Arizona Election Results

Normally, I would usually consider the outrage of the speaker in this video to be the ramblings of a disappointed voter or conspiracy theorist. But, after what's happened to me, I'm not so sure that he has an unfounded claim.

I've been resident of Arizona, and a registered Democrat who votes early through the mail, for many years. In September of 2011, I bought a new home and moved. I only moved from the east-central side of Phoenix to the west-central side, less than 10 miles away.

As I've done in the past, I changed my address and other information online through Service Arizona. Also available through this service is the availability to change your voter registration information. I did both when I moved, and I've never had a problem before.

I received a confirmation that the state successfully updated my change of address information, but for some unknown reason, they had a problem updating my voter change of address.

Within a week or so later I received a "paper" form stating that I needed to update my change of address information using this form. So, I filled out the form and sent it in, thinking that should fix the unknown problem. I never received anything to the contrary.

Well, come October 2012, I didn't receive an early ballot like I've usually been receiving them. So, I went online to check my voter registration status. Lo and behold, my voter status stated that it was restricted and I was ineligible to vote.

Of course, being a Democrat in a fanatically Republican state, my conspiracy "spidey-sense" went off, so I emailed Service Arizona, the Maricopa County Recorder's Office, and the State Democratic Party headquarters to voice my complaint, and to make sure that I was deemed eligible to vote in the upcoming election.

Within the week or so, I was deemed eligible and received my early ballot in the mail. I voted my choices along party lines and sent it in the next day.

Like everyone else, I watched the election results and disappointedly accepted the outcome. But, then a few days later, I read the news reports that most of the early ballots still had to be counted, even though the recorder's office had already announced who had won the elections.

Again, my spidey-senses went off that something just wasn't right. How could the state determine a winner without counting such a significant amount of the ballots? It was too close to call without including the numerous early ballots.

Like the man in this video, I can't help but wonder if the Republican party has stolen this election. I hope the Feds will investigate to see if there was truly anything corrupt or illegal involved.


Source: Voters Angry As Arizona Continues To Count Ballots

Wipe It Out Phoenix

Phoenix 20/20: Councilman Michael Nowakowski checks out the Wipe it Out Day presented by the Neighborhood Services Department.


Source: City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department

Tasting History | A Short Film

In Dena Cowan's documentary film, Tasting History, follow Jesus Garcia’s lifelong inspirational journey across the Mexico-U.S. border in the Sonoran Desert region, exemplifying how life is but a circle.

This short film describes how compassionate strategies and supportive environments, in all aspects of life, are the most enriching and most sustainable. Rooted in the past and flourishing in the present follow how Jesus's Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project offers us a taste of the promising desert oases he is helping to grow. One cannot help but admire the man and his mission.


Tasting History from Dena Cowan on Vimeo.

Artfully Engaging Taggers

Living in a neighborhood that gets graffiti tagged almost every night, I can honestly say that I don't understand the psyche of someone who would spend so much time, energy, and money, and risk the chance of civil and criminal penalties, all in the pursuit of ruining the beauty of their own neighborhood and having their neighbors hate their behavior?

I sometimes catch myself wondering what would happen if those taggers' artistic energies were redirected in a positive way, such as creating neighborhood murals that they would be proud of, and everyone in the neighborhood could enjoy. Who wouldn't want that instead?

Perhaps the problem of tagging in Phoenix needs to be addressed in different and positive way. While the Police Department and the city's Grafitti Busters program does it's best to fight tagging, it doesn't seem to be working. If anything, I've noticed more taggings in my neighborhood in this past year.

So, when I discovered the collaborative efforts of the Tucson Arts Brigade, I thought THIS is the way we should be addressing the problem of unwanted grafitti in Phoenix.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Mysteries of Sonoran Desert life are slowly revealed and abundantly displayed at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, located on the Mexican border, a few miles south the city of Ajo, AZ.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is the only place in the United States to see large stands of organ pipe cacti, though their range extends far south into Mexico. The monument encompasses the bulk (about 90%) of its U.S. population. Optimum growing conditions exist no more than a 40-50 mile radius north of the monument. Beyond this distance, conditions are not suitable, and the cactus will seldom occur naturally in these areas except in very isolated locations.

If you enjoy hiking, desert flower and fauna, and the serene beauty the Sonoran Desert has to offer, then this is the place to visit during the cool winter months. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument preserves over 330,000 acres of green, living desert that is yours to explore and get to know.

Here's a Robin Sewell's Arizona Highways Television show to tell you more.

Visit The Scottsdale Film Festival

Looking for something unique to do this weekend? Then why not spend some time at this year's 12th annual Scottsdale International Film Festival? Even the most casual look at this year’s line-up reveals a blend of films to satisfy a broad range of interests and tastes.

There are smaller films for the appreciative, daring cineaste; and bigger, more mainstream films that reveal the burgeoning of the commercial market—a wonderful mix of film genres from light-hearted comedies to period dramas, chosen from all corners of the world. There is so much to see―and something for everyone!

For example, here's the trailer for The Finger, a political satire film out of Argentina -


THE FINGER (El Dedo) from The Global Film Initiative on Vimeo.

After seven years of local dictatorship, a remote village in Argentina formally becomes a town, with the birth of its 501st inhabitant. Based on real events, this charming dramatic comedy pokes fun at small town ways while celebrating true democratic values.

Hidalgo, a slick and ingratiating scion, is eager for the new post of mayor. Smelling a rat, Baldomero (a beloved natural leader with a habitually tapping digit) runs against him—and soon turns up dead.

His shopkeeper brother vows revenge, keeping Baldomero’s severed finger in a jar, initially as a remembrance. But eventually it becomes an absurd icon of leadership that spurs the town to defy crooked elections, interloping powers―and Hidalgo―to go its own way.