Trevor's Dojo of the Mind

El Gringo Grande

2010-05-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

Check out my other blog, Trevor Guyette: El Gringo Grande

http://el-gringo-guyette.blogspot.com/

This is the one I'll be updating from now on.

So I guess this is me signing off here... Goodbye.

Arizona Legislature, Attorney General aiming at border violence solutions

2009-06-19T14:14:00.001-07:00

Arizona officials are seeking to stem a 'flood of weapons' while retaining gun rights for law-abiding citizens

As a state with an international border, Arizona can find its state laws involving more than just its U.S. neighbors. Sometimes Arizona's state laws affect an international community. When it comes to the relationship between the United States and Mexico over issues at the border, Arizona is often the leading location of national controversy.

In April, the Senate committee on border violence held a meeting in Phoenix. In May, the National Rifle Association held its annual convention in Phoenix. Nationwide, those with an interest in balancing border security with Americans' right to bear arms have taken an interest in how Arizona will handle the situation at its border and chosen this state to fight the battle.

The southern border has been a zone of increased conflict, both armed and verbal, since President Barack Obama, at a border violence news conference, stated 90 percent of the guns recovered in relation to Mexican cartel violence come from the United States, a statistic that has been widely restated.

However, George Gillette, a special agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Arizona, said that number was inaccurate. The truth, Gillette said, is that 93 percent of guns recovered from border cartel-related violence and subsequently successfully traced turn out to be from the United States.

The "90 percent" statistic is not related to the total number of guns used for violence Mexico, only the successfully traced ones. That still amounts to roughly 7,700 guns traced to U.S. sales according to Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in April.

If a weapon is not successfully traced, there is no way to tell where it came from, but Gillette said tracing weapons can help ATF get "the big picture."

"Every gun tells a story," Gillette said. "[Tracing] tells us who's buying the guns used in crimes."

Anne Hilby of the Office of the Arizona Attorney General says the number accurately reflects the scale of weapons going out of the U.S. to Mexico.

"[It] is a valuable statistic for indicating where weapons are coming from," Hilby said, adding that the Arizona Attorney General's Office takes seriously the threat of weapons going across the border, a practice that she said was increasing.

But many disagree.

"Most of the weapons come from Central America," Rep. Frank Antenori, a Republican from Tucson, said. "To limit the access of law-abiding citizens to firearms is not right."

Some legislation is aimed at trying to enact laws to make it harder for people who should not have guns to get them.

Rep. David Lujan, a Democrat from Phoenix, has introduced H2484which would increase the penalty for gun purchasers who knowingly use or attempt to use false names or other false information and sellers who allowed false names or false information to be used in the purchase of a firearm. The goal is to deter anybody from buying guns and selling or providing them to criminals, including drug cartels, a practice known as "straw purchasing." The bill has been assigned to House Judiciary and Rules committees, but has not yet been approved by either.

In May 2008, the X-Caliber gun store in Phoenix was raided by ATF and 1,300 guns were seized. The action came in connection with more than 700 straw purchases and hundreds of guns found in Mexico and traced back to the shop and accusations that the owner was knowingly helping buyers falsify information in order to get AK-47-type rifles and other weapons. The owner was acquitted this year, but the Arizona Attorney General's Office is appealing the decision.

"There's evidence that weapons are coming from the U.S.," Lujan said. "To the extent that we can toughen our laws to prevent that, it's a good thing."

Lujan's bill would increase the crime of straw purchasing to a class 4 felony and classify it as "racketeering," which places it under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. RICO allows the U.S. Attorney to freeze and seize the assets of an individual under investigation. Lujan's bill would also allow the Arizona Attorney General to prosecute at the state level, giving Arizona more power to fight.

"The Attorney General is supportive of Rep. Lujan's bill," Hilby said. "This is not creating a new impediment to buying a weapon." It only increases the penalty for illegal practices in gun purchasing, Hilby said, and legal transactions will remain unchanged. Hilby added that it also did not place new restrictions on the type of weapon a legally authorized person could buy.

Ron Uthe, owner of Arizona Tactical Firearms in Tempe, does not think the U.S. should have to change its laws at all. He said the problem is with Mexico and their enforcement issues.

"To say [corruption is] rampant is an understatement," Uthe said.

Sen. Jack Harper, a Republican from Mesa, similarly agreed that Mexican law was the main cause of the border violence problems.

"The Mexican government needs to allow their law-abiding citizens to be armed," Harper said. "When citizens are armed, the drug cartels will not take advantage."

Fears among gun rights activists that the Obama administration would reinstate the federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 have led to increased sales of the type of weapons and ammunition that would be included in the ban at Arizona Tactical Firearms, Uthe said.

"Some people consider a gun a luxury item, some think they're more important than that," Uthe said. "People are holding tight to guns."

Gun rights activists say some regulations, including the assault weapons ban, go too far in an attempt to keep guns out of the hands of a few who would use them for reckless violence.

"The assault weapons ban was based on aesthetics," Antenori said. "If it looked mean, they wanted to ban it."

As a former Army Green Beret, Antenori has experience with assault weapons. "I've used assault weapons in combat. If there's anyone who knows about guns in this Legislature it's me. There's an ignorance with regard to assault weapons," he said.

Gillette said ATF has developed a list of the "weapons of choice" for the border cartels, an armament profile that includes AR-15-styled rifles and AK-47 variants. These are military-grade weapons and usually fully automatic; true "assault weapons" designed to kill humans.

Fully automatic guns are already illegal for civilian ownership in the U.S. without proper licensing, and even then, some states prohibit them altogether. Antenori said that the definition of what had constituted an assault weapon in the federal ban was too broad and may be getting broader.

"Semi-automatic sporting arms are being classified as assault weapons," Antenori said.

There are currently no bills in the Arizona Legislature to completely restrict assault weapons at a state level, and Antenori was adamant about what would happen if the federal government attempted another assault weapons ban: "If the federal government does that [the assault weapons ban] again… they will pay a significant price at the polls. You do not screw with the American Bill of Rights."

Hilby said that the Arizona Attorney General's Office believes that most of the laws already in place are enough to keep assault weapons away from those who would misuse them, but the problem was with enforcement.

"We need to do a better job of enforcing the laws we have," Hilby said, adding that stopping the "flood of weapons" was not the only step needed to beat the cartels and contain border violence. "The best way to mitigate violence is to take away sources of money," she said.

This includes hampering drug and human smuggling, activities heavily associated with weapons and violence. But it also means putting a stop to less overt practices like money wire transfers and the relatively new laundering technique of taking "stored value" cards that act like debit cards across the border to fund further inter-cartel violence and violence against Mexican and U.S. forces

A House bill, H2569 sponsored by Rep. Adam Driggs, a Phoenix Republican, increases the penalty for use of a firearm in the act of human smuggling from a class four to a class two felony

"The goal is to increase the penalty for human smuggling" because "all smugglers use weapons," Driggs said. This bill is not primarily focused on a gun control issue, Driggs said, but it is a way to increase the penalty for "coyotes." It has been engrossed by the House and awaits hearing in the Senate.

According to Goddard's testimony before the U.S. Senate, a 2004 study showed 3,000 to 4,000 individuals per day enter the U.S. illegally and $2 billion a year is paid to the smugglers. Phoenix is also the national leader in kidnapping with more than 700 over the past two years.

"We need to be concerned about that violence and the weapons… and money from Arizona," Hilby said. "We have a vested public safety issue."

What's-His-Face?

2009-06-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of people putting there faces on the covers of their own books. If your name isn't enough to make people recognize who you are, then you don't deserve to be on the cover of your own book. The facial expressions among self-iconized authors are also troubling. They are either looking very pious, philosophical, and superior or sarcastic, superior and ironic.

So cut it out and don't buy books with their author's face on the cover. It's creepy.

A weekly look at the Poles: "Ill-Informed?" or "Smart Move"

2009-05-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has spoken of switching parties from Republican to Democrat. Here's a look at how our faithful news providers covered it and the underlying message of their angle and word choice.

MSNBC.com

"Poll: Specter's Switch could be smart move"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30560551/

Read the story and find out that his party switch may NOT be a smart idea if Republican Tom Ridge runs against him. It's only a smart move if he runs against Toomey. So why say his party switch is a smart move? Well, any dummy knows Democrats are better than Republicans. Why? Well, just 'cuz...

FOXnews.com

MAy 4 Homepage- "Ill-informed? Specter makes incredible 'Kemp would be alive' claim" picture links to story -"Specter Claims Kemp Would Be Alive if Congress Better Funded Medical Research" and "Poll Shows Ridge Competitive Against Specter in Race"
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/04/specter-claims-kemp-alive-congress-better-funded-medical-research/

Specter's decision was "ill-informed" because obviously his claim that Jack Kemp would still be alive if Congress had funded more medical research was "incredible." Also, any well-informed person would be a Republican. Take THAT you silly, ill-informed, incredible-claim-making Democrats. Nanny, nanny boo boo.

sdrawkcaB liaRthgiL gnidiR (Riding LightRail Backwards)

2009-04-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

Some people get sick riding a train backwards. I happen to enjoy it. The Light Rail is no exception.

Being directionally universal, the trains have some seats that face front, some that face back, and some that face sideways. I'm not saying I prefer facing backwards, but I don't mind it. The great thing is, since most people hate riding backwards, these seats are often open.

Seeing where you've been may not be exciting to some people, but it is an interesting way of viewing Phoenix along the rail and life in general. It allows you to be nostalgic on the (sometimes) short ride between stops.

Webby Awards winners

2009-04-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/04/murray-darling/draper-text

From Webby Award winner of best magazine site: National Geographic

Australia's Dry Run

I read this article (or scanned through the photos) in the print edition of NG, and the photos told most of the story. The vastness of the empty land with the rancher reflected in a truck's rearview mirror was its own world. The photos and the writing don't actually combine as well in the online version, as the photos are almost part of a separate "photo gallery section." Still, nobody does better photos than National Geographic, and the site shows that.

For our project, photo subject options are pretty straightforward, but i think angles and framing will play a role in how interesting the photos are.

Webby Award runner-up for best news site: CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/

The site is text-intensive, with a prominent VIDEO tab in the upper right corner.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/08/ship.hijacked/index.html

The story about pirates holding a ship's captain hostage had links at the end to other stories about pirates, Somalia etc. Still only one photo with the story.

Our site needs to be more graphically pleasing, but the links at the end of the story (even links in the text of a story) are a good idea. MAybe our homepage is an overview story with the links placed under subheads?

NPR- nominated in several Webby Award categories

http://www.npr.org/

NPR's homepage has rotating Flash animations to choose what story you want to read.They have video, written word and of course audio links.

We don't know how to use flash, so our selection system will have to be a list.

LightRail: Our Daily Adventure

2009-04-08T14:01:00.001-07:00

I have decided that a record of daily misadventures on the Phoenix LightRail would make a great blog. After all, where else is humanity more distilled, more simplified. LightRail is a MICROCOSM of humanity. We are lightrail.

April 6, 2009

It was opening day of the baseball season. My route takes me from the downtown Phoenix ASU campus to the Tempe campus. This takes me, unavoidably by Chase Field, home of your Arizona Diamondbacks.

But, as usual, I am getting ahead of myself.

As I approached the lightrail platform after a class that ran too long (through no fault of the professor), I noticed a police presence. There were two cops; one was interviewing a man who was holding a garbage bag, the other was interviewing two high-school aged girls further down the platform. The officer and the man with the bag were between me and the open door of the lightrail train, stopped at the platform. I slowly approached, not wanting to obstruct justice.

As I drew near, the officer asked me if i had been on the train, to which I courageously responded, "No, sir. I just walked up." So the train closed its doors and departed without me.

In the 15 minutes I waited for the next train, I gathered information from the expletive-laden raving of both parties to officers. The girls had been making fun of the man, the man responded with equal or greater verbal tirade, one (or both) of the girls hot the man in the face.

The next train arrived, the doors closed, and i was without a seat, standing near another man who had seen what I had seen. As we marveled at the difficult truth-finding the police faced, our own troubles multiplied and our thoughts were quickly turned toward the next platform as we approached together aboard the train.

Now is when the Diamondbacks game comes into play.

Half the population of Arizona stood upon that platform, proudly wearing "Sedona Red" shirts and hats and most of them dead drunk (this was before 5 p.m., remember).

So we all squeezed in and got really friendly.

As the train struggled to accelerate under the new weight of 300,000 Arizonans, and we approached the next platforms, anticipating the hilarious faces waiting at the next station.

And there were faces a-plenty.

The man with his bike was overly optimistic, as though another human with any amount of earthly possessions could ahve fit upon our struggling chariot.

As upstanding businessmen and shoddily clad men without a permanent address co-mingled, we all realized the humor of the situation. We, of course, looked down upon those sports fans who were intrusive interlopers into the light rail society we had formed with our previous extensive experience on the light rail. These newcomers were part of the problem, yet we were all in it together.

These were the best and worst hours I have ever spent on the light rail.

April 8, 2009

This day was less eventful.

I had a seat this time with an empty seat next to me.

At the Sky Harbor Airport stop, a man got on the train with a duffle bag. He appeared a weary traveler, a suspicion that was confirmed by his nodding off soon after seating himself next to me.

By the next stop, I had realized two things: 1. He had rested his head upon my shoulder 2. He smelled like poop.

Whether there was actual fecal matter on his person, or whether he had a case of the reverse bends from a re-pressurization after his flight, I do not know. The fact remained; A man who smelled of poop had rested his head upon my shoulder, and I was stuck in the corner against the window.

Being a man of minimal conflictual nature, I simple shrugged. He startled awake, mumbling "sorry," and I continued to read. Before the next stop, he'd fallen asleep, again on my shoulder. This continued for the next several stops until I had to wake him up and push past him to get off at my stop at Central and Van Buren.

I smelled my shoulder to see if the smell had rubbed off. I was good to go.

Newsweek: The End of Christian America

2009-04-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583/page/1

This is a story about the "secularization" of America. It raises some good points, especially on the last page. Christians should read this article. It is honest and includes a fair perspective of the trend.

I work in a Christian bookstore in Mesa, and I meet a lot of Christians with an attitude of political and moral superiority, when Christians are called to be humble and "in the world, not of the world."

It really has come down to a few issues of politics that have divided the parties religiously. How unfortunate that a Christian who thinks liberally (in the sense of acceptance and social programs) is often villified by the "Religious Right."

This story, I'm sure, ran in the print edition of Newsweek, but the video and links included were a good online feature.

Resume Website

2009-04-06T15:50:00.001-07:00

<http://www.public.asu.edu/~tguyette/>

BroomBall Night VIDEO

2009-03-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

In a world of ice and tennis shoes... BROOMBALL.

Obama on Leno: What was important?

2009-03-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

President Obama appear on Thursday, March 19 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He spoke about the economy, bonuses paid to AIG executives and, appparently, Special Olympics bowling.

MSNBC talks about Obama's economy comments, defense of his Cabinet appointments, looking to the future. MSNBC mentions that Obama sought to bring serious issues before the average American in a way that would be understood. They neglect to critically analyze what was said.

FOX includes an AP story about Obama's poking fun at his own bowling skills by comparing them to the Special Olympics, mentioning that he practices bowling in the White House bowling lanes. The story does mention that Obama apologized immediately to the president of Special Olympics. They neglect to mention any actual political or economic comments.

MSNBC.com:

Obama ‘stunned’ by millions in AIG bonuses
President promises on ‘Tonight Show’ to get payments back
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29782234/

FOXNews.com:

Obama Apologizes to Special Olympics for Bowling Joke
President Obama called the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, to say he was sorry for an offhand remark on the "The Tonight Show."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/20/obama-apologizes-special-olympics-bowling-joke/

Dale's Grocery Store Adventure

2009-02-25T15:03:00.000-08:00

A simple Audio Slideshow I made in my JMC 425 (Online Media Class). Dale is my roommate. Enjoy!

A weekly look: WAR Stories/BLOGS

2009-02-22T20:50:00.001-08:00

This week, a deviation from the standard look at political spectrum reporting from MSNBC.com and FOXNews.com…

From Iraq:

"Portrait of a Shadow"

http://www.newsweek.com/id/184764/page/1

This is an article from Newsweek, published online on Valentine's Day, in the magazine on Feb. 23.

I read the whole thing. I don't often read all of anything, especially online. Was it flashy graphics and interesting photos? No. In fact, there's only one photo with the story, I think. The subject interested me, but it was more than that. It was storytelling; clean, easy-to-read, even fun to read. It wasn't about anything light, but it read almost like a synopsis for a movie. I would watch this movie. It's something we don't hear much about in standard war coverage.

For in-depth, uncommonly insightful and first-hand war reporting, I also like Michael Yon's Blog. He does have some photos, but mostly just excellent journalism and storytelling in long posts.

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/

His account of a special group of helicopter pilots is an example of superb story telling.

"Guitar Heroes"

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/guitar-heroes.htm

Interview Podcast

2009-02-16T23:04:00.001-08:00

Download Trevor Guyette - Interview

Another Weekly look at NEWS

2009-02-13T22:59:00.000-08:00

In this week's look at the news, we see another AP style on MSNBC's website. FOX likely chose to write their own story for the following reason; the AP story is slanted toward the "liberal" perspective. Have a look-see...

MSNBC.com

Congress passes $787 billion stimulus bill
Democrats hand Obama a victory in his effort to combat economic crisis

(Associated Press)
WASHINGTON - In a major victory for President Barack Obama, Democrats on Friday pushed through Congress a $787 billion stimulus bill aimed at rescuing the country from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Republican opposition was nearly
unanimous.

A brief guide to "Liberal" CONNOTATION:

Major Victory: HAIL Barack the Great!
rescuing the country: OUR HERO!
Republican opposition: Why would those KNUCKLEHEADS oppose a MAJOR VICTORY that will RESCUE our NATION? And almost unanimously, too... gee whiz!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29179041/

FOXNews.com
Congress Passes $787B Stimulus Bill, Sending It to Obama for Signature
The bill passed in the Senate with 60 votes after the House approved the measure earlier in the day by a vote of 246-183

(Fox News)

WASHINGTON -- Congress passed the final version of a $787 billion economic stimulus plan aimed at jolting the slumping U.S. economy, sending the legislation to President Obama's desk for his signature.

A brief guide to "Conservative" CONNOTATION:
slumping U.S. economy: Saying that the economy is "hemhorraging" or "crashing" is an overstatement. Right now, it's just "slumping," like grandpa taking a nap in his rocking chair. It was never really THAT bad... I mean, c'mon, President Bush and his people did okay, right?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/13/congress-readies-final-vote-b-stimulus/

In relation to their WEB coverage:

Both stories have exciting slideshows, but the MSNBC site added video... Granted, video of a congressional vote is not very exciting, so they opted to include "commentary" video from what looks like a television broadcast. Surprising, actually, that FOX did not include any video in realtion to this story. I'm sure someone talked about it at some time during the day on FOXNews...

A Weekly look at Online News.

2009-02-08T01:22:00.000-08:00

It's always fun to look at how "liberal" media covers things and compare it to how "conservative" media covers things. MSNBC (commonly thought of as a "liberal" leaning news source) and FOX News (commonly thought of as a... you're kidding, right?), have similar stories about President Obama posted on their websites, mostly because theya re covering the same guy and he's only doing one thing at a time.

I found two stories on the same subject, read both and couldn't detect a trend or political leaning in either one.

I was amazed by the impartiality shown in both stories, but felt uneasy (it was something to do with the use of the word "bicker"). I went back to read the ledes... and noticed something peculiar.

They were the same.

So I searched for the author.

AP. Our dearly beloved Associated Press. I was too tired at first to realize I HAD READ THE SAME STORY TWICE.

At least we know the AP can write to satisfy both political viewpoints, without showing favoritism. Good job, AP, on being objective.

The only thing not supplied by AP were the headlines. MSNBC's seems to elevate Obama as he "urges ... urgency". Good word choice, liberal media. Very creative. FOX's also seemed to lack creativity, however: a simple copy/paste job from the first lines of the story there. Gotta love those status quo-lovin' conservatives.

Stimulus bill far from perfect, Obama says
Despite cuts, president urges lawmakers to act with urgency
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29050187/

Obama and Senate Republicans Bicker Over Stimulus Plan
Obama and Senate Republicans bicker over the president's historically huge economic recovery plan after states and schools lost tens of billions of dollars in a late-night bargain to save it.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/07/obama-senate-republicans-bicker-stimulus-plan/

Thoughts on "Going Home": Who says you can't go?

2009-02-03T22:14:00.000-08:00

View "Going Home" blog from The Detroit News Website
http://community.detnews.com/blogs/index.php/neighborhood

With the unlimited space afforded to an online media outlet, they can afford to put out community sections. With a large city like Detroit, covering all suburbs and communities in a print edition is impractical. But people love to read about their hometown, their neighborhood. BLOGS save the day again. The content is generated by both reporters/journalists and it looks like some "just plain folk." Hence, it is an ongoing, accurate and colorful portrayal of Detroit's diverse sectors.

the spectrum of stories is staggering. on the first page alone there is an icy corpse, a church gym and baby birds.

The BLOG covers history, culture, art, politics all presented from local perspectives (you know where people are coming from).

This is something every city should have.

Story Ideas

2009-01-31T10:19:00.000-08:00

I have two ideas for story "packages" online: 1. Arizona's university budget cuts or 2. Student internships.

1. Arizona's three major universities are facing significant cuts in state funding over the next two years. Each of the universities presidents have decided to deal with the cuts in aome similar and some very different ways.

For this story, I would talk to the offices of the three presidents to find out how each university is dealing with things, probably focusing on ASU. I would talk to students, especially those at ASU, and especially those who are attending campuses in jeopardy of closing. For video and photo elements, I would stick mostly to ASU to keep it local and convenient.

2. College students very often graduate with the question, "Now what?" An internship before you graduate is a great way to get your foot in the door of your chosen field. Some programs at ASU require internships in the profession that a student is majoring in and almost all majors offer some internship opportunities. But what is an internship like? Who are the students doing them? Most importantly, how do you GET one?

For this story I would figure out which programs require internships and find students who are doing internships. They would likely be profiles or "Days in the Life" stories mixed with information about ASU's internship process, partnerships and opportunities. It wouldn't necessarily focus on journalism, but could expand to student teachers in education, business school interns, etc.