Oye! Que Pasa? . . . Amor

Spanish Thrives in the U.S. Despite an English-Only Drive

By SIMON ROMEROAUG. 23, 2017

nytimes.com | Aug. 23, 2017

Authorities in parts of the United States have repeatedly argued for curbing the spread of Spanish, like the former Arizona schools chief who said all Spanish-language media should be silenced. A judge pushed back this week against that official’s drive to also ban the state’s Mexican-American studies program, saying the ban was “motivated by racial animus.”

Linguists trace some of the coveted vibrancy that Spanish now enjoys to decisions made well before Spain began colonizing the New World in 1492...

. . . But if the past is a guide, Spanish will continue to evolve and endure.

“In many places in the U.S., English and Spanish are in bed with each other, a contact that is both generative and exciting,” said Junot Díaz, the writer who masterfully explores the immigrant experience in the United States, largely through the travails of his Spanglish-speaking Dominican protagonist, Yunior.

“For many of us,” he went on, “Spanish is our path to love, and as history has proven no one can legislate away love.”

 

Tax Windfall In-The-Pipeline From Cannabis Legalization

You won't hear this "good news" about increasing tax revenues out of the office of the Chief Executive Officer/City Manager Chris Brady here in conservative Mesa, but Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen has 'sniffed-out' a potential windfall of potentially millions of dollars accruing to the county's coffers from the growing Medical Marijuana industry here.
What's the buzz?
It's another example of how legalization helps the community in ways that black-market sales never did. 

[ Image from Twitter ]

It's one way to get attention for sure: on Thursday, Petersen held a press conference to announce that cannabis operations were expected to report their business personal property or pay tax on it.
Assessor Petersen Adds Medical Marijuana Businesses
to 2017 Personal Property Roll
Link to press release > https://mcassessor.maricopa.gov/news/news.php 
PHOENIX — Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen will mail out notices of value and applicable penalties to business personal property owners, including for the first time medical marijuana businesses, on August 25, 2017.
"Keeping the property tax roll as fair and accurate as possible is my number one priority," said Petersen, "Property taxes support critical services for Maricopa County residents, including education, where 54% of dollars go to school districts and another 11% go to community colleges."

Medical marijuana was legalized in Arizona after the narrow passage of Proposition 203 in 2010. Proposition 203 did not exempt medical marijuana businesses from property taxes and they are not included in a long list of exemptions kept in statute. . .
The public learned from this press release that there are now 109  MMM businesses located here in Maricopa County
_________________________________________________________________________
Blogger Note: according to this report in Phoenix New Times, that  includes 55 dispensaries, 33 cultivation facilities, nine dual-use facilities (dispensaries with internal cultivation facilities), and 12 certification businesses who all had to purchase taxable equipment and personal property to operate their businesses.
__________________________________________________________________________  

Of 109 dispensary, cultivation, duel [spelling correction: dual] locations and certification businesses located in Maricopa County, only 11 reported their business personal property. Like any other business, these medical marijuana facilities that failed to report their business personal property will be assessed a 10 percent penalty.
"If Walgreens, CVS, hospital pharmacies, and other medical facilities can report their business personal property timely and accurately, why can't medical marijuana businesses do the same?" said Petersen. "If medical marijuana business owners want to be treated the same as a legitimate business, then they must also act like a legitimate business, which includes paying their property taxes on their business personal property", Petersen added.

The report by Ray Stern on Friday 25 Aug 2017
Medical-Marijuana Tax Could Mean Millions for Maricopa County Schools; Here's How
also gave this additional information:
> Only cultivation centers and dual-use businesses are likely to have enough business personal property to incur a tax, according to information provided by the assessor's office. Cultivation operations typically have $675,000 in property, while a dual-use facility might have nearly $1 million in property.
> Last year alone, the businesses collected about $30 million in sales tax after patients legally bought 29 tons of cannabis products.
> Petersen, an adoption lawyer from Mesa, began his second term in office this year. His job as assessor is not to collect taxes, but to have his office staff figure out the valuation — the worth — of residential and commercial properties. After that, the County Treasurer's Office sends out the property tax bills.
> Businesses, like homeowners, pay property tax on their land and the buildings on it. Businesses also have to pay tax on their personal property. That means nearly everything that's not part of a building structure. In the case of marijuana retail and cultivation operations, it includes things like computers, grow lights, watering systems, sinks, refrigerators, and ovens for making edibles. 

He's Talking To Tim > Time Again For Festival Pie

O YEAH ..Stumped good

Published on Aug 27, 2017

Views: 6,916

How to solve the worlds problems? Get stoned!

Flying Lightning: Russia's New High-Speed Military Helicopter Taking Shape

Published on Aug 23, 2017

Views: 265,302

Flying Lightning: Russia's New High-Speed Military Helicopter Taking Shape

Russia is developing a new high-speed combat copter in addition to the existing Ka-52 and Mi-28 attack helicopters. The vehicle might be used for special military missions, according to a Russian expert.
Source : https://goo.gl/mQ76gq

RUSSIA UNVEILS NEW FLEET OF 'INVISIBLE' SUPERSONIC FIGHTER JETS || WARTH...

Stealth technology

Published on Aug 26, 2017

Views: 4,078

 

Russia has unveiled its new fleet of 'invisible' supersonic fighter jets, boasting that they are already the envy of air forces around the world.
The £120million Sukhoi-57, which will have a top speed of 1,615 mph, is said to rival America's F-22 and China's Chengdu J-20,
Kremlin officials say the fifth-generation stealth jet has been 'christened like a baby after its birth' as Su-57 and will undergo another year of testing before it enters military service in 2019.

TRASH IS CASH> The Dirty Truth About Your Rubbish

Here's just one comment:
"This documentary encourages me even more to buy unpacked products and opt for re usable recyclable containers only. See Bea Johnson #ZeroWaste a fast spread consumer trend"
Published on Aug 26, 2017
Views: 2,288
Duration: 46:18

2 Master Spy-Thriller Writers Get Real Over Lunch

How  rare -A civilized conversation
In the oftentimes confusing and alternative-reality of the times we live in, your MesaZona blogger is fascinated by the shady 'no-man's land' between what is fiction and what is non-fiction. Facts are hard-to-find and even when they are it's perhaps human nature to deny them - want to call that a personal point-of-view or just denials of reality? . . . are we all going tribal now reverting to primitive survival instincts?
Image: David Cornwell, a.k.a. John le Carré (left), and Ben Macintyre over lunch in Bristol, England, last month.Credit Tom Jamieson for The New York Times