31 August 2021

2-HOUR MESA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION Last Thursday - 8/26/2021 - Marking The Return of 'The Brady Bunch'

Turn on THE TRANSCRIPT BUTTON - No need to wait days or weeks any more for those Approved Minutes TIME STAMPS First 25 minutes: Mesa Police Department discovers the city has 143 Massage Joints Next Active Transportation Survey Results (more bogus than not) 01:22:00 City Manager Chris Brady summons his cast of characters to appears

No Time To Die - Official Final Trailer (2021) Daniel Craig, Rami Malek,...

Powell's Speech Made Me Even More Frightened: Sri Kumar

Last week in the Republican Party...

FEDERALIST SOCIETY: Reasoned Argument: Counter to Cancel Culture, Session 2

They say they are "non-partisan" and that is hard to believe for more reasons that an argument... Here's the text provided with the uploaded video:

 (* * * * * As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.)

REASONED ARGUMENT: COUNTER TO CANCEL CULTURE
American Argument Prior to, During, and Following the Federalist-Antifederalist Debate
Session 2: The Declaration Of Independence: How Much Of The Declaration Is Still Largely Believed?
Featuring:
John S. Baker, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Louisiana State University Law Center
Reasoned Argument Book Club will run weekly on Tuesday evenings for 13 one-hour sessions, beginning Tuesday, August 24th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. The class is now full, but you can watch the live streams on our website and YouTube.
To counter cancel culture, we will be taking excerpts from these three books as well as others:
Our Republican Constitution, Professor Randy Barnett
Novus Ordo Seclorum, Forrest McDonald
The Ethics of Rhetoric, Richard Weaver
Law and Liberty’s Lifeblood: Reasoned, Persuasive Argument
The Republicanism of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution is the product of reasoned, persuasive argument. Over time, however, the republican rhetoric of law and liberty has been pushed aside by the language of regulation and federal power. More recently, Marxist rhetoric condemning America has erupted into the public square. The different worlds of sports, entertainment, education, media, as well as big law and large corporations seem to be singing from the same hymnal.
Condemning America and commanding—not arguing—that we should all think and speak as directed is the way of Cancel Culture. Rather than responding in kind, this Book Club offers an opportunity to refresh our understanding of the Republicanism that fueled the Founding and the Post-Civil War Amendments.
The audience for this Book Club includes not only law students and lawyers, but anyone concerned about disorder in our constitutional order. This Book Club is closer to a collection of essays, largely drawing from two books: Our Republican Constitution by Professor Randy Barnett; Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution by Professor Forrest McDonald; and The Ethics of Rhetoric by Richard Weaver.
Professor Barnett’s book is aimed at a general, non-scholarly audience. Professor McDonald’s book goes more deeply into the intellectual richness of the Founding. Dr. Weaver's book addresses ethical and persuasive speaking and argument by analyzing particular arguments, including those of Lincoln.
Persuasive Speech—aka Rhetoric
Justice Scalia proved the power of rhetoric, classically understood. He defended the Rule of Law and Originalism, through much more than pure reason. He used, of course, analogies and memorable metaphors, e.g., “this wolf comes as a wolf.” It was his passion for truth, however, that powered his persuasiveness. The challenge, which he relished, was addressing written and oral arguments aimed at audiences steeped in relativism. For readers and listeners ranging from fans to sneering cynics, he employed humor, sarcasm, hyperbole, and (from the bench and in speeches) especially facial expressions. His purpose: to shatter their un-reflected acceptance of Progressive constitutional truisms.
Professor Baker co-taught with Justice Scalia over the entire period of the Justice’s tenure on the Supreme Court. Besides arguing constitutional cases, including twice in the Supreme Court, Baker tried over 40 felony, jury trials and countless misdemeanors as a state prosecutor prior to entering law teaching.
Baker emphasizes that one need not have the personality of a Justice Scalia in order to understand Rhetoric and to argue more persuasively. One need not even ever make formal arguments in order to realize its benefit in the most informal of exchanges with others. But everyone needs an understanding of Rhetoric in order to protect against Woke’s “Condemn and Command” rhetoric.
* * * * *
As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

 

 

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NEWS FLASH > Arizona Federal Judge Vacates and Remands Navigable Waters Protection Rule

Water Quality Division

As part of ADEQ's commitment to keep you informed on federal changes regarding Waters of the U.S., we want you to be aware that a District Judge for the District of Arizona issued an order on vacating and remanding the Navigable Waters Protection Rule on Monday, Aug. 30, 2021 | Click here to view the order >

The order will have the effect of setting Clean Water Act regulations in Arizona to those in place pre-2015.

ADEQ will continue to follow applicable federal and state laws in its administration of the Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (AZPDES) Program and the upcoming Surface Water Protection Program.  

ADEQ plans to publish a list of protected surface waters in compliance with state law and to continue outreach on the rulemaking required to implement the Surface Water Protection Program.

David Lelsz, Ph.D.
Program Manager, Water Quality Division
602-771-4651


About ADEQ

Under the Environmental Quality Act of 1986, the Arizona State Legislature established the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in 1987 as the state agency for protecting and enhancing public health and the environment of Arizona. For more information, visit azdeq.gov.


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SPECIAL FEATURE POST: A Riff from Rogue Columnist Jon Talton 'How-to-Read The News' . . .Carefully, widely, and skeptically

Here ya go!

My PhotoJust enough to get readers of this blog started - and a couple of clips closer to home about Superstition Vistas

August 30, 2021

"U.S. newspapers lost 48 percent of their journalists between 2008 and 2018, and the losses are now accelerated by the pandemic. More than 1,800 newspapers have closed since 2004. Arizona newspaper circulation dropped by 37% between 2004 and 2019. All this is because of the collapse of the old business model because of Craig's List and self-inflicted wounds.

Many newspapers are being sucked dry by hedge-fund owners. As a result, the most experienced journalists are being pushed out. What's left are cub reporters while institutional knowledge is lost. The alternative is television news/entertainment, which is typically a shooting, an auto collision, and Heather-with-the-weather. (An honorable exception is Brahm Resnik at 12 News, a newspaper-trained newsman).

Meanwhile, a gray area of news also exists. In Phoenix, this includes Cronkite News out of ASU, KJZZ, and AZ Big Media. Flagstaff and Tucson are served by Arizona Public Media. Each of these have plusses and minuses.

This situation has profound implications for a self-governing society. Only real journalism exposes corruption, shines a light on self-serving politicians, explains complicated issues, and knits together civil society. Let's look at how to read the news — I've been a reporter, editor, and columnist for nearly four decades.

Let's look at a recent story on azfamily.com, the website of KPHO and KTVK. It's headlined, "New ADOT North-South Corridor would create traffic relief for Southeast Valley." With two reporters, the story states in part:

Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has selected a 55-mile North-South Corridor through Pinal County that would not only help relieve traffic from Phoenix to Tucson, but it would also connect areas of the Valley. 

ADOT is looking to connect those who live in Queen Creek, San Tan, and the overall congestion along the I-10 to Tucson along the 55-mile stretch that would go from the US-60 and Ironwood to Eloy along the I-10.

"The purpose of the North-South Corridor study is to enhance the area’s transportation network to accommodate the current and future population and employment growth, improving access to future development and other centers of activity, improving regional mobility, providing an alternative to and reducing congestion on Interstate 10, improving north-to-south connectivity and integrating the regions transportation network," according to a press release from ADOT. 

Garin Groff from ADOT says it's a big project that could take years but the effort is worth it.

"This is a big corridor. It's 55 miles, all the way from US 60 in Apache Junction down to Interstate 10 in Eloy. This is a corridor that ADOT has been studying for a number of years to improve north south connectivity as well as serve future growth in the area," says Groff. "We're looking at this corridor both for the current transportation needs and for the population growth and the growth of businesses that we expect in this area for the coming decades."

It continues on in this vein. Nowhere are some basic elements to a news story or Journalism 101 questions asked.

Who will benefit from this project besides, we're told, drivers? Experience with freeways in "the Valley" shows that speculators lock in parcels that would otherwise be worthless without the coming expressway. Also who will fund it? Is this another regressive sales-tax-funded freeway?

What are the downsides? The story contains no opposing voices, even though it appears this massive project would bring big environmental and climate-change emission consequences. Arizona is in a drought yet the story never mentions that and the huge costs of filling in this desert land with subdivisions and a freeway. Also, it never discusses induced demand, how building highways and wider highways actually makes traffic worse.

Where is this land coming from? It appears to be part of the controversial Superstition Vistas project but the reader is never told.

All of these flaws are common on news stories from most sites. . ."

6 charts on COVID-19 this summer

Six new charts on COVID-19 this summer

The Delta variant has upended some summer plans and impacted back-to-school plans for millions of students, parents, and teachers. It's also altered the state of coronavirus deaths from just a month and a half ago. Here are new charts from USAFacts to make sense of the state of the pandemic at the end of summer 2021.
  • The daily COVID-19 death rate in the US has been six deaths per 100,000 people since July 1. Seventeen states have death rates above the national average, with Arkansas topping the list at 21 deaths per 100,000 people daily. See coronavirus deaths by state from the start of Q3 through August 18 below. 
  • The deadliest wave of the pandemic was in December and January, when weekly death rates peaked for all racial and ethnic groups except for the non-Hispanic Black population. In December, non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaska Natives had the highest weekly death rate: 13 deaths per 100,000.
  • Older Americans comprise most COVID-19 deaths, but it's a smaller share than earlier in the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2021, people 65 and older accounted for 79% of the 191,232 COVID-19 deaths. That fell to 67% of deaths in the second quarter. During the same period, the share of COVID-19 deaths among 45- to 64-year-olds increased from 18% to 28%.

See the four other charts and more metrics on COVID-19 at USAFacts.


Pandemic rental assistance isn't getting to people who need it 

Congress sent $25 billion to state and local governments in emergency rental assistance, but less than 13% of the money had made it to renters by the end of June. As the Supreme Court strikes down the federal eviction moratorium, what is the state of emergency assistance for renters nationwide

  • Large governments like New York City and Los Angeles County redirected funds to the state for distribution. Texas and Virginia spent more than a third of their assistance funds by June's end. New York state distributed less than 1% of assistance, the lowest in the nation. 
  • Households receiving assistance almost doubled in June. Over 25% of those were in Texas, with nearly 70,000 households approved that month.
     
  • According to the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, about 15% of renters were behind on rent at the end of July. Out of that group, 29% lost employment income in the previous four weeks. About a third of that 15% of renters are one month behind. Sixty-seven percent who can't make rent are two or more months behind.

Learn more, including the demographics of Americans behind on rent, in this report.



Background check laws, explained 

Firearm background checks are designed to stop people who aren't legally allowed to purchase a gun from buying one. However, several states have enacted laws to fill what they see as gaps in the federal restrictions. USAFacts has a primer on these laws and gaps, including:

  • Gun buyers must submit to a background check via the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The system has conducted more than 300 million checks since launching in 1998, leading to more than 3 million denials.
     
  • Federal law prohibits people convicted of felony stalking offenses from accessing guns, but people convicted of misdemeanor stalking offenses (e.g., stalking outside of a domestic relationship) can still buy firearms. This is sometimes called the "misdemeanor stalking gap." Several states have passed laws to address this.

What two other firearm ownership gaps do state laws try to fill? Read about them in this explainer.


One last fact 

The information industry had the second-lowest quit rate at 1.4% and average earnings of $44.33 an hour in May. Financial activities reported the same quit rate and $40 hourly earnings. The government had the lowest quit rate, but average earnings are not available. For more on the great resignation, click here.

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me: The City of Mesa Received $52,757,862 in May 2021 Federal American Rescue Plan Act...How Much Has Been Spent?

Just in case you missed this - and admit it you it - this is most of what happened at last Week's Mesa City Council Study Session on Thursday 08.26.2021 at 07:30 in the morning.

The Power Point Slide Presentation that took up the last half-hour of that 2-hour 'Study Session'

The Local Fiscal Recovery Funds must be obligated by December 31, 2024. A time period covering over three years is designed to provide prolonged support and recovery with the understanding that the recovery from COVID-19 will take years. The proposed options included in this report are based on input from councilmembers during our initial discussion and are designed to fit within the parameters set forth in the federal guidance. Many of these new initiatives will require additional time and resources to fully develop and deploy.  

If Council supports this initial direction, staff will further investigate and develop the listed programs. ▸ Staff will continue to bring these programs as they become more developed to Council for adjustments/adoption. 

untitled (22).png

Timing of Receipt and Use of Funds  
▸ The City has certified and received $52,757,862 from the Federal government.
Stage Speaking GIF by South Park - Find & Share on GIPHY 
The remaining 50% is expected to be received in May of 2022. 
▸ Eligible expenditures need to be obligated by December 31, 2024 
▸ Performance (use/payment) through December 31, 2026
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 
▸ The President signed the $1.9T American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law in March of 2021 
17583838589232101002.jpg
▸ ARPA included $360B to establish the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds “to mitigate the fiscal effects stemming from the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease.”
FEMA $50.4B
Homeowners $10B
Airports $8B
Stimulus Checks $424B
Unemployment Insurance $246B
State and Local Fiscal Assistance $360B
Tax Credits and Aid to Families $219B
Public Health $176B E
==========================================================================

Update 
▸ Based on Council feedback staff identified projects and purchases that are consistent with the eligible uses found in the IFR. 
▸ These projects have been grouped by reporting classifications required by the Fiscal Recovery Funds: 
1. Public Health 
2. Negative Economic Impact 
3. Services to Disproportionately Impacted Community 
4. Premium Pay 
 
▸ A detailed summary of the proposed ARPA projects can be found as an attachment at end of the Council report
Public Health - $7.8M 
▸ The ARPA authorizes the use of payments from the Fiscal Recovery Funds to respond to the public health emergency and provides many ways in which the funds can be used to support communities working to reduce and respond to increased violence. 
1. PD Real Time Crime Center - $3,300,000 
2. Behavioral Health - $2,500,000 
3. Ambulance - $1,800,000 
4. PD Body Scanner and Thermal Reader - $159,000

Negative Economic Impact - $49.9M ▸
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on households and businesses. 
The Interim Final Rule (IFR) noted, “as businesses closed, consumers stayed home, schools shifted to remote education, and travel declined precipitously, over 20 million jobs were lost in March and April 2020.” 
 
1. Energy Commodity Cost- $20,000,000 
2. Food Distribution Center - $10,000,000
3. Downtown District Revitalization - $10,000,000 
4. Wi-Fi and Mobile Broadband - $6,000,000 
5. Mesa Small Business Learning Lab - $3,800,000 
6. Convention Center Floor Replacement - $145,000

Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities - $20.7M 
▸ These programs should “alleviate the immediate economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing insecurity, while addressing conditions that contributed to poor public health and economic outcomes.” 
1. Homeless Solution - $20,000,000 
2. Recreational Programming for K-6th- $447,000 
3. Education and Enrichment Scholarships- $245,000
DETAIL:
Services to Disproportionately Impacted Community - $20,692,000
1. Homeless Solution - $20,000,000 Local Program: Provide services, infrastructure and programs to address economic impacts to housing-vulnerable, low-moderate income and homeless populations due to pandemic/COVID-19 hardships.
Focus of this investment will be on sustainable, longterm facilities and programs to help strengthen the City’s Housing Path to Recovery, namely emergency and bridge housing projects and also workforce development programs to help ‘skill up’ these same populations. Regional Partnership: Partner with Maricopa Association of Governments member cities, towns, counties and native communities to support the launching of a regionwide, outcome-based, data-driven strategy to build sustainable, regional infrastructure and programs to serve populations of homeless and households at risk of eviction due to the global pandemic. The goal of a regional approach is to share the burden regionally of addressing homelessness and to coordinate limited resources in the region for maximum community benefit for the entire region

Essential City Operations - $12.8M 
▸ “Fiscal Recovery Funds payments may be used by recipients to provide premium pay to eligible workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 public health emergency…. Since the start of the COVID-19 public health emergency in January 2020, essential workers have put their physical well-being at risk to meet the daily needs of their communities and to provide care for others.” 
1. Premium Pay - $12,800,000

Future Allocation 
1. Unallocated Funding - $14,319,724 
Minion What GIF - Minion What Huh - Discover & Share GIFs - minions what gif  - Gifs, Memes, Images
Potential Uses: 
  • Food Security Initiative 
  • Restaurant Incubator 
  • Rental Assistance 
  • COVID-19 Vaccinations 
  • Broadband Subsidy Cybersecurity
=================================================================
File #:21-0869   
Type:PresentationStatus:Agenda Ready
In control:City Council Study Session
On agenda:8/26/2021
Title:Hear a presentation, discuss, and provide direction on the City's proposed expenditure plan for the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
Attachments:1. Presentation, 2. Council Report
==========================================================================================================================================
American Rescue Plan Act – Local Fiscal Recovery August 26, 2021
COUNCIL REPORT 11 Pages
Date: August 26, 2021
To: City Council 
Through: Chris Brady, City Manager 
From: 
Michael Kennington, Deputy City Manager/Chief Financial Officer
Irma Ashworth, Finance Director 
Subject: Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Discussion 
 
Purpose 
This Council report serves as a follow up to the discussion at the May 20, 2021 City Council meeting regarding the use of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds

 

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A Brutal Masterpiece Blow-After-Blow: Trump-Loving Stunt Lawyering Has Consequences (Please be advised this post contains strong and explicit language)

Justice might sometimes be delayed but not in this case when multiple lawyers being sanctioned attempted to raise a variety of terrible arguments as to why they shouldn't be held accountable for their blatant abuse of the judicial system.

Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, And A Bunch Of Other Trump-Loving Lawyers Hit With Sanctions In Michigan

from the these-assholes-deserve-everything-coming-to-them dept

Here's just to get you off to a soft start and to encourage you read the details
Insert >
 "Former Trump lawyer/current conspiracy theorist/lawsuit defendant Sidney Powell has one more thing to add to her extremely dubious CV: sanctions.
Next  The attorney general for the state of Michigan -- one of the states alleged to be the home of election fraud by Sidney Powell and her like-minded associates -- pressed for sanctions, using Powell's own statements against her. Powell claimed her statements about election fraud were nothing more than heated hyperbole that no reasonable person would have believed were facts when seeking to have Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit dismissed. Michigan's AG noted this same "hyperbole" formed the basis of the election fraud lawsuit she had filed in Michigan, which basically meant Powell expected the court to take her wild speculation as credible and potentially provable facts.

You can't have it both ways. Powell is now being sanctioned, along with several other lawyers (including L. Lin Wood) who participated in this harmful waste of government resources. The sanctions order [PDF] is a brutal masterpiece. It runs 110 pages and it details everything wrong about Powell's actions and allegations. Someone give Judge Linda Parker a raise. . .

This is the opening paragraph, which gives the reader a pretty good idea how the rest of the order is going to run. If that reader is one of the lawyers being sanctioned, this paragraph is a swift punch to the solar plexus. Unfortunately for those particular readers, it's only the first blow in a sustained, impeccably delivered beating.

This lawsuit represents a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process. It is one thing to take on the charge of vindicating rights associated with an allegedly fraudulent election. It is another to take on the charge of deceiving a federal court and the American people into believing that rights were infringed, without regard to whether any laws or rights were in fact violated. This is what happened here. . .

> Blow after blow.

The sanctity of both the courtroom and the litigation process are preserved only when attorneys adhere to this oath and follow the rules, and only when courts impose sanctions when attorneys do not. And despite the haze of confusion, commotion, and chaos counsel intentionally attempted to create by filing this lawsuit, one thing is perfectly clear: Plaintiffs’ attorneys have scorned their oath, flouted the rules, and attempted to undermine the integrity of the judiciary along the way. . .

> This is directed at Powell and her defamation lawsuit defense:

It is not acceptable to support a lawsuit with opinions, which counsel herself claims no reasonable person would accept as fact and which were “inexact,” “exaggerate[ed],” and “hyperbole.” Nor is it acceptable to use the federal judiciary as a political forum to satisfy one’s political agenda. Such behavior by an attorney in a court of law has consequences. Although the First Amendment may allow Plaintiffs’ counsel to say what they desire on social media, in press conferences, or on television, federal courts are reserved for hearing genuine legal disputes which are well-grounded in fact and law.

> Then there's L. Lin Wood. He claims he shouldn't even be facing sanctions because he was not officially part of this lawsuit. . .

> Other attorneys trying desperately to distance themselves from this lawsuit now that it's sanctionable fare no better. Emily Newman claimed she only spent about "five hours" on the lawsuit and performed that work at home. So what? asks the court. . .

> The same goes for Gregory Rohl, whose argument that he didn't spend much time on the lawsuit completely backfires. . .

> Also sanctionable was the lawyers' refusal to dismiss the lawsuit once it had become moot. The legal theory cited isn't actually legal.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys maintain that this lawsuit was no longer moot after December 14 because three Plaintiffs subjectively believed that they had become electors. The attorneys cite no authority supporting the notion that an individual’s “[personal] opinion” that he or she is an elector is sufficient to support the legal position that the individual is in fact an elector. Of course, such a belief is contrary to how electors are appointed in Michigan.

This refusal resulted in more filings by those being sued, forcing them to expend time and money to address claims based on nothing more than speculation and a strong desire to return Trump to office. Very sanctionable. . .

> And at this point, we're only halfway through the decision. I suggest you read the whole thing, but here are a few more highlights: ..............................................................................................

> This is brief but brutal:

Plaintiffs alleged that certain acts or events violated the Michigan Election Code when, in fact, they did not.

The affidavits presented as evidence were just as garbage as the allegations:..............................

.........................................................................................................................................................

> And then there's this hysterical First Amendment argument, which is capably dismantled by the judge.

In response to the State Defendants’ supplemental brief, instead of explaining what efforts they undertook to investigate the veracity of the affidavits, Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that they “never stated that lawyers cannot be held to account.” “Instead,” they argue, the motion to dismiss “justifies lawyers being afforded the same type of Constitutional protections as journalists,” “who . . . would lose the protection afforded to them by the Supreme Court . . . if they were ‘drawn into long court battles designed to deconstruct the accuracy of sources on which they rely.’”

Attorneys are not journalists. It therefore comes as no surprise that Plaintiffs’ attorneys fail to cite a single case suggesting that the two professions share comparable duties and responsibilities. Perhaps this confused understanding as to the job of an attorney, and what the law says about the attendant duties and obligations, is what led Plaintiffs’ counsel to simply copy and paste affidavits from prior lawsuits. Perhaps not. But what is certain is that Plaintiffs’ counsel will not escape accountability for their failure to conduct due diligence before recycling affidavits from other cases to support their pleadings here. . .

>  Here's everyone that's affected by this sanction order, as listed on the Michigan attorney general's website:

Sidney Powell - Texas;  
L. Lin Wood - Georgia;  
Emily Newman - Virginia;  
Julia Z. Haller - the District of Columbia, Maryland, New York and New Jersey;  
Brandon Johnson - the District of Columbia, New York, and Nevada;  
Scott Hagerstrom - Michigan;  
Howard Kleinhendler - New York and New Jersey;  
Gregory Rohl - Michigan; and  
Stefanie Lynn Junttila - Michigan.

On top of this, other lawyers engaged in similar "election fraud" lawsuits are being hit with sanctions in Colorado. And the Texas Office of the Chief Disciplinary counsel is now looking into stripping Powell of her license.

Good. Fuck these guys.

 > They decided to turn a sore loser's wild ass claims into legal proceedings, relying on a choir of the converted to provide supporting "evidence."

> And they refused to back down, even when the Department of Justice itself (while still headed by Bill Barr) found no evidence of election fraud.

> They played to the base and lost.

> They catered to conspiracy theorists and Trump loyalists that coalesced in a raid of the Capitol building in hopes of preventing certification of election results -- a raid that culminated in several deaths and several hundred criminal prosecutions.

Stunt lawyering has real consequences. These attorneys will now be paying the legal fees and costs incurred by the multiple Michigan government entities that were forced to defend themselves from this baseless lawsuit.

Filed Under: elections, fraud, kraken, lin wood, sanctions, sidney powell
Companies: dominion 

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'They All Wanted To Believe' . . .“It was an incredibly alluring narrative that everyone wanted to believe.”

Here's a tale more than twice-told -- “People are more sensitive to scams now – in some ways, there is a pre-Theranos Silicon Valley era and post-Theranos era,” said John Carreyrou, a journalist who has been covering Theranos for six years and now hosts a podcast on the trial. “But in many ways the boom has continued unabated. I’m not convinced there has been a true reckoning, yet.”

‘Selling a promise’: what Silicon Valley learned from the fall of Theranos

The company’s collapse has changed the startup environment, but some say the industry still hasn’t faced a ‘true reckoning’

Madeleine Albright, Elizabeth Holmes, and Jack Ma attend a 2015 Clinton Global Initiative event in New York.
Madeleine Albright, Elizabeth Holmes, and Jack Ma attend a 2015 Clinton Global Initiative event in New York. Photograph: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Last modified on Mon 30 Aug 2021 01.02 EDT

Insert "A charismatic young leader, billions of dollars in valuations and a technology that promised to change the world but failed to deliver: the meteoric rise and fantastic fall of the medical tech startup Theranos has been seen by many as an indictment of the hype-train attitude of Silicon Valley. . .

Changing times

When Holmes was rising to power, tech companies were still seen as innovators that were largely benefiting society, said O’Mara. Bolstered by organizers’ use of technology platforms in events like the Arab spring and Occupy Wall Street, there was an overarching narrative that Silicon Valley was connecting the world and promoting democracy.

“This was a time when companies could say they were making the world a better place and most people believed them,” O’Mara said.

Startups from an array of industries were able to hop on Silicon Valley’s hype train, adopting its ethos of “move fast and break things”. Theranos was primarily a medical device company, while WeWork – another industry darling – was at its core real estate firm selling office space.

A decade later, the startup environment has decidedly changed. Revelations like the Cambridge Analytica scandal have eroded trust in big tech. Legislators and the public are increasingly questioning the monopoly power some major tech companies hold. Social platforms were largely blamed for the rise of Donald Trump and his stunning victory in the 2016 election.

“That’s when the whole conversation around social media and more broadly the tech sector started turning sideways,” O’Mara said. “There started to be more skepticism about what exactly these companies were promising.”

. . .“Healthy skepticism has evolved into complete mistrust,”

. . .The outcome of the case will be huge for startup culture, Carreyrou, the journalist, said. “There has long been a culture of faking it until you make it in Silicon Valley, and Holmes is a product of that culture,” he said.

Justice is not blind... It's selective. — Steemit

“To reform that – to change Silicon Valley – it is going to take a conviction.”

 

TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE DETAILS > https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/aug/30/elizabeth-holmes-trial-theranos-silicon-valley

EYE ON GOVERNMENT: City of Mesa Housing & Community Development Board

First: Let's take a look and see what the official statements are from the city in general about Advisory Board and Committees:
Mesa residents are invited to participate in the process of City of Mesa government.
> One of the most effective ways to provide input is through service on one of the City's citizen advisory boards and committees.
> Through this service, civic-minded citizens become involved in their local government and make recommendations to the Mesa City Council.
> The City, in turn, benefits from the knowledge, experience and expertise of citizens. 
 
Second: Let's take a look and see what the city says the Housing & Community Development is:
The Housing and Community Development Advisory Board is composed of eleven (11) members who are residents of Mesa and who volunteer their services. 
> The Mayor, with the approval of the City Council, appoints the members of the Board. 
> Board members are appointed for 3-year terms and cannot serve more than two complete consecutive terms. 
> Previous board members may be re-appointed after a lapse of three years from end of previous term.
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Official Information

Housing & Community Development Advisory Board

First Thursday of each month (on an as-needed basis)
6:00 PM
City Council Chambers - Lower Level
57 E. First Street, Mesa, AZ 

The next Housing and Community Development Advisory Board meeting will be held on Thursday, Sept 2, 2021 at 6:00 pm.

Ticking Clock GIFs | Tenor

1 OK. Please take a look and see if there is AN AGENDA provided. as of August 31, 2021 - that is two days in advance for the next scheduled Board meeting - after a gap of three months after May 2021 when something important happened THE AMERICAN JOBS PLAN
 
2. From what we can see on the official page for Meetings & Agendas, it appears there was no need to schedule any Community Housing & Development Board meetings for the past three months ------ NO MEETINGS TOOK PLACE in either June, July or August:
The last one was in May
 
Meeting DateDocument TitleMeeting TypeDocument Type 
5/6/2021May 6, 2021 AgendaRegularAgendas
5/6/2021May 6, 2021 ResultsRegularResults
 
Agendas & Minutes button
 
WHO ARE THE MEMBERS OF THE HCD BOARD
There are six Community Representatives - 1 has been vacant (no appointment)
1 Manufactured Housing Rep
1 Financial Rep
1 Singe-Family Housing Development Rep
1 Non-Profit Provider Rep
1 Special Needs Provider Rep

Board Members

Role:
Board Member:
 Date Appointed:
Term Expires:
Chair - Community Rep
Johanna Richards
 07/03/18
06/30/21
Vice-Chair - Community Rep
Mara Benson
 07/01/1906/30/22
Manufactured Housing Rep
Susan Brenton
 08/16/18
06/30/21
Financial Rep
Derek Brosemann
 07/01/1906/30/22
Single-Family Housing Development Rep
Chad Cluff
 07/01/1906/30/22
Non-Profit Provider Rep
Kevin Humphrey
 05/07/20
06/30/23
Community Rep
Nicolle Karantinos
 11/12/2006/30/23
Special Needs Provider Rep
Monique Kennedy
 07/02/1906/30/21
Community Rep
Mark Powell
 07/01/19
06/30/22
Community Rep
Shelley Reimann
 07/01/20
06/30/23
Community Rep

Vacant

  

Staff Liaison  
Jessica Morales, Program Assistant
480-644-3024

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INSERT RELATED CONTENT
Incentivize the removal of exclusionary zoning and harmful land use policies. For decades, exclusionary zoning laws – like minimum lot sizes, mandatory parking requirements, and prohibitions on multifamily housing – have inflated housing and construction costs and locked families out of areas with more opportunities. President Biden’s plan seeks to help jurisdictions reduce barriers to producing affordable housing and expand housing choices for people with low or moderate incomes. The American Jobs Plan will create a $5 billion incentive program that awards flexible and attractive funding to jurisdictions that take concrete steps to reduce barriers to affordable housing production.
Establish an energy efficiency and resilience retrofit program for multifamily housing. Most HUD-assisted housing was built decades ago and is less energy efficient and resilient than modern technologies and practices allow. As most of these properties lack the resources to update to higher standards, the American Jobs Plan would provide $500 million in grants and low-interest loans to help renovate tens of thousands of multifamily homes, making them more energy and water efficient and more resilient to extreme weather events. Research suggests these investments could save utility costs and create healthier indoor environments for residents.
 
Revitalize the physical assets that build community connectedness and spark innovation. Across the country, too many low-income communities and communities of color have suffered from years of disinvestment. The American Jobs Plan proposes investing $10 billion to support community-led redevelopment projects that create innovative shared amenities, spark new economic activity, provide services, build community wealth, and strengthen social cohesion.  The proposed Community Revitalization Fund would support a wide range of transformational places to work and gather, including but not limited to: upgrading access to natural areas, restoring vacant buildings to provide low-cost space for services and community entrepreneurs, and removing toxic waste and building new parks, greenways, and community gardens.
Produce and preserve more than one million housing units. Affordable housing development often requires multiple public subsidies to become financially feasible. The Biden-Harris Administration is proposing a historic $35 billion investment in HUD’s HOME Investment Partnership program and a $45 billion investment in the Housing Trust Fund to address housing needs in communities across the country. Together with an expansion of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and an innovative new tax credit through the Neighborhood Homes investment Act, these funds will produce and preserve more than one million affordable, sustainable places to live for low-, very-low, and extremely-low income families. The American Jobs Plan would also restore project-based rental assistance for privately-owned rental housing with an initial $2 billion investment, extending housing opportunities to even more communities.
  • Address longstanding public housing capital needs. Nearly two million people across the country live in public housing—families with children, older Americans, and people with disabilities. Like roads, schools, and power grids, public housing is critical infrastructure that directly impacts the health and viability of our communities. Yet nearly half of the nearly 1 million units of public housing are over 50 years old and many contain lead paint, mold, and other health hazards. The American Jobs Plan calls for a transformative investment of $40 billion to rehabilitate and preserve public housing, addressing residents’ critical health and safety concerns. This is not just a safety issue but a racial justice issue, as approximately three in four public housing residents are people of color

 

26 May 2021

FACT SHEET: The American Jobs Plan Will Provide HUD with New Resources to Strengthen Communities, Expand Access to Affordable Housing, and Create Jobs

PRESS RELEASE The American Jobs Plan Will Provide the Department of Housing and Urban Development with New Resources to Strengthen Communities, Expand Access to Affordable Housing, and Create Jobs

 
 
Mesa has a Housing Master Plan
Based on this collection of information, the following ‘Guiding Principles’ have been approved for the Housing Master Plan: 
Expand housing throughout Mesa for persons of all incomes and needs.
Ensure the current inventory of housing is healthy, maintained and safe.
• Prioritize federal funding housing strategies that include reducing homelessness and promoting homeownership. 
• Seek partnerships to leverage housing development
 
 
 
 
Housing Master Plan Update: Goals & Strategies 
Guiding Principle:  Expand Housing throughout Mesa for Persons of All Incomes and Needs
 
> MAINTAIN AND EXPAND INFRASTRUCTURE
Consider housing types and locations when planning citywide infrastructure needs and resources.  
Connections to parks and green space
Sustainable development strategies and opportunities
 
> IDENTIFY EXISTING HOUSING INVENTORY:  Complete a comprehensive survey to document existing locations citywide of the types of housing available today in Mesa.  
 
 
 
> USE DATA TO BALANCE TYPE/LOCATION HOUSING:  Use housing inventory as one indicator when considering infill projects, or to consider ‘balance’ of type/location of new housing needs citywide.
 
> CONNECT HOUSING TO EXISTING/PLANNED RESOURCES:  Make this information a mapped tool where other overlays can be added for more insights, such as socioeconomic, demographics, city council districts, economic opportunity zones, existing zoning, quarter sections eligible for federal funding, existing parks, streets, transit, existing infrastructure, etc. 
 
> IDENTIFY ATTAINABLE HOUSING STRATEGIES AND INCENTIVES:  Work with internal departments, developers and the community to identify housing strategies that are attainable for residents of all incomes in Mesa that is presented for action by the City Council.
▪ Provide specs as an incentive for accessory dwelling units. 
▪ Assess other incentives for planning and construction phases.  • CREATE HOUSING
 
 
 
> STRATEGY FOR DOWNTOWN CORRIDOR:  Create a housing guideline strategy specific to downtown Mesa, using housing stats/data and also plans for the Central Main Plan,
Transit-Oriented Design,
Parks Masterplan,
Downtown Enterprise Zone,
Downtown Vision,
ADA, and the
General Plan to identify strategies for celebrating existing diversity/culture and also ensuring ample housing types/supplies for Downtown’s long-term economic growth and business/industry needs.
 
> CONNECT BUSINESS NEEDS TO EXECUTIVE AND WORKFORCE HOUSING:  Increase efforts to attract more executive and workforce housing to align with existing and new business/industry needs
 
> CREATION OF NEW COORIDORS OR DISTRICT PLANS: Being mindful of the housing needs as new workforce and business corridors, districts and other related site plans are created and considered. 
 
 
> PARTNER WITH NON-PROFITS TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND WRAP-AROUND SERVICES:  Work with local non-profit and other agencies to identify plans and resources to build new affordable housing, bridge housing, etc. to meet citywide needs and to ensure connections to healthy community ideals, i.e. connections to transit, shopping, schools, parks, walkable areas.   Increase the number of multi-family housing development owners/operators to work with the City for Section 8 housing.   
 
 
> NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT:  Continue to use federal funds and cross-departmental efforts to pursue data-driven approaches to strengthen and enhance challenged neighborhoods. Continue to strengthen neighborhood leadership and to encourage neighborhood engagement and to build a sense of community, connection, pride and safety.
 
 
 
 
> REHAB AGING HOUSING STOCK:  Increase federal funding allocations to the City’s rehabilitation program to continue addressing needs of aging housing stock. Identify priorities to purchase and rehab i.e. duplexes, fourplexes for resale to eligible families and to strengthen neighborhoods.

 > INVENTORY AND PLAN FOR MANUFACTURED HOUSING CITYWIDE:  Identify all mobile home, manufactured housing communities in Mesa as well as their age and conditions. 
Create a community-based strategy to identify priories, risk factors and to utilize federal funding, assistance from non-profits and support from industry to provide a combination of strategies, including codification of some requirements, to support safe and healthy living conditions for existing homes and to identify standards for future manufactured housing proposed in Mesa. Consider ‘tiny home’ development strategies for replacement of deteriorated housing.  
Guiding Principle: Prioritize Federal Funding Housing Strategies that Include Reducing Homelessness and Promoting Homeownership
 • OPTIMIZE AND LEVERAGE HUD FUNDING:
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The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 – Direct Aid To Education, Healthcare And Other Sectors May Indirectly Benefit State And Local Governments

January 14, 2021 https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-consolidated-appropriations-act-8660575/

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) supplements the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (the “CARES Act”) by providing approximately $900 billion in additional federal aid to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Act excludes state and local governments from direct financial relief, a major sticking point in the final weeks of negotiation.  Nevertheless, the Act’s targeted aid to particular sectors, including K-12 and higher education, healthcare, transportation and housing, should provide some aid to state and local governments, albeit indirectly, as highlighted below

Housing

  • The Act extends the CDC’s residential eviction moratorium until January 31, 2021 and provides $25 billion in additional emergency rental assistance.
  • The Act also establishes a 4% floor rate for calculating the low income housing tax credit (LIHTC), a federal subsidy used in financing the acquisition, construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing for low- and moderate-income tenants.
 
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