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Parker Scheduled to Make Major Announcement

September 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Politics on the Rocks is reporting that Mayor Vernon Parker will be speaking at the next networking event on Wednesday, September 23rd. At that meeting, Parker is rumored to be making a major announcement.

If Parker announces his candidacy for Governor, he will be the first of the first-tiered candidates to do so. Several 2nd and 3rd-tiered candidates have already announced.

The event will be held at the Montelucia Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley and will begin at 5:30 PM. Politico Mafioso is carrying the announcement and RSVP’s are being taken via evite (click here).

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections

PR: Parker Joins Arpaio to Award High School Diplomas to Juveniles

September 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Here is the latest press release from Sheriff Joe Arpaio regarding high school diplomas to juvenile-aged offenders:

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, INMATES AWARDED TRADITIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS INSIDE SHERIFF’S JAIL

For Immediate Release: September 14, 2009

(Phoenix, AZ.) Six juveniles, all of whom broke the law thereby losing their freedom and their chance to graduate with their high school classmates, will at least be awarded true high school diplomas tomorrow in an 11:30 a.m. ceremony in the Lower Buckeye Jail.

This is the first time in the history of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s “Hard Knocks High School,” the only high school inside an American jail, that inmates will actually get a true and traditional high school diploma rather than receiving their GEDs.

Unlike the GED program, a traditional diploma would allow those inmates/students to apply directly to a major university rather than go to a community college for higher education once their jail sentences are served.

The high school diplomas are being awarded to six male inmates tomorrow, four of whom are incarcerated for armed robbery and two for aggravated assault, because they completed what is known as a “virtual high school curriculum” via the internet, Arpaio says.

“We’re always looking for ways we can help inmates who want to help themselves,” Arpaio says. “These inmates volunteered to do the tough work in this tough jail environment, to stay on par with the classmates they left behind and we are very proud of their achievements.”

EdOptions Foundation, the corporation which provides and supports lifelong learning, is working in concert with the Sheriff’s office to provide inmates with internet based classroom delivery.

Dr. David Reed, EdOptions’ Director of Research and program manager for the MCSO project, said about the high school graduates, “These individuals have met rigorous state requirements, met or exceeded AIMS testing, and completed stringent academic requirements for graduation – it is truly an accomplishment to be proud of.”

Dr. Tom Sawner, CEO of Educational Options, Inc. said, “The Foundation is proud to support and be a part of this program and delighted that through EdOptions High School six uniquely qualified students graduated from high school and earned their diploma. This will allow these students an opportunity to transition into mainstream society and to continue in advanced educational programs.”

The inmates will wear the traditional cap and gown and be awarded their certificates before friends and family tomorrow at the Lower Buckeye Jail starting at 11:30AM. Sheriff Joe Arpaio will be joined by Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker, a staunch believer in higher education for youths.

Media is encouraged to attend and meet these young men. Please contact the on call Media Relations Officer for entrance into the medium security facility of Lower Buckeye Jail located at 35th Avenue and Lower Buckeye Roads.

Filed Under: Crime and Punishment, Education

PR: Arizona Hispanic Republicans Launch New GOP Group

September 14, 2009 By 7 Comments

Arizona Hispanic Republicans Launch New GOP Group

For Immediate Release Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Contact: Communications, info@somosrepublicans.com

Phoenix, AZ — On the eve of Mexican Independence Day and Hispanic Heritage Month, we are proud to announce the launch of Somos Republicans - a grassroots Hispanic GOP organization in Arizona.

Our mission and goals are simple: Increase Hispanic GOP voter registration; Recruit Hispanic Precinct Committeemen; Promote Hispanic GOP candidates; and get more Republicans involved and elected to office.

For far too long, Hispanic Republicans have been neglected and taken for granted. Somos Republicans has something to say: ?We are Conservative in our beliefs and we will be active in politics and shape the new Republican face!? We share the values and principles of the Republican Party, but our voices in the past have fallen on deaf ears.

When elected and party officials are quoted as saying such outlandish comments as, ?Operation Wetback; Change the Constitution because of too many anchor babies in our country; and all the terrorists are coming through Mexico (knowing full well that the 9-11 terrorists came from Canada when they overstayed their visas)? it is no wonder why Republicans continue to lose elections and registration advantages.

17% of eligible voters in Arizona are Latino. How many elections are determined with a margin of victory or defeat with less than 17%? — Almost all of them. Imagine the impact Latinos would have if all eligible Hispanic voters were registered to vote. Somos Republicans will work tirelessly to ensure that approximately 673,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Arizona are registered to vote, and will explain the Republican values of being pro-family, patriotic, pro-2nd Amendment, pro-religious freedom, pro-life, pro-Capitalism, supportive of the school voucher system, supportive of a strong military and national defense, against tax increases, for smaller government, and for humane immigration reform focusing on legalizing labor that would yield significant income gains for Americans and our households.

 

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Demographics, Political Parties, Press Release

“Gay Day” for California School Children Close to Becoming Law

September 14, 2009 By 35 Comments

Sacramento, CA – Schools across California may soon be devoting an entire school day to honor homosexual icon Harvey Milk, if Governor Schwarzenegger signs a bill passed this week by the California legislature.

The bill, SB 572, requires that the Governor proclaim every May 22 as Harvey Milk Day, “and would designate that day as having special significance in public schools and educational institutions and would encourage those entities to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date.”  The bill offers no opt-out provisions for parents who might not want their children to focus on sexual issues.

Some believe that Governor Schwarzenegger might sign the measure this time because of recent honors bestowed on Harvey Milk by Hollywood and President Obama.

[On August 12, 2009 Barry Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk.]

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, urged Californians to contact Governor Schwarzenegger and express opposition to the bill, stating, “This is one of the most blatant attempts yet to bypass parents and push homosexual indoctrination on young students.  In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, our youth cannot afford to have classroom instruction time wasted on politically correct propaganda.”

To express opposition to SB 572, citizens can call Governor Schwarzenegger’s office at (916) 445-2841.  Please note that the phone lines are often busy, so persistence may be necessary in order to communicate your opinion. Gay rights groups are also urging their constituents to call the Governor in support of the bill.

Pacific Justice Institute is working alongside other leading California pro-family groups, including Capitol Resource Institute, California Family Council and Concerned Women of America of California, to defeat SB 572.

Footnote: San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, (with the mustache)  served 11 months in office and on November 27, 1978, Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by former SF Supervisor Dan White.  Harvey and Dan began their relationship as friends and political colleagues, their relationship soured when Harvey withdrew his support for a measure very important to Dan.

Unable to support his family, Dan resigned from the Board of Supervisors, but later changed his mind.  When Mayor Muscone wouldn’t allow him to return, Dan crawled through a basement window at City Hall to avoid the metal detector, and shot Mayore Moscone.  He then went to Harvey’s office and shot and killed him too.

It is well established, the assignation of Harvey Milk had nothing to do with his pioneering of Gay Rights in California.

Filed Under: Culture, Education, Family, Legislation, LGBT, Personalities

Let consumers go green by choice

September 14, 2009 By 5 Comments

By Nick Dranias
Goldwater Institute
 
Arizonans are facing down a speeding locomotive of utility rate hikes. This runaway train is fueled both by increasing demand for electricity and by regulation that forces utilities to generate electricity from costly sources. Worse, the current system of state-sanctioned electrical utility monopolies ties consumers to the tracks–giving them no choice but to pay whatever rates are forced upon them.
 
It doesn’t have to be this way, the free market can be unleashed to minimize the pain. Arizona can open up its electrical grid to competition. Opening the grid would let innovative entrepreneurs fulfill the demand for all types of energy, including renewable, green energy. For example, once the electricity market in Texas was restructured for competition, generation capacity increased by 35 percent and much of that was through renewable sources.

By letting entrepreneurs sell electricity from renewable sources to environmentally-minded consumers, competition shifts the costs of green policies to green consumers, keeping rates lower for everyone else. Although the Texas market is still evolving and rates have not yet fallen overall, in Britain’s more mature market, a similar expansion in capacity driven by competition eventually lowered overall rates by 30 percent.
 
Electrical utilities should compete for your-hard earned dollar just like every other business.  And when they do, your rates will stabilize and ultimately go down.
 
Nick Dranias holds the Goldwater Institute Clarence J. and Katherine P. Duncan chair for constitutional government and is the director of the Institute’s Dorothy D. and Joseph A. Moller Center for Constitutional Government.

Filed Under: Economics, Energy, Environment, Regulations