Showing posts with label Phoenix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phoenix. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

OpenSecrets.org, ASU"s Cronkite School to Host Reporting Workshop in Phoenix



reporterThe 2014 midterm elections are coming up fast, with new outside groups and aggressive joint fundraising efforts putting a spotlight on big donors. The story doesn’t end on Election Day, of course — donors often want something in return for their financial support. 

Working journalists and journalism students are invited to join the Center for Responsive Politics and Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication for a two-day seminar on tracking campaign money — and its effect, pre- and post-election, on policy outcomes and hiring decisions in Congress and elsewhere in government. We’ll show you how to get the most out of the award-winning website OpenSecrets.org and other tools, and you’ll hear top journalists covering money-in-politics talk about how they found their best stories and offer tips. 


Panelists will include:



  • James Grimaldi, the Wall Street Journal

  • Chris Megerian, the Los Angeles Times

  • Ryan Alexander, Taxpayers for Common Sense

  • Dennis Wagner, the Arizona Republic/USA Today

  • Bill Allison, the Sunlight Foundation

  • Thomas M. Collins, executive director, Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission

  • Evan Wyloge, new media specialist, Arizona Capitol Times

  • Jessica Levinson, election law expert, Loyola Law School

  • Staff experts from OpenSecrets.org: Executive Director Sheila Krumholz, Senior Fellow Bob Biersack, Editorial Director Viveca Novak, Money-in-Politics Reporter Russ Choma

and others…



Dates: 


Friday, March 7, 2-5 p.m.


Saturday, March 8, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., light breakfast and lunch provided


Location:


Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication


Arizona State University


555 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ  85004


Please join us! Register HERE




OpenSecrets Blog



OpenSecrets.org, ASU"s Cronkite School to Host Reporting Workshop in Phoenix

Saturday, January 4, 2014

WE THE PEOPLE [1/3] SCAMMED under the ROMAN EMPIRE CONSTITUTION - PHOENIX RISING

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WE THE PEOPLE [1/3] SCAMMED under the ROMAN EMPIRE CONSTITUTION - PHOENIX RISING

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

A Phoenix Rising


Flickr - Fire - Dave HoggJulian Rose, Contributor
Waking Times


“There’s a battle outside and it’s ragin, it’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, for the times they are a’ changin’”


The historical evidence points to the fact that, when faced by extreme adversity, many cultures of the world finally start proving their true worth. It simply seems to be the case that, for many, unless their backs are pressed hard against the wall, they can see no reason to involve themselves in any form of resistance.


Two things seem to be in transition on this front. Firstly, due to a rise in cosmic energy finding it’s way to our planet at this time, the opportunity for gaining higher awareness is greater than in the recent past. Secondly, the proliferation of global information and news (of very varied quality) is now everywhere at all times. Put these together and we have a receipt for change.


Now one might deduce that this means that the dark side’s energies are also enhanced – and that their powers of instant communication are equally increased. But this is where it gets interesting: the incoming higher frequency energies vibrate at a level which is only accessible to those whose own frequencies rise up to meet them. For those who simply maintain basic low levels of receptivity – the new vibratory spectrum will offer no tangible assistance. In fact the gap will increase between the two states of being.


A process of polarisation is being set in motion, making it more and more clear just ‘who is’ and ‘who is not’ on the road to an emancipation of consciousness.


For the dark side, these are perilous times. One can deduce that an increasingly intense search for third density sustenance will accompany this transitional process. The vampiric urge will be heightened. Expect further heinous crimes involving the blood-letting of those who are deemed ‘ripe’. Expect further outbursts of reactionary aggression. Of mindless irrational behaviour in both talk and physical actions. Expect outbursts of mind-blowing arrogance – as the need to puff-up in false pride becomes the most readily accessible form of delusional resistance to the advancing waves of truth.


However, simultaneous to the malevolent outbursts of this turgid monster, we ‘the receptive people’ increasingly embrace the well-spring of consciousness rising-up in ourselves – and are therefore more fully empowered to stand face to face with this scaly old Illuminati leviathan.


We opened-up to a consciousness that imparts greater boldness and courage in the face of adversity. That imparts bravery where once we shrank back in timidity. That forces us to dig deep into our divine selves and bring to the surface that gold which cannot be endured by opposing entities.


This gold is indeed precious, for it is the herald of a great reunion: the coming together of – let us call them – the Great Spirit and the Great Shaman: ‘cosmic receptivity’ – and – ‘earthly creative’. These two have been divided, conquered and wrenched apart by centuries of dark scheming for absolute global dominance. During this time Cosmic Receptivity and the Earthly Creative have been forced into a deeply unhappy divorce – with billions on this planet going with them. Needless to say, the rejoining of these two inherently inseparable forces is greatly feared by the dark knights of the perverted soul.


Listen! We can now catch the first notes of a sweet musical refrain. A refrain that is, at this very moment rising up out of the mists of time – and heralding a truly momentous reunion – one to which we are all invited! Oh what a wedding – this reuniting of heaven and earth!


Preparations for the feast are already under way even as the bloody, toxic horror of war tries to grab centre stage to distract our straining minds. Even as the missiles are trained on their prey; as the war cries grow in intensity. Even then – our unstoppable Phoenix is rising!


We are expanding our awareness of what is our role in this extraordinary transition – and it is – at least on one plain – paradoxical: for we are both creating the future and adjusting to a future that is in-creation. In realising the Godly within, we mould and sculpt a creative form for our daily lives. We go out to enhance the environment around us as a deepening expression of our burgeoning love of life. We sow our garden and reap it’s fruits. We take action and make a stand in defence of life.


On the other hand, we we remain constantly receptive to that which guides us in our actions; always listening for the subtle voice of cosmic inspiration, always awake to intuitive guidance. This is the dynamic of movement, change, human transformation that is taking place even as I write.


So now, as we gain new insights into our capacities to bring about a better world, the onus is upon us to use these capacities intelligently, creatively and passionately. This is the Phoenix rising – and by God do we need it! As the dark side press-on with their war games to grab the tantalizing prize of a long craved Middle Eastern bastion of power – so we increasingly discover that we are gaining the power to stop this deathly process in it’s tracks – to stop all wars!


The energies rising in us are of Divine origin – so are we! Can anyone tell me what more is needed to take-down this obscene display of imperial power mongering? One that doesn’t care if it takes the entire world with it in its howling passion for destruction?


Many, many, sense a great turning. What is it?


I want to suggest an answer: it’s a ‘turning away’ from regarding such war spectacles as a ‘show’ to which we are simply passive spectators and commentators. That, we now realize, is no longer possible. It never was. We are involved. Whether we like it or not – there’s no escape.


So, upon accepting this truth, our next task is to bring all ‘worst case scenarios’ into our personal awareness so we can work out our individual and collective responses – testing each against the ‘fear’ factor. So, if we feel fear at the prospect of an apocalyptic showdown – we then need to find  that element in ourselves which overcomes such fear –  and bolster it. This is the real preparation for overcoming our reticence to act when act we must.


The act of ‘saying no to war’ whether by letter, demonstration, physical blockade or public awareness raising – constitutes a powerful means of overcoming the isolationist feeling that is the breeding ground for fear. ‘Right now’ is definitely the time to make our feelings heard.


Then, as I have underlined already, there is this vast untapped resource in us all which can, overnight, change even the worst scenario into a march to absolute victory! This is how this universe was created – and we are it’s component parts. Therefore, collectively, we can bring about the demise of all these warmongering psychopaths at a stroke – for their power is nothing in comparison to ours – once we are motivated.


So let us urge ourselves on to reverse the barren future the war maniacs are planning for us.


We came to this planet to win it back. To take it under our wings. To nurture it once more into health. To confront and confound its enemies. None of us has the right to shirk playing our part in securing an illumined future for our earthly home. So stand up and be counted – the time for hiding is past – a great Pheonix is rising – rise with it my friends.


“Your old road is rapidly agin’, please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand – for the times they are a-changin’ ”



About the Author

Julian is an early pioneer of UK organic farming, a writer and international activist. He is President of The International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside and author of  “Changing Course for Life – Local Solutions to Global Problems. His forthcoming book “In Defence of Life – Essays on the Radical Reworking of Green Wisdom” will be published later this year.


This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.


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Waking Times



A Phoenix Rising

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Obama heads to Phoenix to pitch mortgage reform







President Barack Obama waves to the media as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington after returning on Marine One from Camp David, Md., where he spent his birthday Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)





President Barack Obama waves to the media as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington after returning on Marine One from Camp David, Md., where he spent his birthday Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)













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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is proposing to overhaul the nation’s mortgage finance system, including shutting down government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And he has some bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.


Obama was to outline his proposals Tuesday at a construction company in Phoenix, once the epicenter of the housing crisis following the 2008 economic collapse. The housing market in the region, as in much of the country, has rebounded in recent months, buoyed in part by low interest rates.


The president’s trip marks the latest stop on his summertime economic tour aimed at refocusing his agenda on middle-class Americans still struggling to recover from the recession. The collapse of the housing market in particular had a dramatic impact on people’s lives and the economic viability of communities nationwide.


“So many Americans across the country view their own economic and financial circumstances through their homes and whether they own a home, whether their home is underwater, whether they feel like they have equity in their homes,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday.


Senior administration officials said Obama would focus in Phoenix on shifting more of the burden for supporting the nation’s massive mortgage market to the private sector. A centerpiece of that effort is winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance operations that received a $ 187 billion taxpayer-funded bailout in 2008.


The White House has previously lauded efforts to achieve that goal spearheaded by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. While Obama will outline his own proposals Tuesday, his plans are largely in line with the bipartisan Senate overhaul.


Obama’s plan would phase out Fannie and Freddie, replacing them with a system that relies on the private sector to buy mortgages from lenders. Officials said the government would only step in to pay out mortgage guarantees after private capital has been exhausted and said private capital would bear the substantial majority of any losses.


Obama’s advisers did not outline a specific timeframe for winding down Fannie and Freddie. The Corker-Warner legislation would shutter the operations within five years.


Fannie and Freddie don’t make loans directly, but buy mortgages from lenders, package them as bonds, guarantee them against default and sell them to investors. The enterprises currently own or guarantee half of all U.S. mortgages and back nearly 90 percent of new ones.


Against the backdrop of Phoenix’s reinvigorated housing market, Obama will also tout refinancing proposals that gained little traction on Capitol Hill when he first unveiled them last year. Among his proposals is a call for expanding refinancing eligibility for homeowners who do not have government-backed mortgages.


The president will also look to link his housing proposals to immigration reform, his top second-term legislative priority. Officials said he will argue that legal immigration can stimulate the housing market. According to the administration, immigrants accounted for 40 percent of new homeowners nationwide between 2000 and 2010.


The officials insisted on anonymity in order to preview the president’s remarks ahead of his trip.


The nationwide housing recovery has been providing critical support to the economy at a time when manufacturing and business investment have stagnated. Steady job growth and low mortgage rates in the past year have also fueled more home sales. The increased demand, along with a tight supply of homes for sale, has pushed home prices higher. That’s encouraged builders to start more homes and create more construction jobs.


The recovery in Phoenix is emblematic of the larger improvements happening in many parts of the country.


Just two years ago, the region was in the throes of the worst housing collapse in the country, with prices down nearly 60 percent from their June 2006 peak and banks foreclosing on 70,000 homeowners a year. While the current median home price remains below peak, the levels have risen 66 percent from September 2011. Buyers are plentiful and homes for sale scarce, leading to bidding wars for resale homes.


___


Associated Press writer Bob Christie in Phoenix contributed to this report.


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Follow Julie Pace on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC


Associated Press




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Obama heads to Phoenix to pitch mortgage reform