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Sunday, May 19, 2013
News Today: 50th Anniversary of the First Publication of MLK's “Letter from Birmingham Jail"
Posted by Mari Herreras on Sun, May 19, 2013 at 6:30 PM
Martin Luther King Jr. in jail in Birmingham, Alabama for campaigning against segregation. He wrote this letter on April 16, 1963 in response to a statement by eight Alabama clergymen who felt his actions were unwise and untimely:
MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN …We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”
We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we stiff creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dark of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you go forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides—and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: “Get rid of your discontent.” Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist.
I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, ham and all over the nation, because the goal of America k freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation-and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sports Wildcat Pride: Arizona Tops ASU For Brag-Worthy But Otherwise Irrelevant Territorial Cup
Posted by Brian J. Pedersen on Sun, May 19, 2013 at 5:17 PM
How, truly, does one measure which is better between Arizona and Arizona State?
Mascots? School colors? Graduation rates? Poorly spelled billboards? So many of those topics can be decided subjectively or skewed to lean one way or the other.
But athletically, the folks at the UA and ASU have found a way to decide this over the past five years: the Territorial Cup Series.
Awarding a point to the winner between the schools each season in 18 commonly played sports, the 2013 cup was actually on the line heading into the final head-to-head competition between the Wildcats and Sun Devils: Sunday's Pac-12 baseball game in Tempe.
When the dust settled, a 1-2-3 game-ending, game-winning double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Arizona a 7-6 win over ASU. The victory gave the UA a 3-2 edge in the season baseball series, and more importantly — to those that care — the deciding point in the Territorial Cup Series to win it 9.5-8.5.
In case you were wondering, here's the sport-by-sport breakdown:
Wins for Arizona (9) - Baseball, men's basketball, women's cross country, women's golf, women's gymnastics, women's outdoor track and field, softball, men's swimming, women's swimming
Wins for ASU (8) - Women's basketball, men's cross country, football, men's golf, women's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, women's soccer, women's tennis
Series ties (1) - Women's volleyball
So, what does winning this cup get Arizona? Besides an actual cup-like trophy? Well, nothing else tangible. Just another piece of ammunition to fire in the ongoing ASU SUCKS war.
Politics / News AZ Illustrated Politics: Medicaid Expansion, Election Bills, Rosemont Mine & More
Posted by Jim Nintzel on Sun, May 19, 2013 at 4:16 PM
On this week's AZ Illustrated Politics: Host Jim Nintzel, Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Lea Marquez-Peterson, former Pima County Democratic Party chairman Jeff Rogers and Tucson Tea Party founder Trent Humphies talk about the chances that Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid expansion can get through the Arizona House of Representatives; the pros and cons of election overhaul bills that are still alive at the Legislature; the IRS scrutiny of Tea Party groups; the question of whether the proposed Rosemont mine should get CAP water; the uproar over a proposal to lease El Rio golf course to Grand Canyon University; and more!
Friday, May 17, 2013
Weird Stuff 'Pooping In Reverse': Another One of the Terrible Things People Hope to Put on Cable Access TV [NSFW]
Posted by David Mendez on Fri, May 17, 2013 at 4:31 PM
So here's one of the absolute worst things I've ever seen: 'Pooping in Reverse,' a Vimeo-hosted video uploaded by a user called "Ringo Boomschlicka" and supposedly coming to Access Tucson at some point in the future...though in checking the Access Tucson alphabetical schedule, it appears that (thankfully) this show isn't on the air. I mean, it might be in the future, but this is awful.
Now, there's a lot of awkward nudity and bad language throughout this NSFW video, so in the interest of your eyes and your employment, I'm not embedding it...but I'll post a quick, live-blogging of my thoughts as I watch the video. Watch along at the link above, if you must.
God help me.
0:00: - Screen is black. This is the high point of the video.
0:02 - Aaaaand that's a man — though thankfully, he's tucking like Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs, so we're spared seeing what assumedly would've looked like a baby bird in a pitch-black nest of horrors.
Weird Stuff The Chernobyl-Like Fallout of Amy's Baking Company Is Comedy Gold
Posted by David Mendez on Fri, May 17, 2013 at 3:36 PM
Let's recap: In 2010, Amy's Baking Company, a Scottsdale bistro, became "famous" for going after a reviewer on Yelp. Late last year, during the taping of Fox's Kitchen Nightmares, Scottsdale PD were called to the scene to defuse a shouting match between owner Samy Bouzaglo and a patron who waited more than an hour for his food.
Last Friday, that episode of Kitchen Nightmares aired, resulting in magic like this:
From there, things only escalated for: The Facebook, Twitter and Yelp pages for Amy's Baking Company flooded with general Internet haters — and, as they have done in the past, Amy and Samy defended their company. Viciously.
Now, they're the most recognizable name in publicity stunts gone horribly wrong — which is saying something in a world where LED boards with cartoon characters were considered bombs, and a movie theater brought in dudes in body armor with AR-15s to promote Iron Man 3.
As we've already noted, Amy's Baking Company is going ahead with a Grand Re-Opening, in which they hope to ignite all sorts of love and goodwill (and also stick it to Ramsey, apparently).
But the fact that everything melted down for Amy's means that the rest of us have had the chance to enjoy comedy gold.
Take this parody commercial, for instance, which just doesn't feature enough meowing for my taste:
Or this, from an Amy's Baking Company Twitter parody:
WHO THE HELL IS SUPERTROOPERS AND WHY IS EVERYONE MEOWING AT ME?
— Amy's Baking Co (@AmysBakingCo) May 14, 2013
But the best (worst?) part is the newfound Internet fame that has befallen Katy Cipriano, the young waitress that was dropped like a bad habit for giving Amy an "attitude" during the show. Her Reddit AskMeAnything Q&A session was, for two days, one of the top posts on the site...and it looks like it's resulted in a nice, creepy following:
@cipppa I think I might be in love with you. Just thought you should know.
— Gilbert Redman-Ernst (@Gilbee_) May 16, 2013
Which, of course, she retweeted, because SOMEONE has to be into her obsession with Phoenix Suns player Channing Frye.
We'll see how long the interest in Crazy Amy's Baking Company lasts — though I will say, we're waiting with bated breath for next week's Grand Re-Opening and all of the crazed publicity that's sure to follow.
Just Plain Dumb Gutzy Wear: What You Wear to Clubs to Confuse and Confound Potential Mates
Posted by David Mendez on Fri, May 17, 2013 at 1:14 PM
In another case of a Scottsdale-idea-gone-terrible, we present Gutzy Wear, a clothing line made especially for singles who are ready to mingle — and desperate enough to do so that they're wearing specifically branded clothing saying that they want a date now, please-and-thank-you.
The idea behind Gutzy Wear, according to creator and Kickstarter creator Kari Holt, is that married people wear wedding rings to show that they're unavailable — single people can wear Gutzy Wear to say "hey, you should approach me!"
Which is a great idea. In theory.
You know, like communism.
Politics / News TV Ad Hammers Flake on Background Checks
Posted by Jim Nintzel on Fri, May 17, 2013 at 11:34 AM
A new TV ad featuring Caren Teves, who son was slain in the Colorado movie theater massacre, hits Sen. Jeff Flake for not supporting the Manchin-Toomey background-check legislation.
Flake responds via Facebook:
If you are anywhere close to a television set in Arizona in the coming days, you’ll likely see an ad about gun control financed by NYC Mayor Bloomberg.Contrary to the ad, I did vote to strengthen background checks. I voted for the bipartisan Grassley Amendment, which included language from a bill I helped write which strengthened background checks for those with mental illness. The Grassley amendment also included language to increase prosecution of criminals and fugitives who circumvent the current background check system.
Mayor Bloomberg can spend millions trying to get me to support his view of background checks. That’s his call. But we Arizonans aren’t easily bullied. The legislation that would have done the most to keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them was the Grassley Amendment. And that’s the amendment I supported.
The Range reported on Flake's background-check history here.
Science / News UA's OSIRIS-REx Space Mission Gets Green Light
Posted by Jim Nintzel on Fri, May 17, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Daniel Stolte of the UA Communications team reports that the UA's OSIRIS-REx mission, which will send a space probe to an asteroid for a few years before returning to Earth, is a go:
OSIRIS-REx, the $1 billion asteroid sample return mission led by the University of Arizona, reached a major milestone on May 16: The project passed the agency-level confirmation review called Key Decision Point-C, or KDP-C. KDP-C authorized continuation of the project into the next phase of development, giving the team the authority to proceed toward launch in 2016."This means we have now made the final deal with NASA in terms of the mission objective, the cost cap and the schedule all the way from development and launch through Earth return," said Dante Lauretta, UA planetary science professor and the mission's principal investigator.
"We have presented our plan, including all aspects of the mission, from the engineering to the science to the schedule, and NASA has accepted that plan and committed to fully fund the mission."
The UA is leading the mission. For the first time in space-exploration history, the mission will travel to and return pristine samples of a carbonaceous asteroid with known geologic context. Such samples are critical to understanding the origin of the solar system, Earth and life, Lauretta explained.
"Successfully passing KDP-C is a major milestone for the project," said Mike Donnelly, OSIRIS-REx project manager for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "This means that the agency believes we have an executable plan to return a sample from the asteroid, Bennu. It now falls upon the project and its development team members to execute that plan."
The OSIRIS-REx mission will travel to near-Earth asteroid Bennu (named via a recent student competion), study it for a year with a variety of instruments, collect a sample and return it to Earth in 2023.
Sports This Week in Tucson Bicycling
Posted by Michael McKisson on Fri, May 17, 2013 at 9:06 AM
The University of Arizona is planning a new bike path that will help cyclists avoid one of the busiest intersections around campus. Check it out.
Two national lists rank Tucson in the top 10 for biking. Find out where the city ended up on each list.
Check out the story of a run-in with a potential bike thief.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department is requesting more info on the tacks that are being placed on Catalina Highway. Check out the story here.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
News / Blogislature Brewer Calls Medicaid Vote "The Single Most Critical Policy Issue That Has Faced Our State in Years"
Posted by Jim Nintzel on Thu, May 16, 2013 at 9:35 PM
Gov. Jan Brewer's statement on tonight's Senate vote to expand Medicaid:
I thank the Arizona State Senate for acting in bipartisan, courageous and collegial fashion today to approve the single most critical policy issue that has faced our State in years: the restoration of our Medicaid program in accordance with the wishes of Arizona voters.Now, I look forward to a similarly lively and productive debate in the Arizona House of Representatives.
When I announced my health care plan in January, I knew this would be a long and difficult road. But I also knew that as the information was presented to Arizonans, they would reach the same conclusion I had. Public polling bears that out, with strong support for my Medicaid Restoration Plan across party lines and among residents from every corner of our State. Even better, public support grows as people learn more.
With Medicaid Restoration, we can keep Arizona tax dollars in Arizona. We can use these resources to provide cost-effective health care to Arizona’s working poor. We can protect our critical rural and safety-net hospitals. We can create thousands of jobs and improve Arizona’s economic competitiveness.
These are all important reasons to support this Medicaid Restoration Plan, but there is also one more: Arizonans have voted twice to expand Medicaid to the working poor. With my plan, House legislators have an opportunity to make good on that promise with a vote of their own.
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