Saturday, October 12, 2019

Defending Our Freedoms: Here's Just One FREE SPEECH

Here are just a few words to start off with that might not mean anything to some people - there's also a video from C
A hard-hitting expose that shines a light on the powerful conservative forces that have waged a multi-decade battle to hijack the meaning of free speech--and how we can reclaim it.
There's a critical debate taking place over one of our most treasured rights: free speech. ..


August 22, 2019
The Case Against Free Speech
https://www.c-span.org/video/?463545-1
People in this 53:11 video. There is a transcript available*.

* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.
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Everything You Think You Know About 'Free Speech' is A Lie
How far-right operatives manufactured the crisis of free speech with books, think tanks - and billions of dollars
By P.E. Moskowitz 20 Aug 2019
READ MORE
Source: https://www.thenation.com/

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BOOK REVIEW IN PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Case Against Free Speech:
The First Amendment, Fascism, and the Future of Dissent
P.E. Moskowitz. Bold Type, $28 (272p) ISBN 978-1-568588-643
Source: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-568588-643 
 
"In this incisive treatise, journalist Moskowitz (How to Kill a City) argues that the concept of free speech has been distorted as a cover for maintaining existing systems of power.
The author examines the 2017 Charlottesville far-right “free speech rally” that escalated into a neo-Nazi parade culminating in the murder of a progressive activist.
Moskowitz then analyzes recent incidents on college campuses that have inflamed the right, including the cancellation of a 2017 speaking engagement by conservative author Charles Murray after protests at Middlebury College and demonstrations at Reed College calling for a more inclusive curriculum.
The term free speech, Moskowitz claims, has been co-opted by conservative activists as a means to spread their ideology to college campuses. Moskowitz recounts a long history of conservatives censoring the left while claiming their own speech rights are being violated, noting examples of jailed socialist dissidents and union members during WWII, as well as present-day campaigns of harassment orchestrated by conservative organizations against professors and students critical of Israel or right-wing causes.
Moskowitz asserts that the true free speech “crisis” is that only the wealthiest (and whitest) American voices have real influence and that “massively overhauling our government” is the only way to change that. 
 The analysis here is keen, complex, and well-organized. It probably won’t convince right-wing readers, but others will appreciate it. (Aug.)
PLEASE NOTE: there are more details at the source provided above
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Ay! Mis Ojos! Eyes On Zarco Guerrero, Mesa Artist Traces Family Roots Going Back Centuries In The American Southwest

Now going Monumental with the biggest installation to date!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
An Experience To Engage All Your Senses
Portal to the Past Inaugural Celebrations
Sunday,  October 20th, from 2 to 5 pm
Enjoy unique cultural performances by local poets,  storytellers, musicians and dancers, including interactive family art activities led by local artists.
This special event celebrates the rich history and legacy of the Hohokam, the original inhabitants of the Valley of the Sun.
Join us and walk in the footsteps of the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People.
This program is brought to you by Pueblo Grande Museum, Cultural Coalition, City of Phoenix, and Arizona Community Foundation. 
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Our Mission is to provide community engagement through unique cultural programs dedicated to the education, promotion and development of Indigenous artists in Arizona.
Our Vision is to celebrate diverse cultures and serve families with cultural education
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The Festival Season Has Arrived!
October 27th
8th Annual Dia de los Muertos Phx Festival - Mikiztli
FREE and open to all families and children.   
We just won the Best of Phoenix distinction! 
GRACIAS!
Featuring Music, Dance, Masked Performances, Kids Art Activities, Artists Mercado and at Sunset a Candlelight Procession with Ceremony & Celebration. A unique and exciting artistic event that keeps families connected to their cultural heritage and traditions. 
Bring all your friends and family!  
Invitamos a todas las familias y sus niños! 
Es completamente gratis!
 
Saturday & Sunday, November 2nd and 3rd
Dia de los Muertos Celebration @ Desert Botanical Gardens
Continue the celebration with a two-day festival filled with music, dance and storytelling. Children will love the crafts and face painting, and the whole family will enjoy the Mercado filled with art, jewelry and other wares. 
Don't miss the annual unique "La Ofrenda" Exhibit featuring 12 local Latino Artists!

Each day ends with La Procesión, a procession through the Garden by all the performers and audience members, concluding with a traditional burning of troubles.
La Procesión represents the ancient tradition of marching as a community to burial sites in order to honor those who have passed.   
 
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Free Events at the Phoenix Public Library
In addition to all of our community programming, we' invite you to come out and experience  "La Cultura Cura" at many branches of the Phoenix Library System!
CALENDARIO/CALENDAR
 

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An American Theocracy 2020: The Second Coming of Latter-Day Mitt Romney

Now-Utah Senator Mitt Romney appears to be answering one more "calling" for all intents and purposes to rise to the highest elected office in the land, without any public declaration of his aspirations to ascend to The Presidency of the United States for a second opportunity  to get there.
The first time endorsed by The Republican Party he challenged Barack Obama and lost. For his second time rise, Romney wants to unseat Donald Trump.
Looks like a temptation he cannot turn down
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> In order to understand Romney you have to understand his Mormon beliefs.
> In order to understand the Republican Party today, you have to understand religion.
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Answering a call [Image by Anna Moneymaker]

Image Credit: Anna Moneymaker
The New York Times
OPINION 11 OCTOBER 2019

The reddest faith in America is also the one most skeptical of Donald Trump
"Donald Trump may be the most unreligious president ever — an undisciplined force of corrosive evil. And yet he tweets comparisons to himself as the Messiah and bullies his way around the world with the blind support of white evangelical Christians.
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[BLOOGER INSERT: VP Mike Pence, AZ Governor Doug Ducey, and AZ Senator Martha McSally all appeared together last week on a stage here in Arizona seeking Latino support 
Vice President Mike Pence touted economic gains among Arizona's Latino community and defended President Trump at a Thursday morning roundtable event in Scottsdale.]
Image Credit: Ali Swenson taken from Phoenix New Times 
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But the one religious faith that is the most heavily Republican is also somewhat disgusted with Trump. Barely half the members of the American-grown Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints approve of his presidency.
And therein lies the best chance, though it’s very much a long shot, to remove Trump from office.
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Wait! Mormons — forged from a polygamous theocracy in the Rocky Mountain West, tainted by decades of institutional racism and still very much opposed to marriage equality — to the rescue of the Republic? Maybe.
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. . . Playing to the larger moral issues is where the Mormon charge will be crucial.
> Another Mormon senator, Mike Crapo of Idaho, has kept an open mind thus far.
> An independent presidential candidate from 2016, Evan McMullin, has been a principled Mormon critic of Trump’s lawlessness.
“Remember that Trump will tear down anyone who rightfully challenges him,” McMullin said this week. “Unable to lead with honor, all he has left is to make everyone seem as rotten as he is.”
The rot among the collaterally rotten is already deep.
White evangelicals — having looked the other way while the Stable Genius, showing his “great and unmatched wisdom,” put kids in cages, praised neo-Nazis, sucked up to murderous dictators and betrayed our beleaguered allies the Kurds — are gone, lost to the dark side.
Most despicable of all, the Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress has suggested that impeaching Trump could cause a “Civil War-like fracture” in the country.
Jeffress has also said terrible things about Jews, Mormons and Catholics — the kind of hate talk that has not kept him from being one of Trump’s closest evangelical advisers.
You have to believe that most Republicans in Congress know Trump has violated his oath of office. But most of them are also cowards.
That goes for some Mormon Republicans, such as Senator Mike Lee of Utah, a former Trump critic, now an enabler. For them, the old line from J.R. Ewing is apt:
“Once you give up your integrity, the rest is a piece of cake.”
With Trump’s Ukraine betrayals, Romney has signaled that he will be
a ballast of conscience for Republicans in the Senate.
His seat is safe till 2024.
He has nothing to lose.
At long last, he has a chance to make history — for his faith, and his country."
I invite you to follow me on Twitter (@nytegan).
 
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/opinion/mormons-trump-romney.html
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BLOGGER INSERT: Two years ago on November 17, 2017 there was an episode that foreshadowed and could have predicted Mitt's plans: using former AZ Senator Jeff Flake and current Mesa Mayor John Giles as stand-ins - who just happened somehow 'to get caught on open mic".
ABC15 at that time called them spontaneous remarks
Jeff Fake: The Flawed Imperfect "Foil" and
Stand-In For Saint Mitt, U.S. Senator Romney from Utah

Here in Mesa, Arizona in 2017 we had a fore-shadowing of sorts in an accidental revelation due to an open-microphone slip-up that was caught forever between Brother Jeff Flake and Brother John Giles, the mayor of Mesa - who always says he is "non-partisan" - where Giles said Flake could be a foil . . . at the same time calling Trump an idiot

(Scroll down fartheImage result for jeff flaker to see that and listen


On Saturday October 5, 2019
Now-Senator Mitt Romney 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” co

Mesa Mayor John Giles Caught Prodding Jeff Flake On-Stage with Hot Open Mic

 Here's our self-described "non-partisan" Mayor getting caught on an open mike pinned to Flake's lapel pin encouraging him to run for President . . . Couple of nice LDS dudes, huh??
Published on Nov 17, 2017
Views: about 740
ABC15's microphone picked up a conversation between Senator Flake and Mesa's major Giles joking about President Trump. uld 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 andprincipals of the founders,” he wrote
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Friday, October 11, 2019

Steady Stream of Deal-Making For Data Centers EdgeConneX + CyrusOne Inc

STEADY STREAM OF DEAL MAKING
EQT Is in Talks to Buy Data-Center Firm EdgeConneX for $2.5 Billion
By     
— With assistance by Kiel Porter, and Nabila Ahmed
 
"EQT AB, the Nordic buyout firm, is in talks to buy data-center company EdgeConneX, according to people familiar with the matter. EQT is discussing buying the Herndon, Virginia-based company from investors including Providence Equity Partners in a deal worth at least $2.5 billion, said one of the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public
No decision has been finalized and talks could fall through, the people said.

> Representatives for EQT and Providence Equity declined to comment.

> A representative for EdgeConneX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.




Notice the Site Selection adjacent  to 5,300-acre Eastmark
The talks come amid a steady stream of dealmaking for data centers, which are benefiting as companies around the world increasingly rely on third parties to manage their data.
> Equinix Inc. agreed this month to buy Mexican telecom firm Axtel SAB’s data centers.
> CyrusOne Inc., another data-center company exploring a sale, has drawn interest from a bidder group including KKR & Co., Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and I Squared Capital, Bloomberg News reported in August.

Founded in 2009, EdgeConneX has built more than 40 data centers in North America, Europe and South America, according to its website. Providence Equity acquired a stake in the company in 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
EQT, founded in 1994, has 40 billion euros ($44 billion) in assets under management, according to its website. It went public last month
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Continue reading at: https://www.datacenterhawk.com/colo/edgeconnex/e-elliot-rd-and-s-hawes-rd/phx02
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Background Narrative
General Information:
Edge Data Center Locations | EdgeConneX
https://www.edgeconnex.com › edge-data-center-locations
Salt Lake City
2302 Presidents Drive Suite A/B
Salt Lake City , UT 84120.
AT&T, CenturyLink, Comcast, Integra, Level 3, Utopia, Verizon, Windstream, XO and ...
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RELATED CONTENT ON THIS BLOG:
MesaZona > Table of Contents 
... Sunbelt Investment Holdings is  paying $18.835 million to acquire the 203-acre tract, which is at the northeast corner of Elliot and Ellsworth roads
 
The site is also bound on the east by Sossaman Road, vacant agricultural property and a house of worship, on the south by Elliott Road and agricultural property that is still in Maricopa County and on the west by the RWCD canal and vacant agricultural property.  At the far northwest corner of the site is the Gilbert Public Schools transportation operations center.
 
(Blogger Note: See other location markers)

The applicant is requesting a rezone of the approximately 187-acre property from Light Industrial (LI) and Planned Employment Park (PEP) to an Employment Opportunity (EO) district known as the Red Hawk Employment Opportunity District (RHEOD).
"Pew & Lake, PLC is pleased to provide this project narrative and related materials to the City of Mesa in support of the proposed Red Hawk Employment Opportunity District (RHEOD).
> Existing Site Conditions/Topography
The site is presently vacant, having previously been used for agricultural purposes.
It is mostly flat and unremarkable in its topography
Item 4-e: 187 acres
to create the Red Hawk Employment Opportunity Zone
Project Red Hawk 
Employment Opportunity District Project Narrative [7 Pages]
Revised February 19, 2019  

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1 From this blog in March 2018 LINK > MesaZona /2018/03 
Blogger's Note: Coincidentally, your MesaZona blogger made it a point to attend a Meeting in the City of Mesa's Saguaro Room with Planning Director John Wesley where approval of a not-so-minor Site Plan Review was held for another development of a data center campus on 67 acres located south of Elliot Road on the 3900-4200 blocks of South Signal Butte Road . . .
Typically all these data centers use both a great amount of water and electricity.
Please notice that nowhere in all these announcements are numbers of jobs or good jobs mentioned.
08 March 2018
BIG BONANZA > Data Center Investments Here In Mesa:
A Jackpot for Land Acquisitions @ The Edge
It's the happy intersection of Real Estate and Technology with a new name PropTech.
The industry is now as diverse as the real estate market it supports, and has now branched out to incorporate e-commerce, social networking, and other sectors.

SkyBridge is another investment portfolio.

And, of course, after the Apple Data Center (to be powered with 100% renewable energy) landed here, it's a good thing SRP can supply 286MW for all these new ones
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Industry Background:
Dividing PropTech into categories
PropTech can broadly be defined into three sub-categories, classified by the service it provides
Real Estate Fintech
Real Estate Fintech refers to software and platforms that enable or aid the process of real estate transactions. The sector has grown to include a variety of different services, that include purely researching and gathering information about real estate all the way to executing real estate transactions. 
Shared Economy
Shared economy is a separate industry in its own right, but has been an extremely important part in the real estate sector, with prime examples like Airbnb and HomeAway.
Companies in this sector entail:

• Short term housing rental, co-living and hospitality
• Shared workspace and co-working
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2 GO SEE
CyrusOne Acquires 70-Acre Site for 2nd Phoenix Facility
By Tudor Scolca O7 June 2018
The upcoming data center will eventually deliver up to 198 megawatts of critical IT power. The company's campus will be located within the Mesa Elliot Technology Park, a 270-acre master-planned mixed-use project.
CyrusOne has selected a site in Mesa, Ariz., for a second data center campus in the Phoenix metro. The company acquired a 68.2-acre plot of land within the Mesa Elliot Technology Park and plans to build a five-building cloud computing facility.
The facility will eventually be able to deliver up to 198 megawatts of critical power to tenants. CyrusOne’s newest development will be located near the junction of Elliot and Ellsworth roads, less than a mile from Loop 202 and approximately six miles from Phoenix Mesa Gatweay Airport. CyrusOne entered the Phoenix metro in 2012 with the construction of a data center in Chandler, Ariz.
“CyrusOne continues to see heavy demand for cloud services among new and existing customers in the Phoenix metro. (…) we are always listening to our customer base in terms of where we need to be and what services we can offer. Officials in Mesa and Sunbelt have been great partners and we are proud to work alongside them as we help usher in a new era of jobs, growth and investment for the local community,” said Kevin Timmons, CTO of CyrusOne, in a prepared statement.
NEW TECH HUB
The Mesa Elliot Technology Park measures approximately 270 acres in size, dedicated to industrial, mixed-use, data center and office space.
According to the Arizona Republic, the Mesa City Council signed up for a $10 million investment with Nesbitt Contracting Co., to upgrade street sizes, landscaping, traffic signaling and other infrastructure improvements.
Additionally, the site is adjacent to a 5,300-acre master planned community, Eastmark, which will comprise approximately 15,000 units.
CyrusOne’s campus will cater towards Fortune 1000 companies, with the company citing increased demand for IT services in the area.
Major players in the industry are already setting up shop in the area, such as Apple’s $2 billion command center, a 450,000-square-foot automated bottling facility owned by Niagara Bottling, and at least three other large data centers, developed by Digital Realty, EdgeConneX and EdgeCore.
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 3 From Phoenix Business Journal in August 201831 August 2018 12:37pm MST
California developer Sunbelt Investment Holdings Inc. plans more industrial projects in Mesa's tech corridor
Area already home to data centers operated by Apple, CyrusOne
By – Reporter, Phoenix Business Journal            
"Two speculative industrial buildings are being added to Mesa Elliot Technology Park, an area that has become a popular spot for high-tech employers including Apple Inc. and CyrusOne Inc., which operates and develops data centers.
Todd Holzer, president of California-based Sunbelt Investment Holdings Inc., said he plans to build the spec projects, which will be adjacent to Loop 202, in two phases.
Each phase will bring about 140,000 square feet of general-purpose industrial space and the first is planned to be delivered in 2019.
Sunbelt owns about 1,100 acres of land in Mesa, including large parcels along Elliot in the technology corridor, he said.
 
“We are heavily invested in that stretch,” he said.
“We had a large presence already in Mesa, and when the Elliot Technology Park became available, we jumped on it.”
Both Niagara Bottling LLC and CyrusOne purchased their land from Sunbelt Investment Holdings.
CyrusOne plans to open a five-building data center facility on 68 acres there.
 
EdgeCore Internet Real Estate LLC also has construction underway on the first of seven data center buildings.
Each of the seven will cost about $150 million to develop, and the first is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, said Bill Jabjiniak, Mesa’s economic development director.
Digital Realty Trust Inc., a San Francisco-based company, owns about 56 acres on the north side of Elliot and with the goal of building a data center, but has not yet submitted any site plans to the city, Jabjiniak said.

EdgeConnex also owns about 150 acres in the corridor and is looking to develop multiple data centers.

Infrastructure upgrades
The city of Mesa and Salt River Project have completed some major infrastructure improvements in the corridor to make the park attractive to high tech users, with more public improvements planned.
“The city is taking advantage of heavy-duty power, dark fiber,” Jabjiniak said.
The city also approved an overlay to the corridor, which allows the city and developers to reduce the planning to about six weeks for a project. SRP has also filed to add new power lines to add redundancy in the area for large power users, and the city has added a water treatment facility with the ability to expand that serves the area.  
Despite how many companies are building or have plans to build in the corridor, there is “plenty of room” for other companies to develop, he said, adding that the city has gotten continued interest from companies about the corridor.
The city has invested about $17 million on road improvements and landscaping along Elliot, which will widen the road to six lanes. That construction is expected to finish in February. 
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Fed to Start Buying $60 Billion of Treasury Bills Per Month

BUILDING-UP
THE BALANCE SHEETS > Every month $60B until Q2 2020
Published on Oct 11, 2019
Views: 103 in just minutes!
Oct.11 -- The Federal Reserve said on Friday it will begin buying $60 billion of Treasury bills per month in mid-October as it seeks to rebuild its balance sheet and avoid a repeat of the turmoil that racked the money markets in September. Bloomberg's Mike McKee reports on "Bloomberg Markets: European Close."
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