Tucson - A City Stuck on Stupid (Liberalism)

Welcome to Losersville!!  (Those aren't my words, they're the words of an economic expert.)

Back in April, I wrote a response to an article in the Arizona Daily "Red" Star about Tucson maintaining its firm place in MarketWatch's Bottom Ten Cities in America - which makes it a veritable liberal paradise.  No money, no jobs, high emphasis on "culture", everybody on the government handout.

Mayor Jonathan Rothschild wants to attract people who don't need jobs:  "We need to be attracting people who want to get out and hike and bike. People who like culture and history," Rothschild said. "Not people who are coming to see the old West."  (I thought the old West was history... silly me).  A quote from the obligatory university professor echoes the sentiment: "It's a shame that our kids move away," [University of Arizona professor of Geography and Urban Development David Plane] said. "But a lot of us enjoy Tucson because it's not a slick, corporate place..."

 Must be nice to be part of the 1%, the liberal elite. 

However, the proverbial rope is running out, and soon Tucson will hang itself.  According to another article in the Arizona Daily "Red" Star, economic development expert Mark Lautman, "founding director of Albuquerque-based Community Economics Lab, a think tank for new approaches to economic development," is "hoping to stir an "awakening" among city leaders," because Tucson is about to become "Losersville":

"• Almost all qualified workers are fully employed, leaving no labor pool to attract new companies.
• The community is desensitized from years of reports of poor economic and education rankings.
• Maintenance of roads or landscaping is reduced or eliminated.
• Revenues shrink as demand for services increases, leading to tax increases.
• "CAVE" people - Citizens Against Virtually Everything - decry business incentives."

THAT FITS TUCSON TO A "T" !

With leadership that has squandered millions of dollars in taxpayer money on boondoggles like Rio Neuvo and the now-in-deep-doo-doo Tucson "Modern" Streetcar, I seriously doubt that Lautman's report will make any difference whatsoever. 

So the poor stay poor, and those who don't want to be poor, leave.  Natural selection in action maintaining the elite liberal paradise.

 

---

Tags: Tucson, Community Economics Lab, Mark Lautman, Jonathan Rothschild, University of Arizona, David Plane, Losersville, Arizona Daily Star, Rio Neuvo, Tucson Modern Streetcar.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!
 

A History Lesson: The Battle of Athens, 1946

I just read a remarkable story in American history I had never heard before, and it is very inspirational.  You should read it in full at Maggie's Notebook.  It illustrates the reason for the 2nd amendment.

 

---

Tags: Maggie's Notebook, Battle of Athens, 2nd Amendment, American history.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

BETRAYED

I am incensed at the passage today of the "Gang of 8" senate immigration bill from committee.  I am especially incensed at Jeff Flake, who posed as a conservative and now has sold out, as McCain has.

As far as I am concerned, they both have joined Raul "Boycott Arizona" Grijalva in the Traitor category.

I tried to call Flake, but not-so-surprisingly, his voice message machine was full!  I didn't even bother with McCain.  It is not useless to call or email them, however, and if you're as angry as I am, here's where you can vent:

Sen. Jeff Flake
(202) 224-4521
Contact: www.flake.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Sen. John McCain
(202) 224-2235
Contact: http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

---

Tags: Immigration, Gang of 8, Jeff Flake, John McCain, Raul "Boycott Arizona" Grijalva.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Janet Napolitano's Border Patrol Priorities

Submitted by Velcro, crossposted at Blogs For Borders.

Those of you who have been here before know that I tend to champion Border Patrol agents, who are frequently stuck between political divisions, the law, the cartels, Eric Holder, and their (lack of ) high level leadership. 
 
Asked about morale and Great Moments in her career as Secretary of the DHS, Napolitano's answers aligns with her boss, the President.  The characterization of President Obama and his cabinet members as lying cheats who are out to destroy the Constitution, line their pockets, and hose the American people remains.  

The Border Patrol, Local 2544, Tucson Sector, reports on a video conference call where the Boss met with the troops.  Here it is, presented in it's entirety, with no additional emphasis on my part. 
  

Priorities

Real leadership you cannot depend on.

"It is great to have a “leader” with her priorities in the right place. During a video-conference session yesterday with agents and managers, Secretary Napolitano once again showed how out of touch she is with the rank-and-file employees who make DHS run.

 

"In response to a question about the low morale problem in CBP, she answered with a laugh “My morale is high.” Her dismissive comment is simply stunning, but unfortunately, it is typical of the way she has run things.

 

"Asked about her most memorable moment as DHS Secretary, she said something even more stunning. She said her most memorable moment as DHS Secretary was the time she threw out a first pitch at a Yankees game. This pretty much says it all. She revels in her “celebrity” while leading the largest law-enforcement agency in the history of this nation and the most memorable thing she has done is throwing a pitch at a baseball game. Not attending a funeral of a murdered agent, not meeting with the families of murdered agents, not anything to do with her job (outside her “celebrity” status), but throwing a pitch at a baseball game.

 

"And please don’t think these were just spontaneous comments. All questions had to be submitted days beforehand so she could select the questions she wanted to answer. This was a scripted publicity stunt designed to show she is “connecting” with agents.

 

"We have begged for real leadership in this Agency for years, and it’s become painfully apparent that nobody cares. It is more important to lie to the American people about how secure the borders are and to push for another amnesty program than it is to be a real leader of a law-enforcement agency.

NBPC representatives have attended musters and meetings with thousands of agents. We engage in the tough questions. We don’t hide behind some sort of imagined “celebrity” status. We don’t believe rank-and-file agents give one hoot about Napolitano throwing out some ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game. We care about border security, being allowed to do our jobs, being able to take care of our families, getting the equipment and support we need. And we continue to dream about having a real leader who we can respect and trust."

 

How much longer will the American people allow Obama and his band of thugs and mobsters to rape, pillage, and party at our expense?

   

---

Tags: Janet Napolitano, DHS, Border Patrol, Local 2544, Obama, Cabinet, NPBC.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Conservatives: Paranoid Chicken Littles, huh?

My goodness!  I quit writing for a week or so and all hell breaks loose on the Obama Administration.  In just ONE WEEK nearly EVERYTHING conservatives have been saying about Obama for 4½ years has been proven right.  Why couldn't you Democrat voters have LISTENED??? 

This apparent action-reaction is enough to make me think about stopping blogging altogether.  And although the vast majority of folks who stumble across this place would likely support this type of attack on liberals, I'd have to figure out something else to deal with my blood pressure.  Until they invent a pill for that however, I'll just have to keep writing to bring it back down.

Benghazi.  Now that testimony has finally begun, it appears that the MSM (or LSM) can no longer avoid the fact that something BAD happened there on and before 9/11/12, which was followed in the months after in Washington by something downright COWARDLY and EGREGIOUS.  More words are warranted, but those that come to mind fail.  But all of this also means that the Obama Administration can't avoid dealing with Benghazi and the coverup any longer either.  Gee, Hillary, maybe your responsibility for the lives of your subordinates does matter after all.  From what I've gleaned, you should face charges, and your boss, the Liar-in-Chief should face impeachment.

IRS.  It's not paranoia when they're really after you.  Like most conservatives, I've been called paranoid plenty of times by liberals; it's one of their favorite belittlement words.  But lo and behold, in a move trying to head off the flood of criticism surely to follow, the IRS confirmed in a press conference last Friday the intentional bias the agency carried out against conservative groups who use the terms "patriot" and "tea party".  The very next day, we find out that part of Friday's announcement (and pseudo-apology) was a big lie!  The bias wasn't simply the overly-spirited work of low level employees in the Midwest, it was known - and condoned - at the highest levels in Washington. 

AP.  DOJ breaks into the phone records of reporters working for the Associated Press.  I find this turn of events somewhat amusing actually.  Its ok for the press to publish names, addresses and phone numbers of legal gun owners, and it's ok for the press to act as Obama's Ministry of Propaganda, but let the DOJ get AP phone records and they're (the ACLU anyway) SCREAMING about how IMPORTANT a free press is to democracy.  Yes, the DOJ's actions confirm the Nazi-like character of the Obama Administration, but I confess to laughing at the two-faced hypocrisy of the press.

Obamacare.  A quick scan of the recent news showed that Democrats as well as Republicans are trying to find a way out of this nightmare now that it's REALLY going to take place, and things are REALLY going to get bad.  (Some saying involving rats and a sinking ship comes to mind).  Now it appears that HHS Secretary Sebelius is in hot water for trying to "encourage" healthcare corporations to donate to get the next phase of Obamacare rolling.  Really appalling!

Hey Liberal!  All of this crap is exactly what Conservatives have been saying all along.  Take your fingers out of your ears and STFU about how tolerant you think you are. 

Engage Your Brain.

Velcro is a Dull Boy - and a Sad One

UPDATE:  We were saddened to learn about the passing of our friend Bunni, about whom you can read here.  Until we meet again, Bunni.


You know, as in, "All work and no play..." 


Typical workday for Velcro

I haven't been as available to write as much recently as I would like.  For those of you who are gracious enough to risk insanity by visiting here often I say thank you, and I hope to get back on track soon.

There is a lot of stuff happening at work.  Not so much bad or good, just a lot of it.  [cue sad violin music] Twice this week I've been working until about 2:30am (no, I didn't go in at 11pm!).  Being a salaried employee, there's no overtime.  Work until the work's done.  Work before play (except that the work's never done.)

But, the truth is that it isn't all work.  There is a big chunk of what's going on that's swirling around the fact that my Mom is moving into a new townhouse.  She is approaching 83 years of age, and I count it a miracle of sorts that she's not moving into assisted living or worse.  She still drives halfway decently, travels, and enjoys being well enough off to help her kids out once in a while.

But growing up in the depression era continues to keep her skeptical of anyone involved in any big decision around money, especially something like buying a new home (She has lived in our old home for 50 years in June).  She keeps muttering about her certainty of being taken to the cleaners, and turns on that motherly charm in supplication of her son accompanying her to the bank, the title company, to see houses, buy boxes, help pack, etc. 

There are a few other minor things taking my attention, like my home's air conditioning going out the first week of 100 degree temperatures, a daughter frantically scrambling to finish semester-ending reports that hold the demise of civilization hanging in the balance, alternating with requests for advice about what to do with her clueless boyfriend.

And then, of course, back to work.

[sad music crescendo]

But I do have things in the pipeline. 

• More sensible eloquence about the idiocy of gun control from Daniel D. Polsby, currently the dean of the law college at George Mason University;
• Interesting tidbits from a new Congressional Research Service publication:  Integration of Drones into Domestic Airspace:  Selected Legal Issues;
• Conservative Gabriela Saucedo Mercer gearing up for another shot at removing America's Most Arrogant Progressive, Az3-D Raul "Boycott Arizona" Grijalva; and
• Updates on Janet Napolitano's whipping boy, the Border Patrol.

Stay tuned... I'll be back soon.

   

---

Tags: Whining, work, nursery rhymes, sad violin music, Daniel Polsby, Congressional Research Service, Gabriela Saucedo Mercer, Raul "Boycott Arizona" Grijalva, Janet Napolitano, Border Patrol.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Tucson: A Liberal's Paradise (No Jobs, No Businesses, Poverty, Illegal Aliens, a Pretty Desert)

A new MarketWatch report, "Top Cities for Business Growth 2012," has placed Tucson in the Bottom 10 cities for business growth nationally, according to an article in the Arizona Daily "Red" Star, the local rag that pretends to be a newspaper.  I haven't checked, but that probably means

The Sonoran Desert around Tucson

Tucson is maintaining its position in the pack.  Joining Tucson in the bottom 10 were six California cities, including Stockton and Modesto.  (Stockton:  Bankrupt, ranked one of the most dangerous cities in America, coming in 10th place, 2nd most dangerous in California (just behind Oakland).^[4] In 2013, Stockton was ranked as the 3rd most illiterate city in the U.S. with less than 17% of adults holding a college degree.  Great company for Tucson to keep.)
 

For the uninitiated, here's some context before we press on.

In case you're new to this blog, southern Arizona is teeming with a wretched, long-term infestation of liberal "progressives".  The only reason the Arizona State legislature and government is predominantly Republican is because Phoenix is bigger than Tucson.

You may recall Arizona's famous SB 1070, the law that allowed law enforcement to check for citizenship status during traffic stops for other violations.  It was southern Arizona's still-today congressman Raul Grijalva who announced on national television that the rest of the country should boycott his own state.  Southern Arizona has re-elected this racist traitor twice since then.  That should tell you a little bit about southern Arizona.

A reporter named Gabriela Rico was given the unenviable task of getting opinions on the report and writing an article about Tucson's arctic-like business climate.  Here are parts of what she came up with.

 

David Plane, a University of Arizona professor of geography and urban development: 

He agrees that Tucson needs to do a better job of recruiting and retaining young professionals, but doesn't believe the city should try to become a corporate Mecca.

"It's a shame that our kids move away," he said. "But a lot of us enjoy Tucson because it's not a slick, corporate place..."

The University of Arizona

Yes, Professor Plane; you've got a nice cushy tenured job at the UA.  You can afford to marvel at the pretty Santa Rita Mountains from your air conditioned ivory tower.  There are thousands of people right under your nose between you and the mountains who are living below poverty level.  (UNS Energy Corp. is the only local company on the NYSE. In 2012, Providence Service Corp. was listed on Nasdaq. A second Nasdaq company is opening in Tucson this year, Accelerate Diagnostics.)

"...We're a funky younger sister." Living in the "urban shadow" of Phoenix impacts Tucson because the "something bigger" is nearby, Plane said, such as Sky Harbor Airport.

 

Really?  Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix is why Tucson is an anorexic little sister?  Oh, right.  Liberal logic: blame someone else for your problems.  Got it.

"Our economic base has never featured a corporate presence," Plane said. On top of that, the population is mixed with retired and less-educated residents and a high level of poverty, he said. 

Don't you think that maybe it's the other way around, that the population is mixed and less-educated with high level of poverty because there's never been a corporate presence?

"The biggest thing Tucson has going for it is the natural environment," Plane said. "Preserving that amenity is crucial."

Trash from Illegal Aliens

Absolutely.  I'm sure that bringing evil corporations and jobs with higher wages to Tucson will completely destroy the Sonoran Desert from New Mexico to California.  Totally.

Tucson's mayor is hizzoner Jonathan Rothschild (Democrat). 

"We need to be attracting people who want to get out and hike and bike. People who like culture and history," Rothschild said. "Not people who are coming to see the old West."

Hike and bike?  I'm sure that brings in lots of business money, and culture and history are HUGE economy boosters.  But to hell with the old West?  I wonder how the Old Tucson people feel about that...

"We're beginning to create synergy around our trade with Mexico and making Sonora and Southern Arizona an economic region. People are getting it," Rothschild said.

Oooh.  Synergy!  Good business word!  Is our trade with Mexico more than jobs for illegals?  I don't quite get it.  They send us tomatoes and illegal aliens, and that benefits us...how?

Mike Holmes, executive director of Imagine Greater Tucson. 

"We're one of the few truly international cities in the U.S.," Holmes said. "We should absolutely be building on that. 

The environment we've built is not friendly to the young professional generation," he said. "The 20-year-olds and 30-year-olds spent a good chunk of time strapped to the back seat of a minivan. They don't like to drive" and want to ability to walk, bicycle or have modern public transportation.

The city is not yet equipped to accommodate an urban lifestyle and living here requires a car to get around, Holmes said.

 "We're no longer a big town, we're a city," he said. "Our political structure just hasn't caught up to that yet."

Tucson is a black hole of misery because those in power want to keep it that way.  They want Tucson to be a cutesy knick-knack on the shelf of towns in some backwater curio shop.  In June 2012, a University of Arizona report stated that since August 2010, Phoenix had created 69,400 new jobs, while Tucson had created 800.  As long as they stay in power, Tucson's average income will remain below Federal poverty level.

 

Source:  http://azstarnet.com/business/local/tucson-growth-rated-in-bottom/article_2e646843-f6a4-54d0-9279-b137da37c0c0.html

 

   

---

Tags: Tucson, MarketWatch, "Top Ten Cities For Business Growth", Bottom Ten, Stockton, Modesto, Arizona Daily Star, Gabriela Rico, University of Arizona, David Plane, Jonathan Rothschild, Mike Holmes, Imagine Greater Tucson, Raul Grijalva, liberal policies.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!
 

Gun Control Replies

Patricia Maisch:  What you went through was terrible, but... NO! shame on YOU!  Shame on you for trying to infringe upon the rights of the rest of us, when Jared Loughner would not have been stopped by this legislation because he passed a background check.

Mark Kelly:  NO! it wasn't the gun lobby, it was WE THE PEOPLE!  (and quit exploiting your wife's victimhood!).

Barack Obama:  NO! everybody DIDN'T agree with you!  Today wasn't a shameful day, what is shameful is you and liberals trying to tear up the Constitution.

   

---

Tags: Gun control, gun ban, background checks, senate gun vote, Mark Kelly, Patricia Maisch, Barack Obama, Jared Loughner.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Gun Control - The Legal Side of the Battle

The battle for the 2nd Amendment is raging right now.  I'm so angry that I could spit.  But spitting's not much to assuage my emotions... who the hell came up with that anyway?  I'm angry, and when I'm angry I don't articulate my thoughts very well and this keyboard isn't help[ing a bit! 

But I came across an article... a scholarly article... a scholarly article BY A LAWYER, of all things, that speaks articulately to so much of what's going through my head.  The article begins,

"This essay seeks to reclaim a serious argument from the lunatic fringe."

Before you click away from my blog with that line, consider where the MSM puts us conservatives... in the lunatic fringe, right?  Follow me?  Well, here's some more:

"...Still less have [contemporary scholars] asked whether a society's weapons policy might be one of the institutional arrangements that contributes to the probability of its government engaging in some of the more extreme varieties of outrage." 

"Few if any of those who are hostile to the institution of an armed civilian populace considered the possibility that our government... could ever degenerate into the sort of pitiless totalitarian instrument that has, at one time or another, afflicted most of the peoples of the Old and Third Worlds." 

"In our view, the failure to acknowledge the prospect of rogue government represents a serious failure of imagination.  Trusting in the free press and the right to petition government to redress grievances, firearms abolitionists do not envision a world in which satanic rather than benevolent bureaucrats possess the effective monopoly of the means of force."  (all emphases mine)

These words were written in 1997, way before the then-left leaning "free press" dropped into the abyss of fawning orgasmic worship of The One and became His mouthpiece. 

No more a free press to help check government.  Thus, we are in more danger than before.

The article gets better, and I will put up more from it.  These words were penned by Daniel D. Polsby, currently the dean of the law college at George Mason University.
  
Source:  Polsby, Daniel D. &Kates, Don B.  (1997) "Of Holocausts And Gun Control", in Washington University Law Quarterly, 75 Wash. U. L. Q. 1237.

A New Look

Speculation, Part II will have to wait for a bit.  Yes, I really do have something in the pipeline for it, but on second glance it's something I've said before in other ways.

But, it's been a busy time, and in spite of that I felt that a change was needed to the look.  Hopefully it will be easier to read (not that I've gotten any complaints - maybe I'm just getting old). 

I know that in some of the old posts I've used colors that will not show up well with this new palette, but I really don't feel up to going back and re-editing.  Sorry...

Some good material coming up, but it's not directly "actionable", and the times seem to call for action.  America and what she represents are being threatened all around, and most dangerously, from within.  I never imagined we'd be here.  But that's part of the problem, in a variety of ways.  Getting ahead of myself though...

Stay tuned and please feel free to comment on the new look, good or bad.

Gun Control and Mental Illness: Speculation, Part I

For me, the necessary and sufficient factor against gun control is that gun ownership is fundamentally part of the protection against tyranny built into our Constitution.  'Nuf said. 

But let me dabble in a thought experiment beyond the 2nd Amendment.  What would happen if we tried to screen for the criminally insane?

My thesis:  Mental illness cannot be consistently screened for.  Let's say we have 100 people who all of us unanimously would agree should not have a gun.  We would lock them up for the night and go celebrate just because we agreed on something.

The next morning, we run the applicants through a battery of tests: MMPI-II, Millon, SASSI,

Barack Obama using human suffering to support his agenda.

whatever.  Most of these tests compare an individual's answers against a "normed" standard decided by the average of hundreds or thousands of other peoples' answers.  Most of those norming groups were selected by some kind of system that knowingly or unknowingly included the test designer's biases, so the comparison of applicant answers to the normed answers is already flawed.

Besides being prohibitively expensive, the tests' built-in biases and wide ranges of "normal" answers to some questions blur the picture they provide of the applicant.  It's not obvious in most cases whether a person will be a high risk with a gun or not.  But let's pretend that this battery of tests weeds out 20%.

 Now suppose that someone comes up with a really good test.  What then?  Well, the next problem is that there are people with mental illnesses who are really good at faking good answers.  They can often figure out the rubric intuitively and come up with "fake-good" answers.  These throw the value of the test out the window for these people.  But let's pretend that this test is still very effective at weeding out 50% of applicants who shouldn't have a gun. 

So now we're down to 30%, who are the most difficult 30% of the original group to detect problems with.  But now we're going to look at past behavior, and also give them a polygraph.  (Past behavior is really the core of a background check, so waiting until this late in the screening process is not how it really would work.  It would probably be one of the first screens used.) 

How the Facts Break Down.

For adults over 21, most of the 30% will have already shown some kind of bad behavior.  Maybe not lawbreakers with a record, so we'll get feedback from schoolteachers, parents, and others to sift out who the problem people are.  And we run them through the polygraph.  This is probably the level of screen used to determine if someone can be trusted with a top secret security clearance.  This maybe eliminates 27% of the original 100 applicants, leaving only 3.

Having escaped the screening process, the 3 individuals buy guns.  They may do ok for years and then "pop", they may "pop" right away, or they may never "pop".  Maybe 2 of them "pop" and do themselves in.  There is still one.

You've probably guessed the point here:  THERE IS NO WAY TO COMPLETELY ELIMINATE THE RISK OF PUBLIC SHOOTINGS. 

The liberal answer is to eliminate guns.  If house-to-house searches were the most effective method, we might be successful at keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally unstable.  But do you really think going house to house confiscating guns would get rid of ALL guns?  No way it would!!! 

Do you really think that criminals who support themselves and whatever habits they have by stealing are going to willingly give up their guns, especially if all of the law abiding citizens no longer have them?  No!  In spite of cameras, alarms and bulletproof glass we still have bank robberies!  And let's not lose sight of the fact that many criminals are mentally ill.

Guns will still be present:

• On a thriving black market
• By those smuggling people/drugs
• By gangs

Knowing that the populace is not armed, bad people will get bolder.  Society will be less safe.

• More armed robberies
• More armed assaults
• More murders
• Just like Chicago

Gun Control Doesn't Work!

 

The Aftermath:  Speculation, Part II   

---

Tags: Gun Control, Mental Illness Screening, psychological testing, gun ban, Chicago gun record.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!



¡NO RECONQUISTA! - Stop Racial Profiling!

Crossposted at Blogs For Borders.
I got an interesting comment on a previous post where I encourage readers to support the U.S. Border Patrol.  It's reprinted below in its entirety with permission from the commenter.  But first, let's set the stage.

Back on the eve of last November's election, I posted a plea for "the masses", especially minorities, to break free from the chains of liberal stereotyping.  My point at that time was to get the Hispanic population to take a long look at the differences between Gabriela Saucedo Mercer and Raul "Boycott Arizona" Grijalva.

Grijalva, of course,  is one of the most progressive liberals in Congress.  He loves to play the role of Hero to the Downtrodden Masses, especially Hispanics with whom he identifies.  (The same is true for Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Moore, and the other rich, fat cats of the liberal elite.)

But he can only be the Hero for as long as the victims remain victims.  When victims are no longer downtrodden, oppressed and poor there is no need for a Hero.  So for Mr. Boycott to continue being the Hero, he must keep the downtrodden, oppressed and poor in that same state.  That is part of the insidiousness of liberal business as usual.

It is for exactly that reason that the liberal media show parades of Hispanics in monolithic solidarity supporting things like amnesty for illegal aliens (phrase licensed for AP use only), who are constantly being abused by the likes of Joe Arpaio.

All Hispanics must be seen as Democrat, pro-amnesty, and fiercely protective of a culture that has been twisted to portray them as downtrodden, oppressed, and poor.

Enter my commenter.

"Anonymous April 4, 2013 at 8:50 PM

Hi! I don`t know how many people read this, but here is something that has been bothering us.

I am an American of Hispanic descent. And of course my family is too.
Just about all of us are against ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.

Most of us have been personally affected by an illegal immigrant and all in a negative way.
When the media describes hispanic activists calling for reform, most hispanic Americans do not agree.

We also know that these 'activists' are here from other places and are all in support of
RECONQUISTA.

Reconquista is the main reason they are calling for this reform.

This needs to be told to all of our fellow Americans, as Reconquista is as bad as National Socialism.

Thank you for your time.
BCAZ, USAF Vet"

Thank you, Anonymous, for your service to your country, and for your courage to speak truth.

   

---

Tags: Reconquista, Hispanics, liberal politics, minorities, Gabriela Saucedo Mercer, Raul Grijalva, illegal immigration, border patrol, Joe Arpaio racial stereotyping, racial profiling.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Obamanomics: Reply to a Conservative Observer AZ Commenter

A comment (reproduced without deletions below in boldface block quotes) by "Anonymous" was left on my post, "Barack Obama: Hell Bent on Destroying America"; this is my reply (in yellow italics).

"Usual far right paranoia!"  

Which part of the quotes of liberals and other facts in the post are "right paranoia"?  An ironic comment given that historically, paranoia has been the domain of the left going all the way back to the 30s and 40s - evil government tapping phones, spying on citizens, being opaque ... the very same things the right is currently concerned about, but with factual evidence.  My question is, why isn't the left up in arms as they historically have been?  The only reason that comes to my mind and is based on what I see, is that they are too wrapped up in fawning, orgasmic worship of "The First (half) Black President."  (cue Hallelujah Chorus).  But then, I'm sure I'm being racist there, right? 

 

"What are you conservatives going to say about Obama in 3 years when none of this ACTUALLY does anything to significantly alter the way we live? We're not going to lose our basic freedoms (because of him), he's not going to take all our guns away, and we're not going to be hit by another 9/11 style terrorist attack! I'll bet the ranch that in 2016 he fades quietly into history with the rest of his predecessors!"

 

If what you say actually comes to pass, I, for one, will say, "Thank God!"  I sincerely hope you are right, Anonymous.  But I and other conservatives see too many red flags (pun intended) and other signs to think that we can afford to be quiet and just wait and see. (explained below).

 

"Anyone who continues to blame either a democrat or republican president for the downfall of our country..."

 

The leaders in all 3 branches of the government, with a few exceptions, fall into either democrat or republican philosophies; whoever is in power is de facto responsible.  That's why we elect and pay them.  Responsible here means "problem solver", not necessarily "problem causer".  So if the situation was bad when Obama took power, the question is, has he made things better or worse?  By any measure, the answer is much, much worse.

"...(which is YOUR image of america--not mine)... "

 

What do you mean, my image of America?  What are you presuming my image of America to be?  And what is yours?

"...doesn't know anything about who or what is really running this country!"

So, in your opinion, who is running the country, if not a democrat or republican?  It certainly doesn't appear to be WE THE PEOPLE anymore, now does it? 

"...There is a BIG difference between a democrat and a Marxist!"

There USED to be a difference between a democrat and a Marxist, but anymore, the line has become very blurred.  You could name a Marxist belief or trait, and I bet I could find it in what Obama has stated somewhere along the way.  And given the generally rabid support from congressmen and senators in his own party - the fawning, orgasmic worship - they have fallen into line with him.  Obama has spoken - been recorded - about how to redistribute wealth:  that's socialism.   With the foundations (the Constitution) that everyone took for granted 50 years ago currently under attack by the President of the United States, concerned people know we cannot afford to wait and watch.

 

"Get a clue people--You don't know what the hell you're talking about!

You offer no evidence to support this, so I interpret your remark to be the frustrated liberal fallback to emotionalism.  I gave you facts in my original post.  So no, we do know.  I think YOU don't. 

"Why? Because in spite of his Keynesian style economic approach (which I disagree with, too--believe it or not)..."

Here, the comment was truncated, but I believe our commenter was going to say that the economy is picking up.  But it is not because more Americans than ever are out of the workforce (and therefore not counted in the monthly unemployment figures) and the number of unemployed who ARE counted continues to grow.

I imagine at this point that the commenter came to his senses and thought, "Damn, that Velcro is one smart guy; he's right!"  :-)
   

---

Tags: Obama Hell Bent On Destroying America, Obamanomics, unemployment, workforce, Keynesian, Marxism, liberal argument.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!
 

Gun Control Screening Criteria for Potential Mass Killers

This is pretty short and to the point, so I don't need to elaborate... but at least one person has figured it out: how to screen people for who should not own a gun.  We need to institute these protocols immediately.

Posted by a commenter on a recent L.A. Times article on Aurora theater killer James Holmes (spelling & grammatical errors left in place):

"I think we might be on to the root of the problem.... Why is it that those who steal guns,then kill movie goers and children in school’s have never been a conservative NRA member?

• Maj. Nidal Hasan (Ft Hood terrorist) - Registered Democrat – Muslim
• Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (Columbine) - Too young to vote; both families were registered Democrats and progressive liberals
• Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech) - Wrote hate mail to President Bush and to his staff - Democrat activist.
• James Holmes (Colorado Theater Killer) - Registered Democrat; staff worker on the Obama campaign; Occupy Wall Street participant; progressive liberal
• Jared Lee Loughner (the guy who shot Gabby Gifford’s) was a registered Democrat
• Adam Lanza (Connecticut School Shooter) - Registered Democrat; hated Christians
• Christopher Dorner (California killer) – Registered Democrat. “Manifesto” supports Gun Control, Anti NRA, Obama supporter

"Common thread is that all of these shooters were progressive liberal Democrats on psycotropic drugs. INTERESTING..., isn't it? Seems guns don’t kill, Democrats do"

[Reformatted for easier reading]   

---

Tags: Gun Control, mental health, screen criteria, gun ban, mental illness, L.A. Times, Democrats, Hasan, Ft. Hood, Harris, Klebold, Columbine, Cho, Virginia Tech, James Holmes, Colorado theater killer, Loughner, Gifford, Lanza, Dorner.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

What Sequester? Obama Taking $1 Million Flight To Denver To Campaign For Gun Control…

Reposted from Weasel Zippers:

What Sequester? Obama Taking $1 Million Flight To Denver To Campaign For Gun Control…

"I'm here!  It's great to be seen by all of you here today!"

 

Wasn’t Obama lecturing the country on everyone making sacrifices because of the sequester cuts? Apparently his non-stop campaigning is exempt.

Via NRO:

Today President Obama  travels to Colorado to “meet with law enforcement and community leaders to discuss the gun control package signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper.”
That’s a three hour flight, right?
At  $179,750 per hour, that comes out to $1,078,500 in costs for Air Force One for the trip.
That’s just about the cost of public tours of the White House for one year.   

Eh, you knew I was kidding… Obama’s not just flying across the country to give a predictable speech on gun control; he’s also traveling out to San Francisco for a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser, and he’ll stay overnight. (Yes, our president is already preparing fundraising for November 2014 midterm elections.) So the cost of the flights for today and tomorrow is really closer to $1.4 million.

 

Boy, that Sequestration demands a lot of sacrifices from all of us, doesn’t it?

 

   

---

Tags: sequestration, Obama, Air Force One, Colorado, White House tours, gun control.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Local 2544: Furlough and AUO Decertification on Hold

Crossposted at Blogs For Borders.

This from Local 2544 today:

"A memo is coming out today notifying everyone that the furlough days and AUO decert is being placed on hold until the agency can figure out how to fix their budget mess with the new funding that was recently approved by Congress... On the same day that David Aguilar is no longer with us we get some good news on border security and the delay in pay cuts."

A small victory in a skirmish - perhaps temporary - but the war continues.  Conservative Observer AZ is firmly convinced that public pressure that focuses on the U.S. Border Patrol can accomplish good things.

1. Public support for the Border Patrol can help boost the morale of those whose dedication to protect their country in spite of the Federal government keeps them driving hours to their station day after day, for a job for which they receive little thanks.
2. It holds the Federal government accountable for upholding the rule of law.
3. Keeping the Border Patrol in the center of attention helps keep the realities of the invasion from the south side-by-side in stark contrast to the ivory tower dreamers in Washington.  This occurs two ways: 
4. One is by highlighting the high level of danger along the border that occasionally leads to loss of life - on all sides. 
5. The second is drawing attention to the large quantity of drugs that cross the border, paving the way for increasing drug cartel influence in the United States. 
6. Finally, public support for the U.S. Border Patrol can help put them in the proper light:  They save lives by rescuing abandoned men, women, and children in the searing desert.  The Border Patrol is not the tool of racist policy.

 

    

---

Tags: Furlough, Border Patrol, AUO decertification, public support, Local 2544.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Show Your Support For the U.S. Border Patrol!!!

Download and spread far and wide!

If you've been paying attention, you know that the sequester cuts have been the excuse the Department of Homeland Security has been looking for to cut allocations to the U.S. Border Patrol.  Yes, those folks, the ones who have the thankless (and now seemingly payless) job of stopping the flood of Democratic voters illegal aliens into southern Arizona.

Local 2544, the Border Patrol union for the Tucson sector, has announced that the union has authorized the patch shown below to be worn on agents' uniforms as a way to protest the nearly 40% pay cut from discontinued AUO, cut uniform allowances (in the face of TSA getting a $50 million windfall for new unis), and reductions in salary.

The original Border Patrol uniform patch.

The massive team that works day in and day out to bring you the pearls of wisdom found here at Conservative Observer AZ decided to show their support for our agents by taking the liberty of adding a few touches to the original patch.  The gang felt that this was a case where it is better to ask forgiveness than permission, and we hope that the union sees it in the spirit it which it was intended!  [read: Neither the U.S. Border Patrol nor its agent unions are responsible for the atrocious artistic talent on display in the modified version of their patch.] 

You too can show solidarity with the plight of the Border Patrol by downloading and proudly displaying the first logo above!  Encourage others to steal it, and let David Aguilar, Janet Napolitano, and Barack Hussein Obama know that funding needs to be restored to protect our country!

Crossposted at Blogs For Borders.   

---

Tags: Local 2544, Border Patrol, AUO, sequester cuts, Border Patrol patch, Department of Homeland Security, David Aguilar, Janet Napolitano, Barack Hussein Obama.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

TAKE OBAMACARE, FOR EXAMPLE... PLEASE!

1.  "Some people purchasing new insurance policies for themselves this fall could see premiums rise because of requirements in the health-care law, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters Tuesday."  (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/03/26/sebelius-some-could-see-insurance-premiums-rise/?mod=WSJBlog&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter).

2.  "Sen. Al Franken called it a “job-killing tax” — and also impair American competitiveness in the medical device field."  http://washingtonexaminer.com/democrats-urge-delay-for-job-killing-obamacare-tax/article/2515711.

3.  "Massachusetts’ Democratic Rep. Barney Frank recently co-sponsored H.R. 452, joining Rep. Joe Baca and Rep. Loretta Sanchez, both of California, New York Rep. Timothy H. Bishop, Pennsylvania Rep. Chaka Fattah and 10 other Democrats. This measure, introduced by Rep. David P. Roe, Tennessee Republican, would terminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board. Dubbed “the real death panel” by its critics, IPAB would commence in 2014."  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/23/democrats-rise-against-obamacare/.

4.  "Businesses are starting to scramble to meet the law's requirement that they offer health insurance by the start of next year, which is also when new taxes and regulations will kick in that critics say will result in "rate shock" for young consumers.  they'll also be confronted by the litany of promises Democratic lawmakers made before and after it became law.   'You could keep your doctor, and your insurance premiums won't rise.' Even women who skew Democratic lean right on this issue, with 50 percent of them in the targeted districts favoring repeal."  http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/03/how-obamacare-could-come-back-to-bite-democrats-again-in-2014/274296/.

Democrats will tell you anything to push their agenda forward.  They will lie.  They will cheat.  In selling some of the most consequential legislation of our time, democrats have belittled those opposed to their agenda, and have made all kinds of ridiculous promises.

Remember the town hall meetings in the summer of 2010 when Americans became angry because democrats were shoving Obamacare down their throats?  Not only were these loud opinions ignored, but Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi had the gall to accuse these Americans participating in democracy of being un-American.

Now that the liberals have what they want, they are realizing just how bad it is.  Since early December, when they started to become aware of what conservatives have known all along, they have been scrambling to abandon Obamacare, like a rats from a sinking ship.

Have they been ignorant and foolish or have they been deceitful liars who are now being found out?

Yes.  But it really doesn't matter which you believe...
...because either way shows that democrats really cannot be trusted to know and do what is in the best interests of the American people.

   

---

Tags: Democrats, Obamacare, partisan politics, Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

University of Arizona "Swatted"

The University of Arizona was "swatted" Friday afternoon.

TUCSON - Just as most of the staff in the University of Arizona's administration building were preparing to leave work last Friday, the Tucson Police Department's TDD 911 operator received text message information from an unknown person that a man with a rifle strapped to his chest had entered the administration building and was shooting people.  The TPD operator contacted UAPD's dispatch and relayed information verbally throughout the investigation.

UAPD had two officers in the area, who reported that they had seen nothing nor heard shots fired.  Erring on the side of caution UAPD and TPD coordinated a SWAT response, evacuating the building once ground level was secured, and conducted a floor by floor, room by room search.  Two nearby buildings were evacuated and shut down as precautionary measures. 

The source of the information provided "new" threat information on several occasions, including the presence of explosives.  Bomb sniffing dogs were brought in and no explosives were found.  Throughout the incident the UA kept the campus community updated through its "UAlert" system, which text messages emergency information to students, staff and faculty.

"All clear" was finally announced sometime after 8:00pm Tucson time.  The identity of the texter is unknown at the current time, however, the investigation is ongoing.

---

Tags: University of Arizona, swatting, SWAT, UAPD, TPD, Tucson Police Department, UAlert. Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Willy Wonka Logic

    This isn't original with me, but whoever created it first - kudos!

---

Tags: Gun control, guns, criminals, Sandy Hook, Colorado gun ban, Liberals.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Border Patrol Local 2544: Throats Being Slashed at "Secure" Border

Crossposted at Blogs For Borders.
I know, I keep repeating what the good folks over at Local 2544 are saying, but I do it because it's information from firsthand sources that isn't compromised by spin (or censorship) from DHS.  Most of us cannot really visualize what the job of a Border Patrol agent is like, and I can't say that I do either.  But it's critical to our nation's security that we get it.  That's why I look to sources like Local2544.org.  All of the quotes below are from posts on their site.



THE BORDER IS SECURE!

Last week, they confirmed what thinking people easily predicted:  Namely, that sequestration cuts disproportionately applied to the Border Patrol, coupled with DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's humming-fingers-in-ears declaration that THE BORDER IS SECURE would lead to a new tidal wave of illegal aliens crossing the border from Mexico to the U.S.

Anyone with half a brain (myself included) would see how this would escalate the danger, and Local 2544 confirms that it has.

"People are getting their throats slashed at Janet Napolitano’s “secure” border in the Tucson sector. Two dead and one severely wounded just this week. The wounded man was able to flag down some Border Patrol agents after crawling for help." [Emphasis mine].

And there is this.

"Another Tucson sector station has seen large groups of up to 111 illegal aliens staging at the border and then deftly avoiding all sensors and other surveillance devices. As we warned, it will keep getting worse. Of course, once they all get past us we have ICE to arrest them. No, wait, Janet won’t let ICE do their jobs either. But not to worry, the area where these large groups are congregating is slated to have patrol agents removed next month. That should help the situation."

And posted just today,

"As of yesterday, groups of illegal aliens as large as three-hundred (300) have been spotted by Border Patrol agents in the Tucson Sector. These huge groups are being drawn here by promises of amnesty from the Obama Administration and they know that border security is getting real lax, real fast...  Congratulations President Obama, Secretary Napolitano and Deputy Commissioner Aguilar. You have done more to dismantle the morale and effectiveness of the Border Patrol than anyone else in the history of this Agency...And with agents soon scrambling to scrape up enough money to pay their bills and keep from losing their homes we are going to see an increase in corruption and a lot of agents who are preoccupied with personal problems when they are on duty.  Secretary Napolitano will not lose one dime of her inflated paycheck, and her underlings like Bianca Warner will still be knocking down over $170,000 a year while sitting in her nice office complaining about how Border Patrol agents are overpaid."

For some interesting visual and audio information, take a look at

• http://www.americanpatrol.com/13-FEATURES/130125-FEATURE/130125-Feature.html
• http://www.americanpatrol.com/SBI/130307.html

From Americanpatrol.com (see links above)

---

Tags: Local 2544, illegal aliens, Janet Napolitano, Border Patrol, sequestration cuts, Bianca Warner, AmericanPatrol.com .  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Barack Obama: Hell Bent on Destroying America

America is in deep economic trouble.  I personally believe that... well, that's another post.  So what's the plan to rescue the country?  Let's contrast two approaches. 

"We're introducing a budget that balances in 10 years -- without raising taxes," Ryan said in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. "How do we do it? We stop spending money the government doesn't have."

The plan would achieve $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. It also aims to simplify the tax code, consolidating the seven income-tax brackets into two, with a top rate of 25 percent.

Sounds reasonable at first glance.  How is this received?
In a WH statement Obama complains that the plan does not include tax increases for top earners and said the president believes it is the "wrong course for America." 

Because it doesn't include tax increases on the wealthy?  That's why it's the wrong course?  REALLY???

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats release their first budget in four years, which includes $1-Trillion dollars in tax increases.

Dereliction of duty, and then crap dumped on working Americans. It's the liberal way.

Democrats preemptively panned Ryan's spending plan [so they attack Ryan's plan sight unseen], with House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., saying it relies on "spurious budget trickery."  [a brilliant piece of analysis, this from the man who called Americans voicing their opinions on Obamacare "un-American"].

"The president has always believed that deficit reduction is not a goal unto itself," Carney said. "The proposals he's put forward keep the No. 1 objective in mind, which is economic growth and job creation, not deficit reduction solely for the purpose of reducing the deficit."

Obama:  Let's run up the debt and tax America out of existence.

Sources:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/13/senate-democrats-release-first-budget-in-four-years-includes-1-trillion-in-tax/?intcmp=trending

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/12/house-republican-spending-plan-targets-obamacare-aims-to-balance-budget/#ixzz2NUQr7bow

   

---

Tags: Paul Ryan, House budget, Obama, Senate Democrats, Jay Carney, Steny Hoyer, FoxNews, destroying America.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!

Gabby Giffords' Husband Mark Kelly Buys AR-15

Via Breitbart and Weasel Zippers:

"Mark E. Kelly, gun-control proponent and husband to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, recently purchased an AR-15 (an "assault weapon," he called it)—which he now says he intended as an illustration of the need for more stringent gun laws.

"Kelly reportedly bought the AR-15 and a 1911-style semi-automatic pistol at Diamondback Police Supply in Tucson, Arizona.
"Various sources contacted Breitbart News once Kelly made the purchase, and after we began investigating the details surrounding the purchase, Kelly announced on his Facebook that he was not going to keep the AR-15, which he has yet to pick up from the store.  
"Days after making the purchases, Kelly wrote on Facebook:

"I just had a background check a few days ago when I went to my local gun store to buy a .45. As I was leaving, I noticed a used AR-15. Bought that too. Even to buy an assault weapon, the background check only takes a matter of minutes. I don't have possession of it yet but I'll be turning it over to the Tucson PD when I do. 

"In February, Kelly told Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace that lawmakers need to address "assault weapons." He said the purpose of an "assault weapon" is "to kill a lot of people very quickly," and he lamented that such products were "too readily available."
"Kelly has not commented on whether he will also return the .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol he purchased.
"Photo: Captain Mark Kelly/Facebook "

"Do as I say, not as I do" -- ancient Liberal proverb

 

   

---

Tags: Mark Kelly, Gabby Giffords, gun control, Tucson shooting, Diamondback Police Supply, AR-15, assault weapons, 1911, semi-automatic .  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!



"The Tidal Wave Has Begun" -- Border Patrol Local 2544

Submitted by Velcro, crossposted at Blogs For Borders.

Border Patrol union local 2544 in the Tucson sector reports that the influx of large groups of illegal aliens has begun crossing the Arizona border.  This in itself increases the danger in those areas, but the union is also reporting a new phenomenon (actually an old one repeating itself from the past).

"We will continue to have large groups of illegal aliens chasing Border Patrol agents down so they can be “arrested”, knowing they will be set free and given temporary permission to remain here in the United States (no jail space to keep them locked up until their cases are adjudicated). Once they are set free with a “promise to appear” (wink, wink) 99% of them will disappear and never be heard from again unless they commit some heinous crime. Then, years down the road we will have a new group of politicians and activists screaming about how we need to “bring these people out of the shadows” by giving them amnesty. This is how the merry-go-round works. Proven time and time again over the span of many decades."

Adding insult to injury, Border Patrol agents have had their uniform allowance cut off while TSA, also under the Department of Homeland Security, bought $50 million worth of uniforms, coming to around $1,000 per agent.

Thanks for nothing, Janet.  You, OF ALL PEOPLE, as a former governor of Arizona, should know the impact of your foolish decisions on those who are charged to protect us along the border, and on those of us who live in southern Arizona!

   

---

Tags: Border Patrol, Local 2544, illegal aliens, amnesty, Janet Napolitano, uniform allowance, TSA, Department of Homeland Security.  Please mention / link to the Conservative Observer AZ. Thanks!