hodgepodge

[Via Rogue NASA]

In case you missed it earlier - Do you want a “one stop shop” to: 1) Register to vote 2) Check your registration status 3) Find out where your polling place is 4) Know when your voting registration deadline is?

Garcia’s road trip, like his school bus — wrapped in purple campaign signs and retrofitted with solar panels to power small workstations and kitchen appliances inside — is emblematic of the road he’s traveling, quite literally, to the governor’s mansion. His plan of attack is twofold: Reach out to voters in rural parts of the state that Democratic candidates have traditionally overlooked, and focus on education. The No. 1 issue facing Arizona is simultaneously Garcia’s area of expertise and the Achilles’ heel of Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who is running for re-election.

In Payson, which is about 93 percent white, Garcia pitched greater teacher pay and full investment in public schools, building on the demands of a teachers strike that rocked the state in April. He told his 50-person audience that education would be the reason Arizona turns blue this year, but he also introduced other parts of his platform: an in-state public option as a stepping stone to universal health care; free college; and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Did you hear me beat up on Republicans today?” Garcia asked. “No,” the crowd responded. “Did you hear me talk about us and them?” he followed. “No,” the crowd assured.

“You are not going to hear that from me, and let me tell you why,” he continued. “When you walk away from here, I want you to walk away with a set of values. A value about the importance of immigration, a value about public education — because I don’t care what party you’re in. If you share those values, I want you to be welcome to mark my name on that ballot, because when we do this approach — this ‘us and them’ approach — we turn people off.”

A fourth-generation Arizonan, Garcia was born and raised in a working-class family in Mesa. His father worked in construction as a commercial painter, and his family did not have health insurance until his mom got a job at an electronics factory. Garcia enlisted in the military after high school, and he attended Arizona State University with help from the GI Bill, becoming the first in his family to go to college. He eventually went on to earn a doctorate from the University of Chicago, and he’s been teaching classes like statistics and research methods at Arizona State University for the last 12 years. He has also worked on policy at the Arizona Department of Education and with the state Senate Education Committee.

In 2014, Garcia, who is the director of the Arizona Education Policy Initiative, ran for state superintendent of public instruction but lost by a single percentage point to Republican Diane Douglas. “I was sick and tired of what the legislature was doing to public schools in Arizona,” Garcia told me about his first run for office. “Having been there,” he said, referring to his work in the state Senate, “I understand it’s a very specific concerted effort to cut public education to the bone, criticize it for not improving, and then turning to privatization as the option.”

His loss was a victory of sorts: He came closer than any other Democrat that year to winning a statewide election. This year, he may just have what it takes to cross the finish line.

Garcia appears to be the Democratic front-runner ahead of the August 28 primary election, holding, in recent polls, a nearly 24-point lead against state Sen. Steve Farley and former minister Kelly Fryer, with nearly half of voters undecided. (Farley is leading the pack in fundraising.) The question then, is whether Garcia can overcome Ducey, who is all but guaranteed to be the GOP nominee, to become the state’s first Democratic governor in 10 years.

yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

FUCKIN YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

no BULLSHIT I KID YOU NOT! Look what I found while walking Home…..

OH MY GOD

OH MY F*CKIN GOD

THIS POST FUCKIN WORKS?!?!?! THIS IS PAST A COINCIDENCE NO WAY!??! NO FRIGGIN WAY!!! 

Source

Again, my “ideology” – i.e., my moral and ethical alignment of ideas in regards to politics, society, culture, nature, humanity, biodiversity, ecology, environmental stewardship, and forward-thinking measures that see the future / progress of human civilization beyond short-term election cycles and quarterly financial calendars – does not pander to the changing guards of societally-centered terminology which shifts among our culture at the whim of upheaval or the vice of persecution/oppression. 

My allegiance is to that of the preservation of life bolstered by the biosphere with which we’ve been so fortunate to occupy some space and survive some harsh seasons and natural events among its history. But we still are living on borrowed time. In realizing this, the only intellectually honest direction I choose to move is forward; and the only trust and support I pledge is not to a flag or symbol, but to the methods and tools of science. 

Now, whether the tone in my writing, the biting sarcasm of posted memes, sharing of specifically chosen quotes, and passing on of articles that reflect my intimate concern over our future and the role of environmental stewardship (which is defiantly being abandoned in full view of the world) seem – from your privileged and esteemed point of view – to place me in whichever camp or box you’d like to fit me in, that’s your prerogative. 

Normally I’d be curious as to why such anonymous finger-pointing is even necessary in these current uncertain times, but frankly, I’d rather continue paying attention to those who are disseminating assistance, positive alternatives, helpful information, initiating meaningful and motivating dialogue, and spreading the good, rather than, well, whatever the fuck you think you’re doing. 

Donald Trump just approved the Keystone XL tarsands pipeline — overturning Obama’s 2015 rejection. [1]

Keystone XL would threaten dozens of rivers with oil spills, and make it virtually impossible for Canada to meet our climate targets. [2]

Today, Trump warned that he plans to “renegotiate the terms” of the project — and the media is already reporting that this could mean higher costs for Canada. [3]

Unbelievably, the Liberal government is giving Trump’s plan the thumbs-up, without any additional review of the changes to the project that Trump negotiates. That gives Trump a blank cheque to change the project terms without our approval [4]

What’s worse, Keystone XL has never faced a serious review in Canada. Harper rubber-stamped the pipeline after a sham process that didn’t even consider climate change.

A project this massive needs a careful and thorough review — especially now that Trump is promising to negotiate changes that could make Keystone even worse for Canada. If enough of us speak out, we can convince the Liberal government to suspend Harper’s approval of Keystone XL, and put the project — including any of Trump’s changes — through a new, credible review process. Sign the petition now

Sources:

[1] Trump signs Keystone order, wants terms renegotiated (Globe and Mail). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/trump-sign-order-to-approve-keystone-xl-pipeline/article33714341/

[2] Oil sands must remain largely unexploited to meet climate target, study finds (Globe and Mail). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/study-backs-argument-keystone-would-contribute-to-climate-change/article22335591/