With little to show after more than a few years on-the-job, here's Jeff McVay, the dude with the 'Vision Thing', making a pitch to showcase a piece of city property by promoting the re-use of the historic Sirrine House in an RFP that has nothing to do with its history . It's nice - for a change - to see Jeff McVay spend some time-on-the-job as being more than the point-guy for unsolicited millionaire-developer proposals and real estate speculators who gamble millions seeking capital gains betting on "Buy-and-Hold" or "Wait-and-See". This RFP (Request For Proposal) has at least some public benefits for a property that the city wants to unload financial responsibility for. An organization named Garden Pool did submit one of the best ideas for the Imagine Mesa campaign, but does it have the potential to work at this location? . . . or a downtown Farmers Market in 'The Old Donut-Hole' when there's never enough people or the right day?
Bookmark this just in case you need it . . . Published on May 29, 2018 Views: 12,208
One of the most vital of all life skills is soothing; the art of calming oneself down, restoring perspective and remembering to be kind to oneself. Too often, because we were never properly soothed by others as children, we have no idea how to soothe ourselves as adults. We need to learn the significance of soothing. For gifts and more from The School of Life, visit our online shop: https://goo.gl/sT1784 Join our mailing list: http://bit.ly/2e0TQNJ Our website has classes, articles and products to help you think and grow: https://goo.gl/7nn2MH Download our App: https://goo.gl/QmH9kQ FURTHER READING “It’s the middle of the night, let’s imagine, and we’ve been on the earth for about three months. A lot is still very unclear. We are profoundly helpless, barely able to move our own head and utterly at the mercy of others. The sources of our suffering and joy lie far outside our understanding. Hugely powerful needs pass through us at regular intervals and we have no way of making sense of them to ourselves – let alone of communicating them reliably to others…”
You can read more on this and other subjects on our blog, here: https://goo.gl/vScbsL
. . . Might be part of your life and part of tomorrow
Published on May 28, 2018
CoolMOS™ 7 is the latest generation of high voltage superjunction MOSFETs from Infineon, setting new standards for energy efficiency, power density and ease-of-use. Watch this video to learn more about CoolMOS™ 7 SJ MOSFETs.
Pieces of the puzzle of possible public corruption here in Mesa are finally emerging from the murky misdeeds of a former Mesa official and state regulator who allegedly had monies funneled to him in a vote for a rate increase in an influence-peddling case that's scheduled to go to trial on Wednesday over incidences six years ago. . . the FBI had to step in to get these indictments and charges asserted. The Associated Press published this today Sunday, May 27, 2018 11:32 am
Ex-Arizona regulator charged with bribery heads to trial
By JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) — About six years ago, an elected Arizona utility regulator who is now accused of accepting bribes had $31,000 funneled to him from a water company owner and tried to get the owner to buy him a $350,000 piece of land, authorities said.
In exchange, then-Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce voted for a rate increase that benefited the water company and approved a measure that lets the firm's owner use ratepayer money to pay his personal income tax bill, prosecutors said.
Pierce and three other people are scheduled to go on trial Wednesday in an influence-peddling case filed more than two years after Pierce left the commission due to term limits. . . Authorities say the bribery allegations were discovered during a larger, unrelated federal investigation, though prosecutors have declined to reveal its focus. Pierce, who left the commission in early 2015, has acknowledged he was questioned by FBI agents investigating the 2014 commission election. Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the parent company of electric utility Arizona Public Service Co., was widely believed to have spent $3.2 million backing Republicans for the utility commission. Pinnacle West Capital disclosed in public filings in August 2016 that it received federal grand jury subpoenas seeking information on elections involving the commission and secretary of state. The FBI said it was conducting a long-term investigation related to the financing of certain statewide elections in 2014, but it has not named APS. READ MORE > here
Shears, who now resides in New York, said that he was “violently harassed” as an openly gay teen in his hometown of Mesa, Arizona. “I remember being in the principal’s office because I’d been harassed by other kids in the school violently. I came out when I was 15 at school, and I realised I had put myself into a precarious situation. It was a very hostile environment for me and a lot of kids had it in for me. It was a scary situation. I was very impatient. I wanted to grow up now.When I went into the office he told me that if I’d just kept your private life to yourself, none of this would be happening. Tears just came to my eyes; I was so mad.”.
Looks like he's turned anger into becoming a success story published in the UK on Pink News by Nick Duffy 26 May 2018 Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears surprises fans with solo music video, album announcement It’s been a busy year for the singer so far, dropping his memoir Boys Keep Swinging, as well as a stint in Broadway musical Kinky Boots. Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears is officially back. He's now staging a fully-fledged comeback. The out singer this week dropped the fabulously-queer video for his first solo single Creep City, and announced his first solo album.
Your MesaZona blogger might have been derelict-in-his duties to catch mystery writer extraordinaire Jon Talton in-person at last Saturday's Mesa Convention Center event for the publication of his latest local pulp-fiction thriller Bomb Shelter. Riding Valley Metro Light Rail to transit to Downtown Mesa to get to his destination, he took the time to add some remarks reacting to what he saw on his way to his talk. (See excerpt farther on in this post) Nonetheless, he's warmed up his pen again in this post published just one day ago - Trump in all his gut-glory. No private parts exposed thanks to this eye-catching iimage, Carl Muecke illustration you see. (The would-be Imperial President-Emperor has no clothes stripped-down) The Man From No Hope
May 25, 2018
"The most important story that likely didn't appear on the front page of your newspaper was that James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, has "no doubt" Russia swung the election for Donald Trump. Clapper, a retired Air Force lieutenant general, has spent his career in intelligence. He was unanimously confirmed to the position by the Senate in 2010. Yet aside from the Rachel Maddow show, this bombshell has barely received any coverage. And so it goes. Almost every day, new incriminating information comes out about this treasonous, corrupt, malevolent presidency. You read it if you partake of the Front Page links on this site. And yet, almost every day I grow more fearful that it will make no difference . . . If Democrats regain the House in the fall, impeachment is probably a losing gambit unless they make enough gains in the Senate to remove Trump from office. Then we get the creepy Mike Pence. . . I don't know a way out." Here's a link to the whole story > http://www.roguecolumnist.com Reality-based commentary about Phoenix, Arizona, and the nation _________________________________________________________________________
" . . . I rode light rail from the stop by my Midtown condo to a book signing at the Mesa Convention Center. Downtown Mesa remains sleepy, despite all the hype of revival. It has good bones. It lacks a population with urban values. Some of the circa 1970 civic center survives, and I was reminded how Mesa had its city hall, library, police headquarters, and main fire station in attractive, human-scaled, and complementary designed buildings — all set in a park with grass and shade trees. This was a grand civic statement for a city of 63,000. Now, the newer fortress-like library looks like the abandoned home of a bankrupt logistics firm. The mid-rise city hall is bleak and uninspiring. With a population of 485,000 — larger than Cincinnati, St. Louis or the city of Atlanta — Mesa has little to show for it. . . REFERENCE POINT > Filling-In17 May 2018
Ooops! There your MesaZona blogger goes again! That's right on-the-road to the mission of this hyper-local news source to tell you to STAY WOKE and keep you informed - it's people not leaders that can make this City great. Recent studies and data featured here in posts might make you uncomfortable . . . here's just one more CityHealth, an initiative of the de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, offers a close look at whether the nation’s 40 largest cities have nine key policies in place that experts say help residents lead healthier lives and make communities thrive. CityHealth awarded each city a gold, silver, bronze, or no medal, according to their performance in the assessment. The group also awarded nine policy-specific medals to each city, according to the quality and strength of the laws in place, which address affordable housing, safe streets, and food safety, among other issues.
_________________________________________________________________________________ Blogger Note:CityHealth will update its ratings again next year. For more details on how each of the 40 cities stack up, go to www.cityhealth.org. _________________________________________________________________________
The report is designed to show which cities are leading the way on policies shown to improve people’s health and quality of life. CityHealth found in just one year, cities earned a total of 24 new medals for implementing proven policies to better the lives of the people who live, play, learn, and work in their jurisdictions. These advances meant that 10 cities—one quarter of the nation’s 40 largest cities —improved their overall medal status. . . We encourage all cities to show their commitment to building a healthier community that truly thrives, by adopting this set of proven policies. Every unearned gold medal represents an opportunity to take action and to improve people’s quality of life. . . " Affordable Housing Affordable housing promotes diverse, inclusive neighborhoods and positive mental health, reduces crowding and exposure to environmental hazards, and frees up household resources to pay for health care and healthy food Complete Streets Complete streets policies safely combine all forms of transportation, such as walking, biking, driving or taking the bus. These policies can expand economic growth, improve individuals’ health, and save lives. Food Safety Policies that require food establishments to publicly post food safety inspection grades empower consumers, promote transparency, and reduce foodborne illness No Overall Medal – Fifteen Cities Columbus, OH Dallas, TX Detroit, MI El Paso, TX Fort Worth, TX Indianapolis, IN Jacksonville, FL Las Vegas, NV Memphis, TN* Mesa, AZ Nashville, TN* Oklahoma City, OK Phoenix, AZ Tucson, AZ Virginia Beach, VA* (* These cities increased their overall medal status since last year)
CityHealth, an initiative of the de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, provides leaders with a package of evidence-based policy solutions that will help millions of people live longer, better lives in vibrant, prosperous communities. CityHealth will regularly evaluate cities on the number and strength of their policies. http://www.cityhealth.org/ The de Beaumont Foundation is dedicated to improving the capacity and performance of the U.S. public health system, and equipping public health agencies to thrive in a transforming health landscape. In so doing, we aspire to improve the health of the populations of the communities they serve across the U.S. http://www.debeaumont.org/ Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 12.2 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share. _________________________________________________________________________________
PHOENIX - Death and taxes, both facts of life. And neither one is talked about enough. But it turns out, passing away in Arizona may actually cost less than in other states. That's most likely because an overwhelming majority of people in Arizona decide to get cremated instead of opting for a traditional burial. According to the Arizona Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, about 70% of people who died were cremated in 2017. That number has held steady since 2015. Judith Stapley with the board says cost is part of it, but not the only factor. "We have so many snowbirds and people that want to go to their home states, wherever they're from originally, and be buried or take cremations back there," Stapley explains. ________________________________________________________________ JUST THE FACTS PLEASE: Exercise Program Fails to Ease Dementia
A yearlong program of brisk exercise in people with mild to moderate dementia left participants more physically fit, but no better off in terms of mental functioning, daily living, or quality of life. In fact, the intensive exercise program may have slightly worsened their cognition. The results of the randomized trial, led by Sallie Lamb of the University of Oxford, appeared May 16 in The BMJ.
The power of exercise to slow established cognitive decline is unclear.
Researchers enrolled 494 people with dementia to a randomized trial of moderate to intense exercise for one year.
They became physically fitter, but their cognition worsened.
Researchers know that staying fit in midlife lowers dementia risk (Mar 2018 news), but they don’t know whether boosting fitness in later life improves cognition and function in people with established dementia. Systematic reviews of previous, mostly small and heterogeneous trials yield conflicting results (Forbes et al., 2015; Groot et al., 2016).
. . . Most people successfully followed the program—two-thirds attended most of their scheduled sessions and 85 percent reported continuing the program at home. The goal was to boost blood flow and muscle mass, in hopes that better vascular and metabolic function would pay off in better brain health.
Fitness Test: In a randomized trial of exercise in people with dementia, scores on the ADAS-Cog after 12 months worsened compared to usual care. [Courtesy of Lamb et al., 2018.]
_________________________________________ MORE INFORMATION/Details > https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/exercise-program-fails-ease-dementia
