Why did the Republic fire one of its bloggers ... and scrub his work from its website without notice?
Nick Martin, at Heat City, says that Bill Richardson, an ex-cop who blogged for the Republic on police matters, has been dropped by the Republic …and had his entire body of work expunged from the paper’s site, with no notice.
Any paper can publish whom it wants, of course. But with the Republic, there’s always something weird going on:
Richardson said one of the paper’s opinion editors, Joanna Allhands, called him Monday to tell him the blog was being yanked because of recent posts he had written about the Tempe Police Department.
[…]
But reached by phone late Tuesday, Allhands flatly denied the move was made because of Richardson’s criticism of Tempe.
“No, that’s not correct,” she said when asked about the allegation. Still, she refused to explain why Richardson’s blog was closed or why his entire archive was deleted from the website.
Seems like either Richardson or Allhands is lying!
And in any case, scrubbing the archive with no notice or explanation is a no-no.
7:06 AM
EaterAZ is looking for a few good taco judges
The people behind the local food blog EaterAZ did a barbecue fest last year, and then looked around for new challenges.
They noticed that the taco field was wide open; the first Arizona Taco Festival is scheduled for October. Now they need judges:
As you know, we are producing the first taco festival in the history of the world. (No, really, it’s never been done. Isn’t that freakin’ crazy?!) Because we wanted to keep the judging fair and balanced (meaning blind and qualified), we launched an organization called the National Taco Association. Consider it the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) of tacos. After attending a brief class on taco judging and score keeping, you will hold one of the most important positions at the Arizona Taco Festival on October 9. A judges duties are grueling–-you will hang out in a tent from 10AM to 4PM, eating free tacos and marking scores and having fun.
Interested? Send a note to info@aztacofestival.com.
Details here.
8:59 AM
Martin, short: We Read Martin Cizmar So You Don't Have To
From PHXated correspondent Tucson Toby, one of Young Martin Cizmar™’s biggest fans:
Green Day at Cricket Wireless Pavillion Last Night
I saw Green Day last night. I saw them first when I was very young and liked them a lot. I still like them though they have changed. (Inappropriate literary reference). They played this song and this song and this song. This song is from this album. I would have liked it if they played this song and this song.
#
9:19 AM
Brewer's office 'behind bars' with private prison industry
KPHO 5 continues to dig into the private prisons and lobbyists scandal centered in the office of Governor Jan Brewer.
Their investigation has unearthed links with SB 1070 that could send thousands of new bodies to private prisions, worth millions of dollars to the industry.
Click HERE for the video report.
1:07 PM
Pew Hispanic Center illegal immigration report
Illegal immigration to the U.S.has dropped precipitously according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center:
The annual inflow of unauthorized immigrants to the U.S. was nearly two-thirds smaller in the March 2007 to March 2009 period than it had been from March 2000 to March 2005, according to new estimates by the Pew Hispanic Center. This decline contributed to an overall 8% reduction in the unauthorized immigrant population, which fell to 11.1 million in 2009 from 12 million in 2007. By region of origin, the population of unauthorized immigrants from Latin American countries other than Mexico has declined most markedly. By U.S. region, the decrease in the unauthorized immigrant population has been especially notable along the nation’s Southeast coast and in its Mountain West.
Read more here
Here is the take on the story at azcentral, contributed by the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON – The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has dropped for the first time in 20 years as substantially fewer undocumented workers from Mexico, Latin America and elsewhere are crossing the border in search of jobs, an independent research group says.
The analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests the nation’s economic downturn and increased border enforcement have reduced the number of illegal immigrants, who make up roughly 4 percent of the U.S. population.
Read more here.
The Wall Street Journal reports the story:
Illegal immigration to the U.S. has slowed sharply since 2007, as the bleak U.S. job market has discouraged potential migrants from heading north.
The influx of illegal immigrants plunged to an estimated 300,000 annually between March 2007 and 2009, from 850,000 a year between March 2000 and March 2005, according to new study released Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group.
Read more here.
The Arizona Daily Star shows that the drop in Arizona surpasses the national numbers:
PHOENIX – The number of illegal immigrants in Arizona is down – much more sharply than the rest of the country.
New figures from the Pew Hispanic Center estimate there were 375,000 people in this state last year who either entered the country illegally or overstayed their legal visas. That compares with Pew’s estimate 475,000 for 2008.
That 21 percent drop compares with a decline of just 4.3 percent nationwide.
The new figures released Wednesday are a sharp departure in the trends which Pew has been tracking since 1990: This is the first time the numbers have dropped..
Read more here.
1:22 PM
Passenger rail service throughout Arizona?
Though the expansion of Phoenix light rail Valley Metro has been delayed, and a possible bus strike looms in the city, ambitious plans were revealed Monday for intercity rail linking Phoenix with Tucson, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Albuquerque. From Business Week:
Arizona transportation planners say the state should bolster its current rail network’s freight-carrying capacity while adding new passenger services for both local and long-distance travelers.
A draft rail plan obtained by The Associated Press cites a need to provide mobility for the state’s growing population and says investments in rail pay economic and environmental benefits.
“It will not be possible to accommodate growth and avoid traffic congestion by improving roadways alone, so passenger rail should become a key component of the Sun Corridor transportation system,” the draft plan stated, referring to a planning area that stretches from Prescott on the north to Nogales on the south and includes both Phoenix and Tucson.
The plan, prepared by state-hired consultants, envisions several new services.
Those include intercity rail between Phoenix and Tucson, commuter trains in the two metro areas and a possible high-speed rail connecting Phoenix with Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Albuquerque.
The plan will be considered by ADOT later this summer. Read more here.
2:03 PM
Spraygraphic/Jarritos twitter party today
Spraygraphic is a Phoenix based social media website for artists. Jarritos is the Mexican soft drink giant. Twitter is—well, you know. All three have an international reach, but Spraygraphic continues as a homegrown effort, though now in studio homes sited in dozens of countries. From today’s Spraygraphic newsletter:
SPRAYGRAPHIC has partnered up with JARRITOS to sponsor a Twitter party taking place this Wednesday from 4:00pm-6:00pm PST. Join us as we chat about art, design, culture, what inspires us, and more!
How to Play Use a Twitter tracking service like tweetgrid.com/party, with the #JarritosNation tag, which will help you follow the party in real time. Join the party with the hashtag #JarritosNation
Follow @Spraygraphic and @JarritosNation to answer their questions and have a chance to win prizes.
Spraygraphic is at spraygraphic.com.
2:48 PM
SB 1070 mural by DOSE
A recent posting to Phoenix New Times' Jackalope Ranch blog shows some pics of a mural behind Verde Restaurant done by DOSE and fellow graffiti writers SERP, SINEK, ASIK and CRE. Below are some views of a solo mural done by DOSE for the last anti-SB 1070 rally. The mural is in an alley just north of Roosevelt at 3rd Avenue.
3:25 PM
Not to be missed this Friday at the ASU Art Museum: Brent Green
Brent Green is an artist, filmmaker and musician whose newest installation, Gravity was Everywhere Back Then, opens at the ASU Museum on Friday.
It’s a complicated work: Green discovered the story of a Pennsylvania store clerk who, in some sort of obsessive, pained way, began building an extravagantly large house after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
Green made a group of short movies about the man, his house and the couple’s love affair; for his installation at ASU, he’s also rebuilding as much of the house as will fit in the venue’s galleries.
The films are an odd amalgam of documentary, narrative, and stop-motion animation. It’s gotten some poignant reviews:
There are tons of bad movies in this world that you can’t wait for them to be over…. Brent Green’s debut animated feature film, Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then -— which is a magnificent movie —- contains a scene of such devastating heartbreak and sadness that I was practically praying that the film would end before I would have to witness it.
He’s been working on the installation as an artist-in-residence for the past three weeks; on Friday you can see the construction and various of Green’s films, with Green accompanying the showing on guitar.
The event runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday at the museum, at Tenth Street and Mill in Tempe on the ASU campus.
Details from the museum here.
Green’s web site is here.
The video above shows Green talking about the project.
Full press release below.
From the museum:
Gravity was Everywhere Back Then, A New Installation by Brent Green
Sep 4, 2010 – Dec 31, 2010 Location: ASU Art Museum Cost: Free Curator: Heather Sealy Lineberry
This fall, the ASU Art Museum will host a new exhibition by well-known artist and filmmaker Brent Green titled, Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then. The project is inspired by the true story of an idiosyncratic house in Louisville, owned by hardware store clerk Leonard Wood. When his wife Mary was diagnosed with cancer, Leonard started building the house room by room, with the tragic hope that his labor would save his wife. Even after Mary’s death, Wood continued to build the house. Over the next 20 years, he strove to bring something as tangible and powerful as his love for Mary into the world.
Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then will feature Green’s version of Wood’s house, transplanted and reconstructed from the artist’s studio in rural Pennsylvania. The house, along with sculptural elements and structures, will be installed in one of the ASU Art Museum’s galleries, where it will appear to be both constricted by and bursting out of the space. Video and sound pieces will be shown inside and around the house to create an immersive environment.
Green will be in residence for three weeks at the ASU Art Museum, Aug. 16 – Sept. 3, installing the exhibition and interacting with students and school groups. Students from MetroArts High School in Phoenix, guided by Sue Chenoweth, and ASU Intermedia students, guided by Angela Ellsworth and Gregory Sale, will work closely with Green in the gallery as he installs his house, sculpture and films.
Green lives and works in a barn in Cressona, PA. His work is a regular feature at Sundance and he has performed at The Hammer Museum, The Wexner Center and The Getty Museum of Art. In 2007, Green screened three works and performed a live soundtrack at the 11th Annual ASU Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival. Recent solo shows include Site Santa Fe (2009) and the Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis (2008). Upcoming exhibitions and performances include the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Berkeley Museum of Art, CA; Site Santa Fe Biennial; the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore; and Diverse Works, Houston. As part of MoMA’s exhibition of Creative Capital artists (Green is a 2005 Creative Capital Grant recipient), the Museum will host a screening of several of Green’s short films followed by a live performance with members of the music group Califone and indie rock legends Fugazi.
3:41 PM
Brewer's Dismal Debate
As if readers of Phxated need further proof, Governor Brewer demonstrated her incompetence to lead Arizona with her performance during tonights debate. And we’re not the only onces to think so.
The corporate friendly publication, _Phoenix Business Journal) diplomatically noted that the Republican candiate seriously stumbled durting tonight’s debate with Democrat Terry Goddard, Libertarian Barry Hess and Green Party candidate Larry Gist:
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was at a serious loss for words during a Wednesday debate against Attorney General Terry Goddard and other candidates for governor.
[…]
Brewer, a Republican, seriously lost her train of thought during her opening statement. She stopped for prolonged periods of time in between words during the brief statement. Brewer defended Senate Bill 1070 during the debate, saying Arizonans are fearful in their homes because of illegal immigration.
Goddard, a Democrat, said Brewer’s rhetoric on SB1070 sends out a fearful image of the state, and hurts tourism and the economy. Brewer later stumbled somewhat when asked about the state’s economy. She said the state needs to cut taxes to compete with California and Arizona — mistakenly referring to her home state as a rival.
Brewer said she’s brought thousands of jobs to the state throughout the debate. Goddard responded by saying Arizona now has some of the highest job losses in the country.
According to the Arizona Department of Commerce, the state lost 6,800 jobs, or 0.3 percent of its total workforce from July 2009 to July 2010.
[…]
Read more here
8:58 PM
Video of the Arizona Governor's Debate
Missed the debate tonight? Don’t worry, PHXated has you covered. Here is the video of the full hour long debate between the four gubernatiorial candidates, courtesy of KAET-TV:
Stay tuned to PHXated for more in depth reviews and insights on tonights debate (We just need a bit of time to process everything!)
9:06 PM
Jan Brewer retaliates against KPHO-TV
On the same night as her debate disgrace, Morgan Loew, an investigative reporter for KPHO-TV in Phoenix, talks with Rachel Maddow about Arizona governor Jan Brewer’s retaliation against his station for his investigation of her ties with private prison lobbyists.
This is especially interesting coverage given that Maddow is on NBC—whose affiliate, 12 News is a direct competitor of CBS’s KPHO-TV. The segment in question starts at 2:55, but the entire clip is essential viewing:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
10:36 PM
Gratehouse: When you're up, why pick a fight with a TV network?
HighGround, Jan Brewer’s campaign consulting firm posted a butthurt missive on their blog.
Are the number crunchers of parent company Meredith Corp. back in Des Moines putting the screws on journalist integrity in exchange for corporate profit? Or is management asleep at the switch while its on-air talent is using them to build their video resumes for greener pastures?
Front and center in this mess is VP/General Manager Ed Munson and his New Mexico import News Director, Michelle Donaldson. As many longtime Channel 5 insiders will tell you, management is letting the inmates run the Channel 5 asylum.
Chief exhibit is the maniacal Morgan Loew, 5i Team Reporter. It seems Morgan is itching to get out of his native Arizona and head to the network big-time. Why hang around dusty ‘ole Phoenix when the glamour and fame the glitzy 24-hour news grind awaits?
But in order to do that, you need to gain national attention—stints with national media shows—venues like MSNBC’s ‘Rachel Maddow Show.”
Waaaaah! This is classic projection. Jan Brewer’s private prison consultant buddies get caught with their pants down and try to accuse the messenger of doing the same thing they’re doing.
I got a lot of enjoyment out of Channel 5’s coverage of the debate tonight. They showed Jan in all her awkward dumbstruck glory during the debate and then scurrying away from reporters' tough questions afterward. They were just “Telling It Like It Is” on KPHO.
10:43 PM
Why is the blogosphere so dang nasty?
For those incurably PC—you may want to avoid the entire text the below is excerpted from—it starts off with a discussion of theological acrimony between two embattled factions of the Church of England. Readers of a more liberal (not necessarily Liberal) bent may enjoy the entire piece written by Alan Jacobs, a professor of English at Wheaton College. He writes the Text Patterns blog at The New Atlantis, a journal of technology and society.
…A now-famous cartoon on the xkcd “webcomics” site shows a stick figure typing away at his computer keyboard as a voice from outside the frame says, “Are you coming to bed?” The figure replies: “I can’t. This is important… . Someone is wrong on the Internet.” I have thought a lot about why people get so hostile online, and I have come to believe it is primarily because we live in a society with a hypertrophied sense of justice and an atrophied sense of humility and charity, to put the matter in terms of the classic virtues.
[…]
In the 18th century, when modern political journalism was just beginning, Samuel Johnson wrote: “How small of all that human hearts endure / That part which laws or kings can cause or cure.” Johnson wrote as someone who, as a young man, had observed and commented extensively on debates in Parliament. But few of us would agree with him today. We expect our laws and kings — that is, our politicians and the state — to try to cure or avert a great many of the hardships that “human hearts endure.”
And so, as we have come to focus our attention ever more on politics and the arts of public justice, we have increasingly defined our private, familial, and communal lives in similar terms. The pursuit of justice has come to define acts and experiences that once were governed largely by other virtues. It is this particular transformation that Wendell Berry was lamenting when he wrote, “Marriage, in what is evidently its most popular version, is now on the one hand an intimate ‘relationship’ involving (ideally) two successful careerists in the same bed, and on the other hand a sort of private political system in which rights and interests must be constantly asserted and defended. Marriage, in other words, has now taken the form of divorce: a prolonged and impassioned negotiation as to how things shall be divided.” That is, it has become a matter of justice rather than of love, an assertion of rights rather than a self-giving.
This same logic governs our responses to one another on the Internet. We clothe ourselves in the manifest justice of our favorite causes, and so clothed we cannot help being righteous (“Someone is wrong on the Internet”). In our online debates, we not only fail to cultivate charity and humility, we come to think of them as vices: forms of weakness that compromise our advocacy. And so we go forth to war with one another.
This comes close to what Thomas Hobbes, writing four centuries ago, famously called the “war of every man against every man.” As he pointed out, such a war may begin in the name of justice, but justice cannot long survive its depredations. In such an environment, “this also is consequent; that nothing can be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice, have there no place… . Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.”
[…]
The entire article is here.
11:01 PM