MesaZona > Table of Contents : Here's The Menu. Enjoy

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Phallus Envy: Let The Good Times Roll

Pic du jour: Fat Hands + French Cuffs [Axios again]

Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Trump colors with crayons on pages from a coloring book with children during the 141st Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House.

1 Big Thing = China's Road To Global Dominance

The Peoples Republic of China is now delivering 300% more growth in Gross Domestic Product year-after-year than our own "We The People" American Capitalism, ruled by a legion of elites hell-bent on waging endless global warfare all over the planet and outer Space
Both China and Russia are looking more like Super Powers all the time in our Multi-Polar Universe.
From Axios.com today
Later this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping will show the world how far he's come in his 30-year plan to make his country the world's supreme power, Axios World editor Dave Lawler writes.

Upwards of 40 world leaders will join him in Beijing for the second international gathering on his Belt and Road Initiative, a plan to build a massive network of ports, roads and railways across some 65 countries.

Why it matters:
When you can get that many powerful people to come to you in Beijing, you're starting to look a lot like a superpower.
THE BOTTOM LINE
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The U.S. remains the world's leading economic, military and technological power. But with Beijing’s investments, massive market and willingness to work with democrats and dictators, when Xi calls, much of the world is willing to come

Maricopa County is Growing Fast > Risks to Public Health Living Here

PRESS RELEASE

Health Watch issued for ozone effective April 24, 2019, in Maricopa County

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.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is issuing a Health Watch (HW) for ozone effective April 24, 2019, in Maricopa County. ADEQ recommends that people limit outdoor activity while the HW is in effect, especially children and adults with respiratory problems.

Ground level ozone forms when two types of pollutants—volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and nitrous oxides (NOx)—react in sunlight. These pollutants come primarily from automobiles, but also from other sources including industries, power plants and products such as solvents and paints. Generally, the highest levels of ozone occur in the afternoon.

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BACKGROUND

High Pollution Advisory (HPA) | Notifies the public that the level of an air pollutant is forecast to exceed the federal health standard.

Health Watch (HW) | Notifies the public that the level of an air pollutant is forecast to approach the federal health standard.

Check the Hourly Air Quality Forecast | View >

Discipline For The Mesa Police Department & Its Excessive Use-of-Force Culture

Sorry guys - you really need to be more transparent than that and held accountable in the eyes of the public. Just like the case of Sheriff Joe that's now cost Maricopa County taxpayers more than $120,000,000 in the last six years, taxpayers here in Mesa have to pay one way or another for the actions of uniformed officers seen in incident-after-incident.

Whether pending or un-resolved in-the-courts or in out-of-court undisclosed settlements - or in the court of public opinion - there are a lot of damages to get paid.
Reports like this article in AZ Central today just make everything OK. Only 2 incidents?
4 Mesa officers to be disciplined in excessive-force case,
3 others cleared
by Bree Burkitt @ 06:00 a.m.

"Multiple Mesa police officers will face discipline for repeatedly punching and kneeing a man before pulling him to the ground in a May 2018 incident.

The announcement comes nearly a year after Mesa officers punched and kneed 35-year-old Robert Johnson as he stood in the hallway of an apartment complex. The incident was captured on a surveillance camera and publicly released by Chief Ramon Batista.

Officials said the allegations against Officer Ernesto Calderon, Officer Jhonte Jones, Officer Rudy Monarrez and Lt. Timothy Wahlberg were sustained in connection with the beating of Johnson.

Irene Mahoney
(Police Media on linkedin)

Monarrez was given a written reprimand for violating the department's code of conduct, according to department spokeswoman Irene Mahoney. Wahlberg, who was the supervisor that night, sustained a "non-discipline corrective action." Mahoney said it's more akin to a performance plan detailing how the incident should have been handled.

Both men have since returned to their full duties. . .

"We are anxious for us to be able to get past this and focus on putting in our new practices and focus on the community," Mahoney told The Republic.

"We’ve been really grateful for the support we’ve gotten from the community. They’ve been very supportive of the department and our officers. We feel that’s the most important piece to policing. . . "

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> ". . . Batista called for the two excessive-force cases to be investigated on both criminal and administrative levels in June.

Scottsdale police investigated the cases and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office ultimately decided not to file any charges against any of the officers involved.

Taylor has filed a $1.97 million notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, against Mesa.

In August, the FBI told Mesa police it would conduct civil-rights investigations into the cases.

> The department also made improvements to the process for opening an internal investigation in connection with an excessive-force allegation. Batista said that anyone, including people internally or externally, who wants to report a potential police brutality case can do so online, over the phone by calling 480-644-2010, in person or through a notice of claim.

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Now-Senator Mitt Romey Has Plans For The Highest Office-In-The-Land

It might be another opportunity for one more Mormon moment early in-the-game when he didn't land a job in Trump's Cabinet as the Secretary of State.
Now Mitt says "he's sickened" by the Mueller report:
"Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) said that while it’s “good news” there was “insufficient evidence” to charge President Trump with conspiracy or obstruction, he was dismayed by the “pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection” by Trump and those around him.

Salt Lake City Tribune

In the Friday statement, Romney said he was pleased the “business of government” could now “move on.” “The alternative would have taken us through a wrenching process with the potential for constitutional crisis,” he wrote. “Even so, I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President. . .
Reading this report is a sobering revelation of how far we have strayed from the aspirations and ~~principals~~ of the founders,” he wrote.

I have now read the redacted Mueller report and offer my personal reaction: pic.twitter.com/ACnExskqXJ
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) April 19, 2019

( from The Daily Beast )
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Why do some people from Utah always claim to know what the PRINCIPLES of "The Founders" are? . . . are they Fundamentalists of some kind with their own interpretations and what they claim are the original intents written into the U.S. Constitution?
There about a century late after this nation was founded and their religion was invented here in the 19th Century for what they thought would be their Kingdom of Deseret.
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Truth-In-Accounting: Don't Count On It

Not in Arizona Public Charter Schools where Arizona Republic reporter Craig Harris has uncovered and is now reporting on new investigations in charter schools' accounting practices. . . and not here in Mesa City Hall (audits or not) that have been raising alarms on this blog for a couple of years. That's your MesaZona blogger's take-away on finances that are troublesome to say the least.
At least Craig Harris has a team of reporters and other investigators he can work with to dig into the complex questionable financing and real estate deals.
26 Arizona charter schools just happen to use the same accountant. Now we know just a little more about one - American Leadership Academy that has over nine years grown to a dozen campuses with 8,354 students in Florence, Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley - from his investigative report yesterday:

26 charter schools have the same accountant,
but investigators say his work is woefully bad

The auditor of 26 Arizona charter schools faces state sanctions after his work for American Leadership Academy and another school was found to be "woefully below" standards.

An Arizona Board of Accountancy investigative panel last month concluded Joel Huber had not correctly performed audits and failed to provide certain disclosures related to ALA and another charter school.

ALA used Huber's audits from 2015 to 2017 to obtain $192 million in bonds to acquire property and build ALA schools, loan records show. ALA founder and former board Chairman Glenn Way made about $37 million on no-bid real estate deals associated with the schools.

The state investigation forced ALA to restate its fiscal 2017 audit, which disclosed new information on related-party transactions (insider business deals) involving Way, and the loan.

The Accountancy Board did not identify the two Huber clients that received poor audits. The Arizona Republic obtained documents confirming ALA was one of the schools, but was unable to identify the other school.

Way and Huber both declined to comment. . .

Best Places To Retire 2019: Where's Mesa On The Forbes List?

Just out. Green Valley and Sun City are in The Top 10. No other cities in Arizona qualified using the methodology

Here it is Forbes Roster

April 23, 2019, 10:00am | EDITOR'S PICK

THE BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2019

By William P. Barrett, edited by Janet Novack

"Even for the we’ll-do-it-our-way Baby Boom generation, retirement usually means two predictable changes: less income and more freedom to live where you please. That’s why so many folks at least consider moving in retirement and why Forbes’ list of The Best Places To Retire In 2019 highlights 25 locales that offer both affordability and a high quality of life.

Our new roster, our ninth annual such list, contains places in 17 states across all four continental time zones. While they vary dramatically by size, climate and culture, all offer excellent retirement value for the buck. The list is in alphabetical order, meaning we consider all equally worthy. Sadly, our quest for affordability excludes most of the Northeast and the West Coast.

> If you want to live in those regions, check out Forbes’ list of The Best Places To Retire In Each State.
> If you’re looking for something even farther from home, consider our recent list of the Best Places To Retire Abroad In 2019.
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METHODOLOGY
We compiled our list of the Best Places To Retire In 2019 by amassing and comparing data on nearly 700 places across all 50 states.
We sought affordable places (as measured by median home price, cost of living and state taxes) with a high quality of retirement living and populations of 10,000 or more, either in the specific locality or a metro area.
We also looked for places with good economic prospects, since that translates into opportunities for retirees who want to work part-time and more likely home price appreciation, should you decide to move again down the road.

When it came to judging quality of life, we considered a range of factors, including

doctor availability
serious crime
air quality
walkability and bikeability
a community’s ranking on the Milken Institute list of best cities for successful aging.

Since this is a retirement list, we ignored data on local school districts.
But the presence of colleges was considered a plus, as it tends to mean more cultural and other amenities are available at a reasonable price.
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READ MORE ON FORBES > click here