Friday, September 04, 2020

Economic Recovery: Supporting Jobs and Small Businesses

Zoom! with Mesa Mayor Hizzoner John Giles - the city has a 17% Unemployment Rate.
As far as "citizen participation" goes there's not much no matter what Giles says here.
Let's be honest.
The jewelry store Giles blabs on about got relief in the matter or paying rent and utilities from the city, and someone spent $2800 on some of their luxury merchandise that few people who live here can afford.
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HOW MUCH DID THAT FANCY JEWELRY STORE GET?
$4,600 !!

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Sep 4, 2020

Council on Metro Economies and the New American City webinar 9/3/20

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Sep 4, 2020

Over 200 U.S. military biological labs are being exposed

Netizens around the globe are revealing information alleging that the U.S. military has set up over 200 mysterious bio-security labs around the world. Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://goo.gl/lP12gA Download our APP on Apple Store (iOS): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cctvn... Download our APP on Google Play (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... Follow us on: Website: https://www.cgtn.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChinaGlobalT... Twitter: https://twitter.com/CGTNOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cgtn/?hl=zh-cn Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/CGTNOfficial/ Weibo: http://weibo.com/cctvnewsbeijing

El-Erian Says U.S. Jobs Report Raises Policy Dilemma

Bloomberg Markets and Finance

785K subscribers

A lot of lay-offs announced ahead of time...We need a new relief package. Look at "inclusive growth" and household insecurity

Sep.04 -- Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz and a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, says the U.S. economy still needs stimulus due to rising household economic insecurity and lower productivity. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Jonathan Ferro on "Bloomberg The Open." 

El-Erian's opinions are his own.

Stone-Cold & Tone-Deaf > Hitting Sour Notes In Maricopa County Fringe Suburbanites

< Here's Arizona "Perfect Trifecta" at the top of the state's government in Phoenix: a dude named Rusty Bowers, then there's Sheila Fann and lame-duck Doug Ducey.
All right-wing leaning conservative Republicans. The two in the back are barely eeking through to hold on to a slight party majority hanging on one-or-two votes. The governor is termed-out of office and can't run again. He's not scoring any points with the public trying to get a handle on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the same time adopting the Trump political playbook as a willing and eager sycophant.Phoenix - the state's capitol - is the largest city in Maricopa County. Mesa - the state's third largest "city" is suburban sprawl.

What to make of all-the-hype making Arizona a battleground state?
Or Maricopa County being buzzed about on Bloomberg News as a paragon of "Suburbs Everywhere"???
Phoenix is one thing with a Democrat as mayor (and a former mayor elected to Congress), but the entire East Valley is certainly something else altogether with a conservative Republican lock - or strangle hold - on all the suburban sprawling cities east of Phoenix.
Maricopa County gave America Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Mesa gave America Russell Pearce.
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If readers of this blog want to refresh their memories of politics here in Arizona, an up-to-date version of that history has been penned by a local Arizona columnist, Jon Talton who gives his own background as well recent "shifts" since 2016

September 01, 2020 Rogue Columnist

Arizona in play

Hope springs eternal. Every election cycle since Bill Clinton carried Arizona in 1996, the narrative has gone like this: The state will change politically as newcomers bring their (more liberal) values. And thanks to Hispanics Arizona is on the cusp (always!) of becoming a purple or even deep blue electorate. The 2016 map above shows how that worked out in the most recent presidential race. . .

Might it finally happen this year?
Before getting there, a little history. . ."
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BLOGGER NOTE: He covers a lot of history. It's all good________________________________________________
Here's the meat:
> "Continued migration from the Midwest turned Arizona deep red. This is the Big Sort phenomenon, where people move to places that have their political and social values.
The enormous retiree population, which votes in every election and votes red (same with the LDS), makes the situation more difficult for Democrats.
> Thus, with the exception of St. Janet's two terms and Terry Goddard as AG, Republicans have controlled most important political branches for decades."

THE SHIFTS:
1 Today's state of play is less favorable to Republicans.
Democrat Kyrsten Sinema won the Senate race in 2018. Although her modern pinto voting record irritates progressives, it made the difference in beating Martha McSally. In a quarterback sneak, Gov. Doug Ducey named McSally to serve out John McCain's term and give her an advantage this year. It hasn't worked out that way, as Mark Kelly, popular astronaut and husband of Gabby Giffords, is doing well as the Democratic candidate.

2 Another shift: Five of Arizona's nine congressional seats are held by Democrats.
Arizona's Republican representatives tend to be comically extreme or corrupt, lacking wide appeal outside their districts.
This year, the drumbeat of Arizona-turns-purple stories ( see here, here, and here) have more credibility.
I'll believe it when I see it.
Much will depend on a combination of revulsion against Trump and high Democratic turnout. As always, a large Hispanic vote would be a game changer.
For the state, the most significant and constructive change would be Democrats taking control of the Legislature, the strongest branch of government. Then the Kookocracy would be swept out, at least for awhile, and good things could come."
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If Maricopa County Sours on Trump,
So Will Suburbs Everywhere

By Joshua Green @JoshuaGreenMore stories by Joshua Green

Bloomberg.com

BLOGGER NOTE: Insert intentional. This article by Josh Green is whacko-crazy to believe!

But please - read it anyway even though Green has a micro-focus on Sean Bowie powered by KitKat bars and conclusions from a "focus-group"

Here's the Opening:

"The GOP’s pitch hasn’t changed, but the suburbanites have."

Well, Welcome to Mesa Josh Green!
The largest city in the entire East Valley - the fastest-growing and least sustainable suburban sprawl in America built on rampant real estate speculation by generations of a closed-connected network of "friends-and-families" who control nearly everything.
It certainly is "elsewhere"
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WHY HUNG UP OVER ONE GUY NAMED SEAN BOWIE?
" . . .When Sean Bowie first ran for an Arizona state Senate seat in 2016, his odds didn’t look great. . . No Democrat had ever been elected to the state Senate from the district.
Bowie, who worked in the provost’s office at Arizona State University, had an inkling that things were changing. Many of the district’s voters were high-income professionals: professors and scientists at the university, and engineers and executives at Intel Corp. or Honeywell International Inc., the largest employers. An influx of tech workers was arriving at PayPal Inc., which anchors the thriving tech community in Bowie’s hometown of Chandler. . .

Today, however, it’s become clear that the forces that propelled Bowie’s victory in suburban Phoenix are the ones reshaping U.S. politics—in Arizona and across the country.
FOLLOW THE ARGUMENT AND THE LOGIC?
Nowhere is this transformation more apparent than in Maricopa County. . .
That gives it outsize political importance, because whoever wins the county usually wins the state. And because Arizona has emerged as a crucial battleground, it’s no exaggeration to say that control of the White House and U.S. Senate could both end up hinging on Maricopa County.

For anyone hoping to understand American politics in the Trump era, its significance goes even further . . .

Thursday, September 03, 2020

The Irony of It All > Zuckerberg's $300M Donation "To Protect Elections" !

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Mark Zuckerberg’s $300 million donation to protect elections must overcome Facebook’s past

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating $300 million to protect American elections. The Facebook billionaire sent the money to two civic organizations, which will in turn direct it to state and local election officials so they can better prepare for Election Day. But some critics have been quick to point out that it's pretty ironic, given Facebook's history of failures when it comes to protecting the integrity of elections.
Some say it's especially problematic for Zuckerberg to give away such a huge amount just 63 days before Election Day because local leaders might not know how to distribute the funds properly in time. Others simply note that Facebook has made untold sums helping spread misinformation about elections in recent years. Election officials, however, are thrilled; Michigan’s secretary of state called it a “game changer.”
Recode's Teddy Schleifer covers the criticism and what this gift means in philanthropy circles