Order of Relevance or what??????????
Interview
‘Democracy runs through Arizona’: candidate for attorney general says fate of the nation is at stake
Nina Lakhani in Phoenix
Friday, July 29, 2022
DOWNSTREAM SWINGSTATE ARIZONA: Determining the future of American Democracy
For your interest ...a few excerpts to encourage readers to realize what a mess this all is. More details are available from the source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/29/kris-mayes-arizona-attorney-general-voting-2022-election
Donald Trump has endorsed a bunch of big lie proponents in the state including attorney general hopeful Abe Hamadeh, 31, the son of Syrian immigrants and former Maricopa county prosecutor, who has indicated that he supports the pre-statehood abortion law, describes the humanitarian crisis at the border as an “invasion” and does not believe Biden won the 2020 election.
The attorney general’s office has been held by a Republican for the past decade, but Mayes says she doesn’t fear any of the candidates. “They’re all the same – all six have said they would not have certified the 2022 election and to a person they seem almost giddy about prosecuting women and doctors after the fall of Roe. I know Arizonans are going to reject this brand of anti-democratic and anti-woman Republicanism.”
The Department of Justice is suing Arizona over its latest voter restrictions, while Republicans recently tried (and failed) to ban mail voting for the midterms, even though the vast majority of Arizonans use vote-by-mail.
Mayes, who filed an amicus brief opposing the ban, said: “We have incredibly well-run, safe elections yet the Republican party continues to perpetuate the big lie. There’s been a very clear trend to curtail voting rights and as attorney general I will use my bully pulpit and the courts to fight those efforts.”
Mayes’ opponent will be decided in next week’s primary, with the six Republican candidates vying for the nomination each having made border security and election integrity central to their platforms.
But it’s abortion that has brought increased scrutiny to the attorney general race since the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade and handed back power to the states.
Shortly after, Mark Brnovich, the outgoing attorney general and senate candidate, tried to revive a statute from Arizona’s territorial days that bans abortion in almost all circumstances. The courts will decide whether this draconian 1864 law is revived or new legislation banning terminations after 15 weeks comes into force in September. The law, which was signed in May, has no exceptions for rape or incest. In addition, a 2021 so-called personhood law that would provide rights to foetuses faces a court challenge.
As it stands, it’s a legal mess.
Still, the Republican candidates have all indicated that they would enforce whichever restrictive law the courts decide takes precedence, whereas Mayes says she considers all three to be unconstitutional.
Arizona is among 33 states and US territories electing an attorney general in November – who as the top lawyer and top law enforcement officer plays a crucial role in the election process, including certification and preventing voter suppression.
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Kris Mayes, a former Republican, says protecting democracy, the heating planet and abortion rights are urgent priorities
The future of American democracy could be determined by a handful of attorneys general, who will also play a crucial role in shielding women and doctors from draconian abortion bans, according to the Democratic candidate for that office in Arizona.
Kris Mayes, 51, who switched parties in 2019 due to the expansion of Trumpism in the Republican party, is urging voters to take the attorney general and other down-ballot races like secretary of state seriously in the November midterms, or else risk losing US democracy altogether.
Thursday, July 28, 2022
That 'Gotcha-Girl' KTR Got Caught Real Good (Stuff like this happens for a reason)
WHOA! Great story taken from AZ Mirror:
Karrin Taylor Robson will have to pay for using Doug Ducey’s state plane
She used the state plane because Mike Pence took her family’s luxury jet to Reno
12:29 pm
After flying to Tucson on her family’s private jet for a campaign event Friday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson hitched a ride back home on Gov. Doug Ducey’s state plane because her jet was ferrying former Vice President Mike Pence to Nevada.
And Robson’s campaign will have to reimburse the state for not just that trip, but for the cost of sending the state plane to Southern Arizona to pick them up.
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Robson, Ducey, Pence and their entourages all boarded Robson’s jet on July 22 after a campaign event in Peoria and flew to Marana Regional Airport on July 22 for a second event in Tucson. But video footage obtained by the Arizona Mirror shows that Ducey and Robson boarded the governor’s state-owned plane to return to Phoenix after the Tucson event ended.
Pence, meanwhile, crossed the tarmac to board Robson’s jet. Flight records show the plane flew to Reno, Nev., where it landed at 5:45 p.m. Less than 30 minutes later, the plane was airborne again, en route to Scottsdale Airport, where it touched down just after 7:20 p.m.
“The campaign was fortunate to have the Vice President’s attendance at our event and, of course, arranged for travel to his next destination,” Robson campaign spokesman Matthew Benson told the Arizona Mirror. “Ed (Robson) and Karrin will pay the cost of that flight and it will be reported as an in-kind contribution to the campaign.”
The Governor’s Office says Robson will also be on the hook for her use of the state plane, as well as the cost of sending it to Marana to fly her and Ducey back to Phoenix.
CJ Karamargin, a spokesman for Ducey, said the state plane flew from Sky Harbor International Airport, where it is hangared, to Glendale Municipal Airport so it could transport Ducey after Robson’s morning campaign event in Tucson. But Ducey then decided to join Robson and Pence on the luxury jet for the roughly 30-minute flight to Marana, so the state plane flew to Marana to be available for the return trip.
Three non-state employees used the plane, one of which was Robson. DPS will calculate the costs for the flight and bill the campaign accordingly, Karamargin said.
Robson’s campaign is already facing questions about its use of her family’s private jet. A recent report by 3TV/CBS 5 found the campaign hadn’t reported a single use of the jet in its campaign finance reports, even though it had been used to travel to a number of campaign related events. “The Karrin for Arizona campaign properly accounts for all campaign expenses, including air travel,” Benson said. “In terms of the plane utilized Friday for travel between campaign events in Glendale and Tucson, Ed and Karrin Taylor Robson will reimburse for those expenses and report them as an in-kind donation. For any previous campaign travel, expenses have and will be similarly reimbursed and reflected in amended campaign-finance reports, as necessary.”
One Valley attorney says there could be a problem with that reimbursement.
According to Arizona law, an LLC cannot make a contribution to a candidate committee, said attorney Tom Ryan. The Robsons’ private jet is owned by an LLC, and Ryan contends that it runs afoul of the Arizona law.
But the Robson campaign says his analysis is wrong.
“That provision does not apply in this instance, as Ed and Karrin are paying the cost of the travel,” Benson said. “This is a standard practice when candidates directly pay for services and decide to make an in-kind contribution in support of their campaign. Use of the private plane does not constitute an in-kind donation from the LLC in any way, shape or form.”
But these aren’t the only flights the Robson campaign will be paying for.
Ryan also said he thinks it was illegal for Robson to fly back to Phoenix on Ducey’s plane. He said the trip could violate a state law passed in 2012 aimed at disallowing the use of public resources from influencing elections.
The Governor’s Office said Ducey is required by law to have DPS protection and defended the use of the aircraft.
“The governor is the governor, regardless of what he is doing,” Karamargin said, adding that the Robson campaign will be reimbursing the state for the portion of the trip she flew on. Karamargin said that any time a non-state employee uses the aircraft, they have to reimburse the state.
***CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included incorrect times for flight activity caused by an imprecise reading of publicly available flight data. Robson’s private jet flew for about 30 minutes from Glendale to Marana, not 75 minutes, as originally reported. Additionally, the jet spent roughly 26 minutes on the ground in Reno, not 5 minutes, as was first reported.
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Here in Mesa Market-Rate Rents Keep Rising...more than 39.9% since March 2020
Thanks to Rob Warnock for sending the data and information
Inflation is currently at its highest rate in 40 years, and rapidly rising housing costs are a key contributor. While the market has cooled slightly from last summer’s peaks, the national median rent has still jumped by 12% in the past year. And with spiking mortgage rates now sidelining potentially homebuyers, the coming months could bring additional competition for rentals amid a market that is already historically supply-constrained.
For the latest data, see our August Rent Report here, complete with median rent and price growth data through July 2022. Some highlights below:
- Rents in Mesa increased 0.6% month-over-month in June, compared to a 1.3% increase nationally. Month-over-month growth in Mesa ranks #73 among the nation's 100 largest cities.
- Year-over-year rent growth in Mesa currently stands at 12.8%, compared to 23.6% at this time last year. Year-over-year growth in Mesa ranks #40 among the nation's 100 largest cities. Rents in Mesa are up by 39.9% since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
- Median rents in Mesa currently stand at $1320 for a 1-bedroom apartment and $1523 for a two-bedroom.
Check out the full report, and for a complete look at national trends, read our national report. Our raw rent stats - for cities, metros, states - can also be downloaded at any time from this page.
If you have any questions or would like to hop on a call with one of our analysts to discuss rent trends and how they factor into inflation, please let me know!
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Rob Warnock
PROTOTYPE PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE
Let's see about this
Can hydrogen fuel cells power Microsoft data centers?
There’s hype around ‘green’ hydrogen
Microsoft has reached a new milestone in its effort to ditch diesel in favor of cleaner energy at its data centers. The company announced today that it successfully tested a hydrogen fuel cell system powerful enough to replace a traditional diesel-powered backup generator at a large data center.
As part of its plans to tackle climate change, Microsoft wants to completely quit using diesel as fuel for its backup power systems by 2030. To keep data centers running 24/7, regardless of power outages, each center is equipped with batteries that temporarily kick in until backup generators are fired up.
For now, those generators run on diesel, releasing air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen fuel cells, in contrast, combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity and release heat and water instead of pollution. Big batteries can also run on clean energy but generally don’t have the capacity to power a data center for more than a few hours at best.
That’s why Microsoft is pretty excited about hydrogen as a fuel and the milestone it just reached: designing and testing a three-megawatt hydrogen fuel cell system that can power around 10,000 computer servers at a data center (or 600 homes, for comparison).
“What we just witnessed was, for the datacenter industry, a moon landing moment,” Sean James, Microsoft director of data center research, said in a blog post today.
It’s been a long journey to get to this point, and there’s still a long road ahead before all of the backup generators at Microsoft data centers can be pollution-free. Microsoft started tinkering around with fuel cell technology in 2013. But, at the time, the fuel cells it was working with still relied on natural gas.
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By 2018, the company had turned its attention to proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology that can run on pure hydrogen. But Microsoft says it couldn’t find any suppliers making PEM fuel cell systems large enough for its data centers. So Microsoft asked Plug Power, experts in hydrogen fuel cell systems, to build a custom one. Microsoft and Plug tested the system over several weeks in June. After successfully testing the prototype, Plug is working on creating a streamlined commercial version. Microsoft says it will install the system at a research data center next, with no specified target date yet for introducing the technology at one of its live data centers.
There’s a whole lot of hype around hydrogen as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels right now. The Biden administration has an $8 billion plan to build out hydrogen production “hubs” in the US, for example.
But that hype is also garnering some criticism. While hydrogen fuel cells might only produce heat and water, the process of making the hydrogen fuel itself can get dirty. Today, most of it is made with natural gas, a fossil fuel. Microsoft tested its prototype using so-called “blue hydrogen,” which is made with natural gas paired with carbon capture technology that’s supposed to draw down most of the carbon dioxide emissions that come from using fossil fuels.
In the future, Microsoft hopes to use only “green” hydrogen that’s made with renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. But that’ll likely depend on factors outside of Microsoft’s control — like whether the Biden administration and other governments prioritizing clean energy can bring a lot more renewable energy online, build out the infrastructure to produce and transport green hydrogen, and make green hydrogen cost-competitive with dirtier fuels.
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