Interference in Local Elections

To the National Republican Congressional Committee:

To quote the Arizona Daily Star August 31, 2006, “In a highly unorthodox move, national Republicans have decided to spend more than $122,000 on primary race television ads endorsing Steve Huffman for Congress”.

Tell me this is not true! Do you know who you are supporting? Steve Huffman has a 57% attendance race in the Arizona Congress. He was a member of the Environmental Committee and managed to attend 4 out of 9 meetings. Anyone else would have been told not to come back if they had shirked their job to that degree. And now the National Republican Congressional Committee is attempting to forward Steve Huffman’s candidacy. This lack of attention to the elected position is of great concern to me. I want to support a candidate who will actually attend, not a candidate who only bothers to attend when he is pushing some special interest.

I reviewed the House Bills sponsored by Mr. Huffman and was not pleased with his agenda, which was mostly to provide tax breaks for special interests who have contributed to his campaigns. Since Mr. Huffman is a real estate broker, it did not surprise me that he was against a bill that would have forced any landowner to disclose a lack of water resources on land sold to unsuspecting buyers. Arizona is having problems coping with growth and groundwater resources are failing, according to Tucson Water. Mr. Huffman and his contributors appear relentless in setting things up for their own profits, while ignoring the public good and the possibility of water rationing if the Central Arizona Project water infusions to southern Arizona are decreased or even cut off due to a water shortfall in the Colorado River System.

Mr. Huffman apparently considers himself to be an Arizona constitutional expert, since he introduced 2 amendments to it during the last session. Both amendments were designed for special interests to circumvent current law and cater to the wealthy in a state where most people are not wealthy. Mr. Huffman has been reputed as saying that winning an election is all about money and that the candidate with the most money wins. Currently, about 40% of Mr. Huffman’s campaign contributions are from those who profit from real estate sales, while the average home price in Arizona has climbed to the point where many people are left permanently landless due to an inability to pay the inflated prices. We do not need further negative influence in our economy that results in impoverishment and possible social unrest.

Mr. Huffman also exhibits a lack of respect for the vote. He introduced HB 2702, the Rio Nuevo extension. Rio Nuevo is a special tax district within Tucson that was enabled by a popular vote that allowed for matching funds to be contributed by the city of Tucson, which amounts to about $750,000 a month for city to pay in return to tax rebates to be used for downtown renovation. Mr. Huffman did not believe this 12 year extension of the Rio Nuevo tax obligation needed another vote, while I feel that the voters should have been able to OK further expenditures, and possibly not be forced to pay and pay for special upscale interests downtown. Tucson is not a rich city. Homelessness is pervasive, the crime rate is high, and the police are seriously understaffed, yet this $750,000 a month is earmarked by HB 2702 for 12 more years. We should have had the right to vote on this expenditure, but thanks to Mr. Huffman and his contributors and an apparent vote trading scheme that benefited telecommunications companies, Rio Nuevo is siphoning needed funds from the city’s coffers. This is despotism and corruption from the top down and we certainly don’t need this kind of attitude in Washington D.C.

Mr. Huffman was also supporting the Regional Transportation Authority bond election and a large portion of the work proposed will heavily benefit Diamond Ventures, a powerful campaign donor to Mr. Huffman. Scandal swirled around this election. The pro RTA committee bought 22 spots in the election literature mailed out to voters, but took credit for only two, which left voters thinking those people had actually paid for expressing their opinions, when they had been subsidized by the pro RTA committee. I believe this was voter information fraud but the pro RTA committee people shrugged it off as an oversight.

I do hope you reconsider this interference in Arizona elections. The locals know their candidates and you are apparently unaware of the issues facing Arizona or you would not be propping up this candidate. If you have accepted a huge donation in return for this support, then please review your priorities. This kind of candidate is why the Republican Party is in trouble. Mr. Huffman is definitely not a moderate in any sense of the word. He is beholden to the wealthy and is ignoring the needs of the majority of the populace. Somebody needs to research Mr. Huffman’s campaign donations due to the repetitive nature of donations from several sources, which may or may not have been coerced as a condition of employment. Perhaps some phone calls are in order.

At a recent Candidates’ Breakfast hosted by Tucson Republican Women, Mr. Huffman made a poor showing and was heavily criticized for negative campaigning. Did you do any real research before making the decision to infuse $122,000 into Mr. Huffman’s moribund campaign? I protest this interference in our election.

Blow a Wedge Out of The World

Who is it that wants to test atomic weapons in such an unstable geologic region as the Sea of Japan that extends all the way to the South China Sea that intersects with the area of the huge tsunami quake off Indonesia? He needs to look at a hologram of earthquake areas of the Earth, ocean trenches and fault lines before he lines up a blow to end all blows. He might be on the piece that becomes a meteorite on Venus.

Other earthquake prone areas take heed. Qum is not the first quake and will not be the last, if we can go by past geologic events and tumbled cities dust between your anointed toes. You old catamount shrewd enough to state such, speak up. The welfare of the region is no doubt in your thought processes. Academic learning and wizard dignity heed the call to peace.

Somebody needs to pay the Palestinians so should it be the descendents of all on the United Nations Security Council who decided on the creation of Zionistic Israel, plus the nation of Israel must make some reparations to these people also. How about an apology from those responsible? Beware of inflation that makes cash worth less every day as you have to pay more for the same thing, hopefully not unto a survival level. An apology would be both priceless and worthless unless it brings peace. A lump sum might make more sense and would get the economy moving. Commerce is what Israel needs, not subsidies.

“Eat, drink and be merry” quoth Shakespeare like he lived now in these dangerous times. Legalize the Baath Party and call for new elections while some of the chieftans are moving towards peace. Unite the Bloods and Crips and Banditos wow let’s try that. Even they would see a common good. Iran can influence the Shia or is Al Sadr not talking to them or what? Internecine squabbling for intangible rewards? People are dying. We need to talk to these people now. Can Saddam stop it?

If North Korea blows a wedge out of the world or makes that crack in the world bigger and Japan is sweeping seaweed off the mountaintops, then I guess all the talk was a waste of time.

Tucson Debate

Re: Protection of washes stirs city debate, Arizona Daily Star August 26, 2006

It appears that Diamond Ventures and Jim Click Ford certainly take an interest in city decisions concerning land use and preserving natural areas of the Sonoran Desert. Bulldoze it flat, boys! It’s easier to build on it then.

“Who gets to let Don Diamond know his washes are back on the list?” Wow! Are they leery of this guy, or what? Well, prowl the periphery, Mayor and Council. Somebody else is in the firelight.

The last I heard, home sales are down, Ford vehicle sales are abysmal and natural preserves are desired by homebuyers. Home Depot stock might be down enough to preclude the success of new stores. Water supplies are becoming problematical and Diamond Ventures wants to make more money creating growth and they have somebody’s ear in the City Manager’s Office. Let’s rename the office before we assume Mike Hein is running it.

Voters did not elect Diamond ventures or Jim Click Ford to any office. Let the sun shine in and sweep out all those clinging cobwebs.

Supplies For Our Military

A report on the news featured a man who said the latest Israeli war was orchestrated with the Bush administration and that plan was that the bombing of Iran would shortly follow the virtually uncontested win in Lebanon by the Israelis. If this is true, then thank God that that an expansion of warfare has not taken place.

I have faith that my President is not participating in such a warlike plan. On a tactical level, our military is spread too thin and rumor is going around that Israel will be resupplied before our own troops. Our troops come first and foremost! That means no shortages in anything for our troops and National Guard before any more armaments are sent to Israel.

America first.

The Right To Bear Arms

As a child, long guns were plentiful around the home and were used to hunt animals we brought home and cooked and ate with relish. Hunting is the most ancient tradition, part of what makes us human. Hunting and defense are related to the offensive fighting many animals exhibit when acquiring territory in which to raise young.

In humans, the use of guns accompanied the kill off of many species, before this awesome power was recognized and curbed to some extent. Among humans this new power is used to dispatch hated enemies, which lessened the number of indigenous cultures. Now firepower is being used to destroy nations.

I was taught utmost respect for firearms and concern for the physical damage possible to inflict. The possession of firearms must be accompanied by a moral understanding of the use of power. Since our Bill of Rights applies to every individual in a moral sense, disarmament is not an option. One must live to understand limitations on behavior imposed by the granting of basic rights to all individuals, not just for a select few.

Peace settlements must include land and water rights and payments to injured parties. Dense population, little water and land add up to war, like too many people will migrate or fight for territory like Sheba’s farms. Palestinian refugees still live in Lebanon, a government that had to absorb the extra population due to their displacement for the migration of Jews from Europe in the aftermath of World War II. Dissent swirls around this time in history, threatening to draw combatants into World War III and the true holocaust.

Living Room? Definitely. I’m glad they didn’t decide to make an Israel in Arizona and take my land to do it. I understand the hate and vengeance and a desire to retake what you once had. Reparations must be paid. Call it rent. Call it payments on land, like other people pay. Buy land and give it to the victims of this displacement. I cannot help but wonder who has the property the displaced Jews in Europe possessed in those various European countries, the people of whom turned on the Jews for what reason? Who profited? They should pay.

The invasion would be wise to reverse and grind on home without firing another shot. Take the bulldozers and go home before somebody occupies it. Stop the missiles. Ground the warplanes. The Arab League is not to be ignored and the provision of an issue around which to unite is an unforseen side effect of the Hezbollah War. Nothing is being gained by this war and the satisfaction of retribution against faceless opponents who nonetheless lay dead appears to others as a cruel and unusual punishment for offenses where a trial was held in secret with no witnesses from the convicted were even considered.

The same can be said for other instances called war. An immediate cease fire should also extend to other hot spots. We’ve done enough, folks. Who gets the oil supply in Iraq? Split up Iraq and divide it up as to Kurd, Shia, Sunni and let mixed areas decide which to join.

The Blind Leading the Blind

The Blind Leading the Blind into disaster.

The inexperienced Mr. Ehud Olmert is Prime Minister of Israel since March 2006 and has deviated from his campaign promise to continue unilateral disengagement, which is a viable substitute for real peace, certainly preferable to the current situation. The attacks in Lebanon have shaken the duly elected government of Lebanon, which undermines the efforts of the USA to establish democracies in the region. The Israelis are using arms from the USA to decimate Lebanon, which is not what I can accept from a moral point of view.

An inexperienced Mr. Olmert has led Israel into a war that clearly is not the way to solve problems. Mr. Rumsfeld said that the conflict originates in the differences among systems. I find the coping mechanism the Israelis are using is not an acceptable solution to feuds. Calling for ‘annihilation’ will not work when you are small in numbers, even if you have superior weapons. It is a fool’s errand and people are getting killed over it. Disarmament is not an option, given the tactics employed by both sides.

Mr. Ahmadinejad is quoted in the press as calling for the death of Israel. If this is accurate, then he is impractical from a logical, moral point of view. Islam has a mechanism for tolerance of non-Islamic groups. I am not expert to discuss how but I suggest the procedure be researched. The Jews may have preceded the Hittites that I believe the Persians are but nobody knows for sure. I know that the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Hittites and Syrians have been living in that area for eons. The world needs diversity of cultures that encourages creativity when they meet. Creativity or War?

No less than the death of species is the death of cultures, but technological advancement need not be the death knell of major religions. Learning of God’s world is not prohibited but for the sins of man.

The world needs an immediate cease fire in the Middle East and I applaud the UN initiative. All involved parties need to agree, however. The conditions set down by each must be examined and addressed fairly. A settlement will not be imposed nor will unilateral disarmament be the solution. Technology is ubiquitous and no borders are safe. We must get along.

Thank you to the French and I do hope that a settlement in Iraq and Afganistan is reached the same way. Start working on it now talking to some of the same parties and see if the bloodshed can be halted.

I do believe that the oil companies with interests in the Middle East should pay some of the rebuilding costs and contribute to relief efforts, since they now have a plethora of money. Rebuild and reinvest and allow the financial centers to flower anew. Investment in research and development of energy sources is a world imperative.

"Vengeance be Mine," saith The Lord

“Vengeance Be Mine,” saith The Lord.

Ehud Olmert is Prime Minister of Israel and appears to hold all the reins of power to commit to a course of action defined as annihilation of a group of people who call themselves Hezbollah. When the Nazis attempted to exterminate the Jews, an outcry of defense for them has been heard for 65 years and all aid was accepted as their due. The moral structure of our civilization prohibits the ‘extermination’ of groups for the convenience of another. I believe the old Testament says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This problem cannot be solved militarily, particularly when the training exercise in Gaza escalated to full scale war over the kidnapping of 3 soldiers. Does a Prime Minister have such powers without the mandate of the suffering electorate? Can his power be curbed or is this a military takeover of a ‘Democratic’ government? An Israeli official now says it is impossible to seize all of Hezbollah’s weapons. Further military incursions help no cause. It is interesting to note that the invasion is coming from Israel, not Lebanon. Withdraw to the international border or is this a land and water grab in the disguise of preemptive warfare?

I believe in the right of an individual to own a firearm. If that right is forfeit through the use of a firearm during a legally defined crime, so be it. It is a natural human response to arm if their neighbors do so, certainly if murderous intent is declared. Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. The belief in individual rights has no international boundaries and banning firearms for certain groups based on ethnic differences is undemocratic. The possession of firearms is not an issue to regulate but is an issue to respect when dealing with neighbors. Possibly the missing MWDs are floating around somewhere.

Vengeance solves nothing. Civil discourse with enemies is necessary.