primary, meaning the top two vote-getters would move forward in a runoff election if neither receive the majority vote.
Paul Johnson, former Phoenix mayor and the group’s chairman, said this poll mirrors feedback he’s heard consistently on changing the system.
“I’m pleased to see Bruce Merrill’s poll confirm what we already know,” he said in a phone interview.
Johnson’s group recently filed an initiative called the Open Elections/Open Government Act. It needs 259,213 signatures by July 5 to make the November 2012 ballot.
Similar systems have been in place in Louisiana since 1975 and in Washington state since 2008, and California voters approved an open primary measure in 2010.
Jennifer Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party, said the party doesn’t take an official position on open primaries, adding that whether such a system would work in Arizona “remains to be seen.”
A message left with the Arizona Republican Party wasn’t returned by late Monday afternoon.
Other findings:
• Women were more supportive of a nonpartisan primary than men, with 64 percent saying they would stand behind the system, compared with 49 percent of men.• Among Republicans, 58 percent supported nonpartisan primaries, 37 percent were opposed and 5 percent weren’t sure.
• Among Democrats, 52 percent favored the idea, 36 percent opposed it and 12 percent weren’t sure.
• Among independent voters, 67 percent favored the idea, 27 percent opposed it and 6 percent weren’t sure.
Rumors of large Medicare increases way false
Gazette Contributor
You may have heard rumors lately that Medicare Part B premiums are shooting up – by as much as 200 percent.
Those rumors are completely false, I’m happy to say.
In fact, for most people with Medicare, the Part B premium will rise by $3.50 per month in 2012. That means the total monthly premium will be $99.90.
Medicare is divided into four parts, A, B, C, and D. Part A pays for hospital inpatient care, skilled nursing care, hospice, and some home health care.
Part B pays for doctor services, outpatient care, and some other types of home health.
Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage, finances managed care plans, like HMOs and PPOs, operated by private companies approved by Medicare. And Part D is the Medicare prescription drug program.
Only about 1 percent of people with Medicare pay Part A premiums, since they paid enough in Medicare taxes over their working lives to qualify for premium-free Part A. We expect Part C premiums to be 4 percent lower, on average, next year. And Part D premiums will be about the same next year as this year.
People with Medicare pay 25 percent of their Part B premiums; the government picks up the rest. The actual amount of the premium is set each year based on expected care costs for all Medicare beneficiaries.
The “standard” Part B premium of $96.40 – the amount paid by most beneficiaries – had stayed the same since 2008, under a law that prohibits increases in Part B premiums in years in which there’s no cost-of-living increase in Social Security payments.
But retired workers will receive an average of $43 more each month in their Social Security checks next year. That will more than offset the $3.50 per month rise in standard Part B premiums.
The Part B deductible for 2012 will be $140, a decrease of $22 from this year.
The Part A deductible paid by beneficiaries when admitted as a hospital inpatient will be $1,156 in 2012, an increase of $24 from this year's $1,132. This change is well below increases in previous years and general inflation.
******
I also want to remind everyone with Medicare that the end of open enrollment season is drawing near. The deadline for choosing a new Medicare health or prescription drug plan is Dec. 7.
People with Medicare should check their current plans to make sure they’re still a good fit. Can you still afford the premiums? Does your plan still cover the medical services and drugs you need?
If you’d like help sorting through all the choices, take a look at the “Medicare & You” handbook that was mailed to you recently. It lists all the health and drug plans that offer coverage in your area.
You also may want to check out Medicare’s online Plan Finder tool at www.Medicare.gov. Among other things, Plan Finder lets you enter the names of the medications you’re taking and find a plan that covers most or all of them.
Beginning this year, Plan Finder also rates Medicare Advantage plans according to our Five-Star Rating System. A gold icon indicates plans that received five stars, the highest rating for quality of care and customer service. We encourage people with Medicare to enroll in plans with higher ratings -- and we hope lower-rated plans will work hard to improve their care and service.
I also wanted to let you know that, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, people who fall into the Part D “donut hole” will be eligible for 50 percent discounts on covered brand-name drugs next year. About 1.8 million Medicare beneficiaries have gotten cheaper drugs this year through the discount.
Also thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Medicare preventive health benefits are now available for free. These services include cancer screenings and an annual wellness visit with your doctor.
David Sayen is Medicare’s regional administrator for California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Trust Territories. You can always get answers to your Medicare questions by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
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