by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Arizona, the Scorpion State, is a very strange place indeed. The cultural and political outrages of this state are the stuff of legend, and they just keep coming. Consider these jaw-droppers:
The student newspaper at the University of Arizona came under some national criticism recently because of a homophobic cartoon that one of the students produced and the editor saw fit to print. In the cartoon a father is talking to his young son: The father says, "Ya know son...if you ever tell me you're gay...I will shoot you with my shotgun, roll you up in a carpet, and throw you off of a bridge." To which the son replies, "Well, I guess that's what you call a 'Fruit Roll Up!'" And then they have a good father-son bonding laugh.
To someone's credit, the cartoonist was fired, but I understand the editor is still practicing student journalism. I sort of feel sorry for the whole crew. This is Arizona, after all, and they probably had no way of knowing just how offensive that exchange would be in the real world.
My friend Don, who is a for-real journalist in Florida, forwarded a link to a story about an Arizona snafu with voting. The Maricopa County Department of Elections (my county, though I hadn't heard the story) sent out voter registration cards that had a document attached giving the date of the general election. Two versions were mailed out - one in English and the other in Spanish. Unfortunately, the general election date listed on the Spanish version was November 8th, two days after the actual election. The English versions had the date correct as November 6th.
A spokeswoman for the elections people said it was "an honest mistake." (I understand that Governor Brewer would like to hear from anyone who believes that. She wants to sell them shares in the Grand Canyon!)
Amigos, the general election in Arizona and all of the other states is Tuesday, November 6th. If you received a ballot in the mail, don't wait. Mark that sucker and mail it in today!
Citizen Journalist
Arizona, the Scorpion State, is a very strange place indeed. The cultural and political outrages of this state are the stuff of legend, and they just keep coming. Consider these jaw-droppers:
The student newspaper at the University of Arizona came under some national criticism recently because of a homophobic cartoon that one of the students produced and the editor saw fit to print. In the cartoon a father is talking to his young son: The father says, "Ya know son...if you ever tell me you're gay...I will shoot you with my shotgun, roll you up in a carpet, and throw you off of a bridge." To which the son replies, "Well, I guess that's what you call a 'Fruit Roll Up!'" And then they have a good father-son bonding laugh.
To someone's credit, the cartoonist was fired, but I understand the editor is still practicing student journalism. I sort of feel sorry for the whole crew. This is Arizona, after all, and they probably had no way of knowing just how offensive that exchange would be in the real world.
My friend Don, who is a for-real journalist in Florida, forwarded a link to a story about an Arizona snafu with voting. The Maricopa County Department of Elections (my county, though I hadn't heard the story) sent out voter registration cards that had a document attached giving the date of the general election. Two versions were mailed out - one in English and the other in Spanish. Unfortunately, the general election date listed on the Spanish version was November 8th, two days after the actual election. The English versions had the date correct as November 6th.
A spokeswoman for the elections people said it was "an honest mistake." (I understand that Governor Brewer would like to hear from anyone who believes that. She wants to sell them shares in the Grand Canyon!)
Amigos, the general election in Arizona and all of the other states is Tuesday, November 6th. If you received a ballot in the mail, don't wait. Mark that sucker and mail it in today!
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