A simple solution to halt AZ pedestrian deaths

Common sense enforcement needed, not study committees 

Arizona has a problem with pedestrian fatalities. According to data released by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), which lists by state, we have the highest rate in the entire nation. Hawaii, which is not a border state, has the lowest. Making the numbers even more compelling is the fact that Maricopa County has the unenviable distinction of coming in second in fatalities of all U.S. counties.

The City of Phoenix, under the thumb of leftwing Mayor Greg Stanton —– a self described “progressive,” now running for congress —- jumped into action with the creation of a board to study the crisis. ‘Complete Streets’ has made recommendations after blaming the high fatality rate on our “streetscape.”

What?  You haven’t previously heard that word? That’s because you’re not a liberal urban planner, public health advocate dealing with sustainability, and complete streets, multi-modal/transportation planning and design or health impact assessments. Many of the board members are “quality of life” specialists.

Check out the Complete Streets Advisory Board Roster and their specialties.

An assemblage of nearly a dozen such luminaries is impressive, if you’re into costly social transformation. They addressed the Phoenix City Council demanding council members accelerate the process and adopt the “Complete Streets Guidelines” to make streets safer for pedestrians.

The group blames pedestrian fatalities on economic conditions, demographics, weather, fuel prices, and the amount of time people spend walking. Ergo, if you’re poor, snow drifts are high, you have to walk while texting, you could be an accident waiting to happen.

Among the concepts to alleviate such deficiencies provided for in the guidelines are more sidewalks, reducing the rate of traffic, shade structures and trees, including increased night time lighting.  The slowing of traffic, more lighting and planting of trees clearly conflict with the need to reduce gas, electricity and water consumption previously favored by “sustainability” alarmists. 

There is a simpler and less costly way to address the increase in pedestrian deaths. Begin ticketing people who refuse to use marked crosswalks. This was once known as “jaywalking” and was a ticketable offense. Now officers in patrol cars, concerned about negatively impacting cultural mores, blithely sail past mothers standing on the median with a flock of tykes, waiting for a traffic break to hustle them across the busy street, ignoring the nearby crosswalk and traffic signal.

Crosswalks are routinely disregarded. The attitude is, lines in the street are put there by authority figures and should be avoided regardless of the fact that they save lives. It’s a foolish, often ethnic-based, power struggle that has made Arizona the leader in pedestrian deaths. This is a fact you can be certain the ‘Complete Streets’ committee won’t address.

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Yuma, AZ picked romaine lettuce linked to E. coli

Life-threatening complications include kidney failure

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has expanded its warning about an E. coli outbreak connected to romaine lettuce to cover all forms of romaine, including whole heads and hearts of romaine grown in the Yuma, Arizona, growing area. A previous warning was limited to chopped forms of romaine, including salads and salad mixes. 

CDC based the new warning on eight new cases of acute gastroenteritis at a correctional facility in Nome, Alaska, that appear to be connected to the current outbreak affecting 53 people in 16 states. Thirty-one of those have been hospitalized, the CDC said, and although no one has died, five people have developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome. This map details the cases by state.

According to the CDC, “E. coli are a diverse family of bacteria that can be found in the intestines of people and animals.”  This information leads us to ask how sanitary are the conditions in the fields where the laborers are picking crops?  Do they have bathroom facilities with soap, running water and antiseptic hand spray or wipes? What do you think? Given the likely circumstances it’s surprising there aren’t more serious disease outbreaks.

From the U.S. Food & Drug Administration:

The symptoms of Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) E. coli infections vary for each person but often include severe stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea. If there is fever, it is usually not very high (less than 101 degrees Fahrenheit /less than 38.5 degrees Celsius). Most people get better within 5–7 days. Some infections are very mild, but others are severe or even life-threatening.

Around 5–10 percent of those who are diagnosed with STEC infection develop a potentially life-threatening complication, known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

Symptoms of HUS include fever, abdominal pain, feeling very tired, decreased frequency of urination, small unexplained bruises or bleeding, and pallor. Most people with HUS recover within a few weeks, but some suffer permanent damage or die. People who experience these symptoms should seek emergency medical care immediately. Persons with HUS should be hospitalized because their kidneys may stop working (acute renal failure), but they may also develop other serious problems such as hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and neurologic problems.

Read the complete updated report here.

Educrats offer sticks & stones to protect kids from violence

These administrators don’t have their party affiliation revealed, but we’re betting they’re liberal Democrat teacher’s union members *

Have you heard the good news?  Shootings taking the lives of innocent students and teachers are a thing of the past, thanks to the wisdom of William Hall, Millcreek School District Superintendent in Erie, Pennsylvania. The man is nothing if not innovative. Assumedly he devised this strategy himself, since we haven’t heard of anyone else wanting to share credit for it.

The Washington Free Beacon reports on the sheer brilliance of Hall’s foolproof idea to bring safety to our schools.

Bats! 

The 16-inch bats were recently distributed to each teacher following an in-service training day on how to respond to school shootings.

“This is a tool to have in the event we have nothing else,” said Millcreek Education Association president Jon Cacchione.  “Part of the formula now, is to fight back, and so I think the bats that were provided for the staff were symbolic of that.” Cacchione says he supports the decision to arm teachers with bats, which will be locked up in each classroom.

Hasn’t the “formula” always been to fight back? “Symbols” of retaliation against a shooter, are irrelevant to those who think lucidly.

Even though the school district he oversees is in Erie, you’ll notice the spelling is the same as the canal, not eerie, as in darkly sinister. The bats aren’t the nocturnal sort, either. They are small. and incapable of inflicting damage to a person with a gun.

Gong Erie’s Millcreek Distict even one better, the Hill reports David Helsel, the superintendent of Blue Mountain School District in rural Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania has armed students with buckets of rocks as a “last resort” against armed intruders.

Bucket of rocks! 

Every classroom now has a five-gallon bucket of rocks that students can hurl in the event there is an active shooter.

Our Constitutional framers, who enshrined the Second Amendment immediately following the guarantees of free speech and assembly in the First Amendment would be appalled by the blatant ignorance of these educrats. In 2008, the Second Amendment rights of the individual to keep and bear arms were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in  the case of District of Columbia v. Heller.

Several years ago conservative radio personality Michael Savage wrote a book titled, “Liberalism is a mental disorder.” His words ring of brilliance.

*Center for Responsive Politics

Irrational AZ Republic reporting hits new low

MS-13 gangsters shouldn’t be held responsible for crime, terror surge

We here at Seeing Red AZ abhor triteness and generalities as much as the next person, so right out of the hatch we’re cutting to the chase as we attempt to interpret the local newspaper‘s “No stars — Inconclusive” rating of a statement made by Rep. Martha McSally, (R-CD 2).

Let us be perfectly clear.  Martha McSally, often referred to on this site as “Sally McCain,” is not our cup of tea. In fact, she’s too liberal by half, regardless of how she tries to characterize herself while in candidate mode. You can take that to the bank.

Sally McCain is abandoning her House post to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently unoccupied by preening self-pimping, Republicrat Jeff Flake, a John McCain colluder — who prefers to spend his remaining time canoodling with left-wing media types, throwing slings and arrows at Republican President Trump.

Such is the sad state of affairs in Arizona GOP politics. For all intents and purposes, Arizonans have no representation in the U.S. Senate. The logical, principled conservative choice is Dr. Kelli Ward, whom we support.

But we digress.

Sally McCain (aka Martha McSally) is being taken to task for besmirching the international MS-13 gang which has fanned out an estimated 10,000 violent, murderous and drug smuggling gang members throughout the United States.

The Arizona Republic newspaper, known as The Periódico de la República de Arizona for its radical, pro-illegal alien stance, quibbles over the terms “criminal street gang” or simply “gang.” After all, these vicious and rapidly expanding monsters originated in Central America, which makes them sainted, redeemable Hispanics worthy of not only roaming freely in the USA, and obtaining taxpayer funded benefits but likely deserving of amnesty. Why not? The left-wing newspaper refers to the massive number of gangsters as  “fluctuating” and promotes illegal aliens being counted in the upcoming census, with the ultimate end game of bolstering the ranks of the Democrat party.

The newspaper quotes slippery Lidia E. Nuño, an assistant criminal justice professor at California State University (Fullerton).who doltishly disputes the gang’s numbers, is actually quoted as saying, “If the figure is correct, that doesn’t necessarily mean that these 10,000 individuals are murdering people each day.” Proving a Ph.D has lost its value, she foolishly adds, it “could be more than 10,000 or less than 10,000.”

At Arizona State University her Ph.D dissertation was titled, “Hispanics’ and Undocumented Immigrants’ Perceptions of Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Willingness to Cooperate with the Police: An Assessment of the Process-Based Model of Policing.”

No wonder she’s the newspaper’s go-to gal.

Lacey, Larkin homes raided by FBI. Sex site shut down

Although the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona has nothing on its website as yet, other sources are replete with information concerning an FBI raid on the Sedona home of former New Times publisher, Michael Lacey, and the Paradise Valley home of Jim Larkin. The duo co-founded Backpage.com.

Sedona Red Rock News carries the report by Christopher Fox Graham detailing that Backpage.com, ranks second behind craigslist for online classified advertising. But its main products aren’t lawnmowers or toaster ovens. Their stock in trade is prostitution and sex trafficking, often involving underage girls. This 2017 report released by a U.S. Senate subcommittee reveals that 73 percent of the child-trafficking reports are knowingly facilitated by Backpage.com.

This is the indictment.  (Click link to open.)

The website has been removed. It has been replaced with a screenshot overlayed with law enforcement insignias and a notice stating: “Backpage.com and affiliated websites have been seized as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, with analytical assistance from the Joint Regional Intelligence Center.”

Although the Department of Justice said it will issue a press release after the charges are unsealed, CBS News reports that an indictment had been unsealed against seven people allegedly involved in running Backpage, containing 93 criminal counts including money laundering and running a website to facilitate prostitution. The indictment, which was filed in Arizona where Backpage is maintained, reportedly names 17 victims who were trafficked, both adults and children. The site is alleged to have earned more than $500 million in revenue since it was founded in 2004. Law enforcement officials have called it “the world’s top online brothel.”

A year ago, before he departed to work for the hate-mongering Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Stephen Lemons, still writing his “Feathered Bastard” column for the free-of-charge, far left Phoenix New Times, opined that Lacey and Larkin — his former bosses —  were being treated unfairly for “donating to powerless Democrats.” Even a man of Lemons’ low caliber knew there was far more going on, but chose to try imitating Houdini and misdirect our attention.  It didn’t work then. It clearly doesn’t work now.

Focusing on Mike Lacey, co-founder and former owner of Phoenix New Times, Lemons characterized him as “still battling for freedom of speech despite being slimed by Backpage’s foes.”

With this critical thinking, Lemons couldn’t have found a more accommodating place to land than the equally dishonest SPLC.

Leftist town council aims to disarm citizens

Banks join the curtailment of Second Amendment rights

At first glance, these folks — the mayor and members of the village board in the northern Chicago suburb of Deerfield — appear benign enough. On their bios they note that they are proud of their children, grandchildren and pets. One sings in a choral group, another is a retired sanitary engineer with a specialty in drainage. Among them are an accounting instructor and a lawyer.

In fact, they cast a dark shadow.

They also want to disarm the people in the community they serve, recently casting unanimous votes to ban legally owned semi-automatic firearms. The new law goes into effect June 13. Residents who don’t get rid of banned weapons by then face a fine of $1,000 a day.

Their actions are eerily similar to those imposed in Germany by Wilhelm Frick, the Nazi minister of the interior in 1938, when he issued “Regulations Against Jews Possession of Weapons.” Not only were Jews forbidden to own guns and ammunition, they couldn’t own “truncheons (clubs) or stabbing weapons.” In addition to imposing restrictions, the Nazis had begun raiding Jewish homes and seizing weapons. Other German citizens found the laws expanded regarding their ownership of firearms,

Putting his ignorance of our unique history and the rights we cherish on display, Deerfield Village Manager Kent Street said if more towns banned the weapons then it’s possible the state and federal government will too.

These are the 27-words with which Kent Street has a problem:

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

They comprise the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which our Founders thought important enough to put immediately following the First Amendment — guaranteeing freedom of speech and assembly.  Leftists are hard at work attempting to curtail our rights. Now they are joined by banks. Citigroup, Inc. bank is imposing restrictions on companies that use it to issue store credit-cards or for lending and other services, according to a Thursday memo issued by Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Mike Corbat, which included these deceptive words: 

“The policy was designed to respect the rights of responsible gun owners while helping to keep firearms out of the wrong hands, It is clear to me that most people believe there are areas of agreement and practical changes we can make to find common ground.”

The lender seeks to bypass the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court and Congress. The move is being praised by gun restrictionists.

 The NRA gets it right….again. We urge you to read, “So They’re Not Coming for Our Guns, Eh? We call BS.” The commentary begins with a description of why the United States has a Second Amendment.

Firearm registration in Nazi German helped lead to the Holocaust, where millions of unarmed Europeans, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and systematically slaughtered.

 History is the greatest teacher —- if we pay attention.

AZ Gov.Ducey honors two liberals at Grand Canyon

Former U.S. Rep. Mo Udall, an Arizona Democrat from a political family, was known for his liberal views which he sold with his legendary humor. RINO McCain, lacking any sense of humor, and always bonding with far leftists, tried to force feed us liberal positions on everything from amnesty for illegals to campaign finance regulations specifically designed to mute Republican candidates.

Joining the @GrandCanyonAssn at the @GrandCanyonNPS to honor the service and leadership of two legendary Arizona statesmen: the late Representative Mo Udall and our distinguished Senator and my friend @SenJohnMcCain. pic.twitter.com/mYyLuw8ZWx

— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) April 4, 2018

After Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton’s announcement naming the newly remodeled Terminal 3 at Sky Harbor International Airport in honor of Arizona’s Senior Senator (ASS) John McCain, it wouldn’t be much of a leap to rename the Grand Canyon. That could be next, as talk swirls about the possibility of Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey appointing himself to what is expected to be the soon to be vacant U.S. Senate seat. McCain is seriously ill, suffering from what his Mayo doctors have described as “an aggressive form of brain cancer,” and hasn’t been seen in months.

Ducey is a longtime associate and admirer of John McCain. When he arrived in Phoenix to attend Arizona State University, he worked at Hensley & Co., the Anheuser-Busch distributorship owned by Cindy Hensley McCain. and developed a long-lasting bond with the McCain’s.

Phoenix’ liberal mayor Greg Stanton, now a candidate for the U.S. House in Congressional District 9, enthused over McCain last November, as noted in our post “Flying into McCain?” Playing politics for all it’s worth, Stanton obviously thinks that praising the self proclaimed “Maverick,” will win him squish votes in the competitive district.

He might be on the right track. Like John McCain and Jeff Flake, Stanton endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary. At least Stanton, a committed liberal, ran as a Democrat and his endorsement was expected. The other two are Republicrat charlatans.