UNLIMITED Arizona Hilarity thread

[Freeky]

This place is awful.

[Iason Ouabache]

LOL, DEATH PANELS!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/us/05transplant.html?_r=2

What distinguishes the reductions recently imposed in Arizona, where coverage was eliminated on Oct. 1 for certain transplants of the heart, liver, lung, pancreas and bone marrow, is the decision to stop paying for treatments urgently needed to ward off death.

The cuts in transplant coverage, which could deny organs to 100 adults currently on the transplant list, are testament to both the severity of fiscal pressures on the states and the particular bloodlessness of budget-cutting in Arizona.

"It's a real sign of the times," said Alan Weil, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy. "And I think this is a precursor to a much larger number of states having this discussion."

Policy choices with such life-threatening implications are all the more striking given the partisan framing of the health debate.

Republicans have argued that the new health law will lead to rationing, warning even of "death panels." Democrats have responded that care is already rationed, with 50 million people going largely without insurance, and that the law will bring greater equity.

The Arizona case, said Diane Rowland, director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, "is a classic example of making decisions based not on medical need but based on a budget." And, she added, "it results, potentially, in denial of care to individuals in a life-or-death situation."

[Precious Moments Zalgo]

This article makes Tuscon sound rather pleasant.

From Tuscon, A Few Ideas on Brightening Your Neighborhood

At first glance Tucson, like many American cities, appears an endless expanse of highways and strip malls. But hang around a bit and you'll discover authentic neighborhoods full of mission-style bungalows or classic adobe buildings built decades before "Southwestern Style" became the rage in the 1980s.

My favorite part of town is the Fourth Avenue-University district—a hot spot for hearing music, hanging out at sidwalk cafes and browsing through indy businesses.  I dropped by there last week before catching a flight home to the snows of Minnesota, and was struck by several things enlivening the neighborhood that could be adopted anywhere.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

This article makes Tuscon sound rather pleasant.

From Tuscon, A Few Ideas on Brightening Your Neighborhood

At first glance Tucson, like many American cities, appears an endless expanse of highways and strip malls. But hang around a bit and you'll discover authentic neighborhoods full of mission-style bungalows or classic adobe buildings built decades before "Southwestern Style" became the rage in the 1980s.

My favorite part of town is the Fourth Avenue-University district—a hot spot for hearing music, hanging out at sidwalk cafes and browsing through indy businesses.  I dropped by there last week before catching a flight home to the snows of Minnesota, and was struck by several things enlivening the neighborhood that could be adopted anywhere.

4th Avenue is how we lure in fresh genetic material.

[the last yatto]

Lotto winner is an old man?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Lotto winner is an old man?

WTF are you talking about?

[the last yatto]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BD45L20101214
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Ending nearly two weeks of suspense, a 64-year-old substitute
teacher and single parent from Arizona claimed a $95.3 million Powerball jackpot.
Sheila Verke, a Fort Mohave resident, presented the single-winning ticket to lottery officials in Phoenix on Monday. She opted to take a lump sum payment of $49.9 million, saying she plans to buy a recreational vehicle and travel the country.

[Pæs]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BD45L20101214
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Ending nearly two weeks of suspense, a 64-year-old substitute
teacher and single parent from Arizona claimed a $95.3 million Powerball jackpot.
Sheila Verke, a Fort Mohave resident, presented the single-winning ticket to lottery officials in Phoenix on Monday. She opted to take a lump sum payment of $49.9 million, saying she plans to buy a recreational vehicle and travel the country.

What the fuck, Arizona!? 

[Adios]

At least 17 people have been arrested in and around the city of Phoenix.

The suspects are accused of conspiring to buy firearms, including assault rifles, for Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

The US is under pressure to curb the flow of guns into Mexico, where more than 15,000 people were killed in drug-related violence last year

A federal grand jury indictment unsealed on Tuesday alleged the suspects had conspired to buy guns and illegally export them to Mexico for use by drug cartels.

They are accused of acting as "straw purchasers" by claiming the weapons they bought from licensed Arizona gun shops were for their own use, when in fact they were destined for the Sinaloa cartel, the prosecutor's office said.

"The massive size of this operation sadly exemplifies the magnitude of the problem - Mexican drug lords go shopping for weapons of war in Arizona," the statement added.

The guns included AK-47 assault rifles, a weapon of choice for drug cartel gunmen.

All of those indicted are US citizens or legal residents.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12281727

[Telarus]

Well, once the meth laws happened and they had to figure out a new procurement chain for the basic ingredients, and once the new decentralized 'shoppers' scheme worked out so well, you know some dude had a brilliant idea.

[Adios]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BD45L20101214
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Ending nearly two weeks of suspense, a 64-year-old substitute
teacher and single parent from Arizona claimed a $95.3 million Powerball jackpot.
Sheila Verke, a Fort Mohave resident, presented the single-winning ticket to lottery officials in Phoenix on Monday. She opted to take a lump sum payment of $49.9 million, saying she plans to buy a recreational vehicle and travel the country.

What the fuck, Arizona!? 

I would have done exactly the same thing.

[LMNO]

You bet.

It's been shown that the lesser lump sum payment, when invested, ends up being worth more than the full prize strung out over decades.

[Adios]

You bet.

It's been shown that the lesser lump sum payment, when invested, ends up being worth more than the full prize strung out over decades.

Factor in her age, she doesn't have decades.

[The Johnny]

Paul Babeau, Sheriff of the Pinal zone of Arizona, remarks that the combat to the mexican cartels has come to a critical point, because of this it has been necessary to change the strategy to confront them. Now, there will be sent to the desert zone of Vekol Valley, officers to confront the cartels.

"And were not talking about illegal immigrants. Were talkinga bout cartels that almost have knocked the mexican government out of power and they think they can come to our county and commit these crimes of violence. This will not happen here".

Taking bets on how long before they find his corpse hanging from a bridge.

[AFK]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41803019/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

PHOENIX — Scott Bundgaard, the Arizona state Senate majority leader, was involved in a domestic violence dispute with his girlfriend, but was not arrested because he has legislative immunity, police said on Saturday.

Republican Bundgaard's girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, 34, was booked for domestic violence assault, police said.

Phoenix police responded to a report on Friday night that Bundgaard was pulling Ballard out of a car stopped next to the median on State Route 51.

When officers arrived, they encountered Bundgaard and Ballard, and saw both had marks on their bodies showing they had been in a physical altercation, said Police Department spokesman Sgt. Tommy Thompson.

Bundgaard and Ballard were both detained, but Bundgaard told officers that under Arizona law he is immune from arrest while the legislature is in session, police said.

Police found Bundgaard could correctly claim immunity, but the case was submitted to prosecutors for review.

Bundgaard released a statement on Saturday saying he was innocent of wrongdoing. He said the physical altercation began when he had stopped the car, and his girlfriend moved into the driver's seat and refused to get out.

"I had no choice but to pull her from the driver's seat, which resulted in marks on her knees," Bundgaard said.

"I had also had no choice but to stop her from punching me and risking highway safety, all of which resulted in a black eye for me and a busted lip," he said.

He added, "I waive any and all 'legislative immunity.' If I did something wrong, charge me. I did not."

Bundgaard is the co-sponsor of controversial Arizona state legislation seeking to challenge the right to U.S. citizenship for children born in the state whose parents are illegal immigrants or other non-citizens.