Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

I’m catching up on things that I have been meaning to write for the last week or so. I had to fire my entire staff due to the falling dollar, the collapse of the sub-prime lending market and my continuing ennui following the break-ups of both Sleater-Kinney and The Beta Sweat.
Anyhow, it seems that Phil […]

I don’t read the New Times, at least not since they detailed that bizarre on-stage fight between Peter “Splat” Catalonotte and Chris Holliman at that River Roses show back in 1989.
Really, I don’t beacause it is a pale imitation of the Tucson Weekly.
Yes, I am saying that in the hopes that Jim Nintzel will buy me […]

A bit of a footnote to the Australian parliamentary elections for those of us who are Gen Xers: former Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett has been named Minister for Heritage, Environment and Arts by newly installed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Garrett has been in the parliament since 2004, elected in the Division of Kingsford Smith in the […]

The first official salvo in next year’s Pima County Attorney race has been fired. A group called Citizens for Justice has been formed and has put together a website detailing what they see as problems with Barbara Lawall’s stewardship of her office. The allegations are well sourced, with all of them being presented as articles […]

Even as a frequent critic of John McCain, I thought he was pretty clever with his “I was tied up…” jibe when going after Hillary Clinton for funding the Bethel Arts Center, which has been derided as the “hippie museum.”
Of course, “hippie museum” is pretty far from what it actually is.
The only thing that is […]

I got a call today from Fred DuVal, who is stumping for votes for the Democratic National Committee slot being vacated by Joe Rios. This would not be DuVal’s first stint on the committee, having served as an “at-large” member in the 1990’s.
DuVal is promising to get more resources for Arizona, something is is very […]

Harry Reid took to the Senate floor today to call Rush “unpatriotic.”
Well, what does he expect? They are Canadian after all.

I recieved a missive last week from John D’Anna, who is one of the writers for a blog that the Arizona Republic runs called Az Green Day. The blog covers environmental issues. D’Anna is listed as a “Platform Manager” for the Republic. I have no idea what that means, but it probably does not involve nails or two-by-fours.
In his […]

My usual polling place is the Odd Fellows hall over on Palo Verde. I like being able to say that I vote at the Odd Fellows hall.
Not so this primary. I will be voting at the Church of the Bretheren a bit further away. I’m sure that it is a perfectly wonderful little Protestant congregation […]

In an e-mail to supporters, Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez has declared her support for Barack Obama. No, I don’t know what the “F” stands for either.
In the 2004 primary, Rodriguez supported Wesley Clark. We came into the race late, and many legislators and elected officials had already signed on with a candidate (many […]

I spoke with Rebekah Friend, Executive Director of our state’s AFL-CIO, on Monday. She remarked that I haven’t mentioned her.
Geez, with all of the garbage that gets thrown at me, people want to be mentioned? Who knew?
As it turns out, there is an honor that Friend has managed to garner this week: the Arizona Capitol […]

My brother was in Boston for the National Conference of State Legislatures meeting. Yes, the name of the group has the word “Legislatures” and not “Legislators.” Shortly after he got back, he flew to Denver for a meeting related to his “civilian” work. So, it is only just now that I got his rundown of […]

Today is the feast of St. Cajetan. Although born wealthy, Cajetan was a fierce advocate for the poor, going after his age’s equivalent of payday lenders. He was a popular saint among the early Jesuit  missionaries in our region, and his name is on both a mission (San Cayetano de Calabazas) and the San Cayetano mountains that […]

Word has gotten back from me from the National Conference of State Legislatures meeting in Boston that our own Steve Farley has been using much of his free time riding the local public transit system. No word on what happened when the conductor told him “one more nickel.”
NB - So, my New England Revolution haven’t lost […]

Last night, Coconino County Democrats met to decide what three names to forward to the Board of Supervisors when they select a replacement for the recently resigned State Representative Ann Kirkpatrick.
The folks they picked were:
Flagstaff City Councilmember Kara Kelty - Kelty was the top vote getter. She has had a variety of jobs in Flagstaff including […]

Candidate for State Democratic Party Chairman Don Bivens has spent the day meeting with local Democratic Party muckety mucks. I count this as a healthy sign. One weakness I saw with David Waid’s chairmanship was despite his administrative skills, he had an uneasy relationship with party activists.
The smart money says that Bivens is the prohibitive […]

My Lord.
Well, she’s gone and done it. It’s like she read my post about my doubts about her candidacy and Hillary Clinton went and decided that she would tick me off even more. She’s now descended down my hierarchy of Democratic nominee wannabees down to somewhere below Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel.
What, you may ask, […]

I’m torn about Hillary Clinton. For one thing, I don’t buy that her candidacy is DOA the moment she gets nominated (maybe it is in the press, but not the electorate). For some reason, John McCain can post similar “unfavorability” numbers but not be regarded this way by the wise reporters in the beltway. Oh […]

I know that us liberals are supposed to be spectacular whimps compared to the oh-so-manly men that lead the Republican party. I mean, not one Democrat has ever shot a friend in the face while hunting captive quail.
But there is a strain of conservative commentary that makes them look like simpering three-year olds: the strain that […]

Finally, a reason to tell this story. There is a story (probably apocryphal) about a former Tucson City Councilmember that will remain nameless whose wallet was found after a police raid on a local house of ill-repute. The next day, the Chief of Police called him into his office. The wallet was returned, the story says, with […]