Way too early to put on "the thinking cap" but here's a mental trampoline to start up energies flowing through our brain cells, nodes and connections. Sometimes your MesaZona blogger feels like A Stone Age Man or just mebbe Pre-Neanderthal. There's no 'man-cave' here in the open working-space called home. You might scratch your head wondering what's this got to do anything? .... time to chill and to mellow-out Jeez
Just take one item: say, a higher gas tax. Where we goin' with that leads to one answer: “Some folks may not like the idea of increasing the motor fuel user fee, but if you don’t like that, what’s your proposal?” he asks. “What shouldn’t be acceptable, and what we don’t think is acceptable, is to simply say, ‘Well, we don’t have a solution.’ ” ______________________________________________________________ DEFINITION:
so·lu·tion
səˈlo͞oSH(ə)n/
noun: solution; plural noun: solutions
1. a means of solving a problem or dealing with a difficult situation.
"there are no easy solutions to financial and marital problems"
> the correct answer to a puzzle.
"the solution to this month's crossword"
answer, result, resolution, way out, fix, panacea;
More synonyms: key, formula, explanation, interpretation
"an easy solution to the problem"
>products or services designed to meet a particular need "we are an Internet marketing firm specializing in e-commerce solutions"
2.a liquid mixture in which the minor component (the solute) is uniformly distributed within the major component (the solvent).
OK - How'd all that get started? Thanks to Mike Bloomberg and this article with the headline as a declarative statement leading to the question: What can fix it?
By Mark Niquette @mniquette > more stories by Mark Niquette
"With greater fuel efficiency and electric cars, another source of revenue is needed. President Trump’s plan to spend at least $200 billion to spur investment in U.S. public works has set off a bitter battle over raising the federal gas tax—and highlighted fundamental problems with the way the U.S. pays for roads and bridges. . .
On Feb. 12, Trump released his infrastructure plan, which would use federal dollars mostly as incentives to encourage states, localities, and the private sector to spend at least $1.5 trillion on infrastructure improvements. In a meeting with lawmakers two days later, he supported the idea of raising the gas tax to help fund his proposal. . . "
Curious to read more?
Good arguments pro- and con- if want to see and understand both sides of the data.
Seriously, folks Why the media take the bait and viewers fall for it.
Published on Mar 5, 2018
Views: 241,065
Politicians are trolling the media to advance their own agendas > You KNOW that now The Nunes memo fiasco shows how politicians troll the media
Why the media take the bait and viewers fall for it.
By Carlos Maza The past few weeks of political news coverage have been dogged by Republican-fueled pseudo-scandals: allegations of deleted text messages, a “secret society” in the FBI, and a classified memo alleging misbehavior at the FBI.
In each case, congressional Republicans promised news outlets they were uncovering bombshell evidence of wrongdoing on the part of President Donald Trump’s critics at the FBI.
In each case, news networks spent countless segments repeating Republican allegations and investigating their truthfulness.
And in each case, the allegations turned out to be bogus.
These stories all have a happy ending. The truth came out, eventually. Fact-checking prevailed.
But if you look at these stories as red herrings — as pseudo-scandals meant to provoke news outlets in such a way that reinforced Republicans’ animosity towards the FBI — news networks fell for a cynical trap.
These stories highlight traditional media’s vulnerability to trolling. Politicians like Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), who hype bogus allegations against political opponents, will often be rewarded with wall-to-wall news coverage, interviews, and media speculation. If those allegations turn out to be false, researchshows that many viewers will still be influenced by the false information even after stories are debunked.
That’s created a news environment that rewards politicians who are willing to temporarily stake their reputations in order to bait news networks.
> You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube.
> Subscribe for more episodes of Strikethrough, our series exploring the media in the age of Trump.______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Between Rep. Devin Nunes’ (R-CA) secret memo, allegations of missing text messages, and the panic over a so-called “secret society” in the FBI, the past few weeks of political news coverage have been dominated by Republican pseudoscandals. And while each of these alleged “bombshells” has turned out to be a dud, these stories raise questions about whether GOP politicians are intentionally baiting journalists -- trolling them into covering conspiracy theories in order to raise doubts about the FBI and the ongoing Mueller investigation.
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.
Your MesaZona blogger is excited and thrilled to feature this investigative reporting from The Arizona Daily Independent. If you have been faithful readers of this blog now with over 178,000 views, thank you very much for being less stupid than some of the folks who like their news "Spoon-Fed" by corporate mainstream media. . . Here's some damn good hyper-local reporting - take a look
Who’s Mugging Mesa? Mesa’s ASU Project Needed To Make Good On Worsley’s “Bet” (Featured image Credit: By: Red Pill Approved ComicsMarch 4, 2018) "At the February 26 meeting of the Mesa City Council, Sen. Bob Worsley made a rare appearance in an effort to promote a proposal to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Arizona State University. The senator’s appearance surprised many Mesa residents who had never before seen their representative show any interest in the City’s business.
It is not the city’s business however, that prompted the appearance by the wealthy developer/senator.
In May 2016, Mesa Mayor John Giles announced plans to build a new campus for Arizona State University (ASU) featuring film, media, gaming, virtual reality programs. See. Image to the left of John Giles making strange under-handed hand gestures with ASU Mascot "Sparky" that kicked-off a privately-funded $500,000+ Public Relations campaign that turned out to be a major screw-up: Yes1Mesa In November 2016, Mesa voters rejected a sales tax that would have funded the project and public safety when the voters of Mesa realized the rip-off. According to Mesa City Councilman Kevin Thompson, constituents “time and time again” told him that they would support the increase for public safety, but could not support using public money to build ASU a campus. . . Blogger Note: Kevin Thompson, however, did vote yes when the Mesa City Council voted unanimously 7-0 to approve it in 2016. This time around he and District 2 Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker opposed the motion. At the February 26, 2018 meeting - just a week ago now - the Mesa City Council voted 5 – 2 to direct the City Manager to begin the process of developing an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Arizona Board of Regents for the development, operation, and maintenance of the ASU facilities…. To read more — Mesa’s ASU Project Needed To Make Good On Worsley’s “Bet” — If readers of this blog have not yet had the opportunity and taken the time tp read the posts on all this ROBUSTactive interest with residents and voters getting engagement in the sketchy schemes and half-baked Pie-In-The-Sky proposals, just scroll down the front page and use the post archive for February 2018 to the left. We need to demand that government is open, transparent, and accountable here in Mesa. Some of the Mesa Council members - including the mayor - should probably have recused themselves from any discussion due to actual or perceived conflicts-of-interest.
"Arizona Governor Doug Ducey ended the era of unfettered self-driving car companies last week, creating a detailed system of rules and a type of licensing system for the vehicles. . . " Blogger Note: and the Arizona insurance industry wants to get its fair share "Ducey's new executive order is being described as an "update" of his permissive 2015 order that resulted in a fleet of hundreds of semi-autonomous cars on state roads. White Waymo and gray Uber vehicles, bristling with cameras and antennas, have become a common sight in Tempe and Chandler (and Mesa). The state is now considered a leader in the technology, though the dry, warm climate and other factors have attracted the firms. . . Officials were never that clear about any limitations of the 2015 order. The March 1 rules follow several news articles, including in Phoenix New Times, that posed questions about the liabilities and lack of rules for the vehicles already being tested. According to Ducey's staff, officials were also motivated after the federal government published guidelines for the vehicles last fall
. . . Ducey's latest order gives definitions that should help the public better understand what's going on, and how the state will help manage the futuristic technology. Americans remains wary of the concept of fully autonomous vehicles; polls show most people aren't ready to get in one.
The order rolls back some of Ducey's freewheeling policy on self-driving cars. In December 2016, the state Department of Transportation touted the lack of rules in news release about Uber's decision to test its vehicles in Arizona . . . The governor created a self-driving car oversight committee staffed with representatives of ADOT, the state Department of Insurance, Ducey's office, and the University of Arizona, and given a mission to advise state agencies and universities on how to best advance self-driving cars. The board met once, online records show, or perhaps twice, and did little else.
Ray Stern has worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won many awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism
Nov 7, 2017 - Waymo self-driving cars now will operate on Arizona roadways with nobody behind the wheel. ... Much like the Uber Volvos and Chevy Bolts testing autonomous technology in the Phoenix area, Waymo's Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans and Lexus RX 450h ..... Self-driving cars learn how to drive in Mesa.
It was a welcome relief from Getting-Down with "The Real Nitty-Gritty" of tricky Politics/Public Relations Ploys and City Budget-Busters for your MesaZona blogger to find a barrage of other things making the headlines in news alerts delivered to an email inbox. It's gotten all jammed-up and over-congested with way-too-much-traffic. So before yours truly hits the button SEND TO TRASH here are some titillating stories outlined with some details and comments. The best is saved for last: Believe It or Not How two twin-fiddler LDS brothers who attended BYU found their mission in music and a higher calling in pest control in their start-up small venue here on Main Street. It's a story you can't find anywhere else but here on your hyper-local independent news. Read on and have some fun! Guessing where this might be going . . .
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1. Re: Ecstasy Anyone remember NY Mafioso figure Sammy "The Bull" Gravano who found a home here in Arizona in the FBI's Witness Protection Program? He was later busted big-time for dealing in the illegal manufacture, sale and distribution in the disco-drug scene "Ecstasy" a couple of decades ago. Looks like Ecstasy is still in-demand here in The Valley
ABC15 News did this piece: 'Large scale' international ecstasy operation busted in Valley PHOENIX - Arrests have been made in Mesa, Glendale and at Sky Harbor Airport involving an international ecstasy operation capable of producing 15,000 pills per hour. Court paperwork shows four people were arrested for alleged involvement in the production and distribution operation.Link to source: https://www.abc15.com/news
2. Re: Ammo Dealer or What Happens in Mesa Doesn't Stay In Mesa Haig says it's not uncommon for someone to buy this type of ammo, and at this quantity. He's an aerospace engineer and only sold ammo as a hobby. He doesn't sell it anymore, and he's not sure if he ever will again. Source: http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news
3. Re: Dog Theft/Murder at Nail Salon Mesadog groomer, boyfriend arrested in case of missing dog, dog still not found By David Baker Posted:
Mar 01, 2018 8:12 PM MST Updated:
Mar 01, 2018 8:28 PM MST MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - An employee at a dog grooming store and her boyfriend were arrested for stealing a dog from a customer, police said, but the dog is still missing Source: http://www.azfamily.com
4. Re: Hollywood Pest Control
Mesa brothers aren’t fiddling around with pests or music
By Catherine Hathaway, Tribune Contributor
"Identical twin brothers Jeffrey and Jason Linford never gave up on their dreams. Now, with their company and music duo, the Hollywood Bug Guys, it’s paying off.
“It’s finally starting to get traction. It’s just super-exciting,” Jason said. “We’re on a missionto revolutionize the music industry through pest control. . . .
Blogger Note: Image to the left taken from ldsliving.com .
It's been inserted by your MesaZona blogger. It is not the image selected by EVT contributing writer Catherine Hathaway featured to accompany her contribution to local news
Blogger Note: HUH? 'twin fiddlers' who found their 'higher-calling' after both attended BYU in Utah in a start-up operation here in downtown Mesa.... where they found their mission. How'd' that happen? * Here's a milestone in their career: they got a call from “The Gong Show.”
“The crazier the better, they said,” Jeffrey said.
“Jason knew early on that that was an opportunity, being the twin fiddlers,” Jeffrey said. “We gradually expanded into our pest control, but it started with our music.”
Pest control wormed its way into their lives in 2004, as the duo used their profits to pay for collect. The brothers attended Brigham Young University. While there, Jeffrey was approached by a friend to start selling pest control.
“I thought, ‘Oh, no, is this what my life has come to,’” Jeffrey said.
Although initially skeptical, Jeffrey got creative. Instead of the traditional door-to-door pitch, he found a way to incorporate his love of music into the sell.
“I went with my violin and played some fiddle tunes,” Jeffrey said. “And I basically was like we don’t fiddle around with bugs. Then people would let us in and talk to us about our music and our pest control and I started signing up customers that way.”
Jeffrey did this for about a year until roping Jason into the job. Jason, who was pre-med and pre-film at BYU, was interested in pursuing his master’s degree, but Jeffrey knew there was a different plan.
“The economy just crashed in 2008 and 2009 and I realized all these great jobs are struggling, but pest control is still thriving,” Jeffrey said. “So, I thought, it’s good to go into a recession-proof industry. . .
* Back in Mesa, the brothers write their own music in the “Practice Pad,” a live music venue and recording studio located @ 711 East Main Street - a hold-out parcel of land between the two affordable innovative workforce housing downtown development projects by Community Development Partners > El Rancho Del Arte opened in October 2015 > El Rancho Del Sol opened in November 2017
“We’re making our own little venue,” Jason said.
“It seats about 50 people and we’re going to open that sometime this year. We’ll probably have a concert about once a month there. We are getting more of an online following.”
Back last year something' was buggin' your MesaZona blogger at the Grounding Ceremony for El Rancho Del Sol, Phase II of an inclusive affordable innovative workforce housing project by Community Development Partners, when Mayor John Giles showed up with two mystery dudes in baseball hats sitting in three chairs at the far right-hand side in the otherwise empty front row.
Nobody in the crowd knew who they were. In a reply to an email inquiry sent to Melissa Randazzo in the Mayor's Office for Public Information she identified them: Jason and Jeffrey Lunsford
What you see in the image to the right taken on June 19, 2017 by your MesaZona blogger is the site of The Practice Pad at 711 East Main Street here in downtown Mesa sandwiched in between El Rancho Del Arte to the left at 719 E Main. Perlman Architects had to get creative in their design plans for a workforce housing
Related:
Perhaps Mesa Mayor John Giles likes
The crazier the better
In this iconic image taken by local photographer Ivan Martinez during the mayor's State-Of-The-City 2016 speech in the Mesa Con Center. Readers may like to note that Mayor John Giles, educated at BYU, has musical talent also just like the Twin-Fiddler Lindford Brothers.
Here's a vid from Mesa Morning Live with Giles Slow-Jamming
MESA, AZ- Fifteen men were taken into custody after a prostitution sting in Mesa during a week in January. As a part of Mesa Police Department's initiative to raise awareness and stop human trafficking, detectives conducted "Operation Eagle's Nest," which sought out people seeking prostitutes online. Police say detectives ...
There, top city officials described an undercover sting operation at a local massage parlor, which resulted in the arrest of 86 people. January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. City leaders talked of “disgusting, appalling” stories and decried why not every city has a vice squad. So when Mesa's vice squad, the ...
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Montenegro, the Topless Text, and CD8 Race:
"Republican congressional candidate and former Arizona senator Steve Montenegro's "revenge porn" scandal looks like a good, old-fashioned Arizona dirty politics story.
This story has more holes than the border fence and more fun political intrigue than other news media are reporting. More Fun:
But first, the latest:
• Kent Lyons, the alleged ex-boyfriend of Stephanie Holford, the Arizona Senate staffer who sent Montenegro at least one topless photo of herself and maybe more, denied — through his attorney — stealing Holford's data and shopping it to the news media.
• Lyons, Phoenix New Times has learned, is the business partner and campaign consultant of State Senator Bob Worsley, a Mesa Republican. New Times could not immediately determine if Worsley is backing anyone in the Congressional District 8 race, and Worsley won't answer follow-up questions. • Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan tweeted on Friday night that Montenegro has had "extracurricular 'activities'" with "a House staffer, an ADE staffer, & now Senate staff? Worst kept secrets at the Capitol." . . . Montenegro comes off in this looking like a dope and a moral hypocrite. The texts show he and Holford flirted, and that maybe they hoped to get physical at some point. But his actions may not cost him the congressional primary. As New Times' Antonia Farzan reported on Thursday, more than three-quarters of voters have already mailed in their ballots. _____________________________________________________________ Who's Mugging Mesa? Sunday's Comic | Arizona Daily Independent
Mesa’s ASU Project Needed To Make Good On Worsley’s “Bet” Mesa public safety put at risk for risky investment
At the February 26 meeting of the Mesa City Council, Sen. Bob Worsley made a rare appearance in an effort to promote a proposal to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Arizona State University. The senator’s appearance surprised many Mesa residents who had never before seen their representative show any interest in the City’s business.
It is not the city’s business however, that prompted the appearance by the wealthy developer/senator.
In May 2016, Mesa Mayor John Giles announced plans to build a new campus for Arizona State University (ASU) featuring film, media, gaming, virtual reality programs. In November 2016, Mesa voters rejected a sales tax that would have funded the project and public safety.
According to Mesa City Councilman Kevin Thompson, constituents “time and time again” told him that they would support the increase for public safety, but could not support using public money to build ASU a campus.
“As currently conceived, the downtown Mesa campus would include four buildings, three of them located in a new Mesa City Center planned for an area bounded by Main Street and First Street as well as Center Street and Centennial Way,” reported the Phoenix New Times in May 2016. “The other would be situated on Main Street, at the northern edge of the Mesa Arts Center campus.”
At the February 26 meeting, the Mesa City Council voted 5 – 2 to direct the City Manager to begin the process of developing an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Arizona Board of Regents for the development, operation, and maintenance of the ASU facilities…. To read more — Mesa’s ASU Project Needed To Make Good On Worsley’s “Bet” — click here
