Arizona: Arizona Daily Star

November 19, 2009 - 06:04 pm
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

Dr. Eric Novack, right-wing shill

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

When one of the Neocon Washington Post's deans of conservative apologists, George Will, sings someone's praises you know something dark and evil is afoot. It merits a closer examination of the object of his praise. (Will's columns should come with a disclosure statement).

Both of Arizona's two major newspapers The Arizona Republic and the Arizona Daily Star published the Washington Post opinion from George Will today. George F. Will - Unlawful Heath Reform?

In 2006, long before there was an Obama administration determined to impose a command-and-control federal health-care system, a young orthopedic surgeon walked into the Goldwater Institute here with an idea.

November 17, 2009 - 12:39 pm
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

Mike Hein: He's your problem now, Chuck

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Back in April the Tucson City Council voted to fire its city manager, Mike Hein, for cause. Tucson City Manager Mike Hein fired; to get six months' pay

Hein was named city manager in April 2005. He also has served as a Deputy Pima County Administrator and had worked for Marana, Nogales and the City of South Tucson.  

* * *

Hein and the city have had an extremely difficult past several months, as inaction or a series of missteps with Rio Nuevo Downtown has the Legislature considering pulling the plug on the $600 million tax-increment-financing district, or slapping heavy sanctions on it.

November 14, 2009 - 05:16 pm
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

Rep. John Shadegg's ventriloquist act goes viral

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Rhonda Bodfield at the Arizona Daily Star writes Political Notebook: Rep. Shadegg's health care speech goes viral:

U.S. Congressman John Shadegg was mocked by funnyman Jon Stewart and chastised by Bill O’Reilly for his floor speech against the health care reform bill when it came up for a vote last Saturday.

In a “What was he thinking?” moment that has been forever memorialized on YouTube, Shadegg held his chief of staff’s baby, Maddie Thompson, in his arms as he introduced her, “This is Maddie. Maddie believes in freedom. Maddie likes America because we have freedom here and Maddie believes in patient choice health care.

November 13, 2009 - 04:10 pm
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

Going Rogue

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

While I'm on the subject of full page ads in the Arizona Daily Star there is one today from NewsMax.com (a right-wing biased "news" mag that makes Faux News look like a legitimate news organization) promoting Sarah Palin's soon to be released book, "Going Rogue: an American Life," for the low, low price of $4.97 -- but wait, there's more! For this low, low price you also get the NewsMax report "Sarah Palin and the New Feminism" -- but wait, there's more! You also get a four month trial subscription to NewsMax magazine.

(Amazon.com lists the book at $20.99 - whoops! - it's already been marked down to the discount clearance bin price of $9.

November 13, 2009 - 01:32 pm
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

UFCW strike at Safeway and Fry's averted; so who benefited?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

h/tTedski at R-Cubed for the press release and graphic.

This fresh from the UFCW:

We are proud to report that a strike has been averted with Safeway, Fry’s and Smiths.

After 13 months of bargaining and a strike deadline just hours away, UFCW Local 99 and the grocery companies have agreed on a tentative new three-year contract.

In the coming weeks, you will have an opportunity to thoroughly review the tentative agreement and vote on your new contract.

Until then no details about the tentative agreement will be released.

We know that this had been a tense and difficult time for you and your families.

November 4, 2009 - 04:07 pm
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

McClatchy News' Investigative Report on Goldman Sachs - Part 4

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

McClatchy News continues its investigative report on Goldman Sachs with part 4 of the series Why did blue-chip Goldman take a walk on subprime's wild side?:

Goldman Sachs was one of the last Wall Street giants to enter the subprime lending world, but when it did, it quickly climbed into bed with profligate, highflying firms — companies such as New Century Financial Corp.

In at least nine deals from 2002 to 2007, Goldman sold bonds backed by more than $5 billion of New Century's mortgages, one even after the California lender's underwriting criteria all but disintegrated and a cash squeeze paralyzed its operation.

November 1, 2009 - 12:59 pm
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

Republicans Scare Voters With Dirty Trick on Halloween

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Shaun McClusky saved his biggest lie for last, after the local media has gone into its "black out" of election coverage on the Friday preceding election day. We don't have such a stupid policy here. You have the right to know.

This latest action is directed by the GOP "brain trust" of Bill Arnold, Bruce Ash and Jim Click (who spoke to volunteers walking for McClusky on Saturday, according to his campaign web site). This has their brand of Roger Ailes/Lee Atwater/Karl Rove "politics of personal destruction" fingerprints all over it. The kid really doesn't like this.

I received two large glossy attack mail pieces on Saturday from the McClusky campaign (despite having already voted), one with a big, bold headline screaming that "Fimbres even had 'secret bank accounts,'" citing an Arizona Daily Star article and an East Valley Tribune article -- selectively quoted and taken entirely out of context to once again suggest in the minds of voters that Richard Fimbres was somehow engaged in illegal conduct while he was an officer of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), to make the scary Halloween claim that "we can't trust Richard Hombres with public money.

October 31, 2009 - 09:22 am
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

Shaun McClusky pulls a Dunbar, campaign circles the drain

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Shaun McClusky is a political neophyte. Hell, he admits that he wasn't politically active and didn't even bother to vote in city elections before he was recruited by the GOP to run for city council. So I know the latest actions are being directed by the GOP "brain trust" of Bill Arnold, Bruce Ash and Jim Click. This has their brand of Roger Ailes/Lee Atwater/Karl Rove "politics of personal destruction" fingerprints all over it. The kid doesn't like it.

I received a large glossy flier from the McClusky campaign with big, bold headlines screaming that money destined for the Tucson Police Department has "disappeared" and is "missing," and that Richard Fimbres won't say what happened to it.

October 29, 2009 - 11:12 am
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

Tea Party Temper-Tantrum

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Rhonda Bodfield of the Arizona Daily Star has a report today about the faux outrage coming from the Tucson Tea Party over being "slandered" by the use of the term "teabagger." Potential sexual slur in release raises...

October 29, 2009 - 11:12 am
NEWS FEED: Blog for Arizona

Tea Party Temper-Tantrum

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Rhonda Bodfield of the Arizona Daily Star has a report today about the faux outrage coming from the Tucson Tea Party over being "slandered" by the use of the term "teabagger." Potential sexual slur in release raises Tea Partiers' ire; Uhlich apologizes This is known as manufacturing a story from nothing.

Let me help you out with a little research you obviously did not do, Rhonda. It was the Tea Party Patriots and their free advertising promotions at Faux News who first used the term "teabaggers" as you can see from this report below from the Rachel Maddow Show from this past April.