Just learned that scathing political humorist Bill Maher will have Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher, which airs this Friday, July 24 at 10 p.m. The confirmation of this is up on HBO’s page for Maher. And Kate Baker, my contact at HBO, tells…

Mesa Police Chief George Gascon’s adios as he packs it in for the City by the Bay is showing up local Mesa politicians for the hayseeds that they are. As reported in the East Valley Tribune by Sonu Munshi, Gascon admitted to her that unnamed Mesa officials wanted to sack him…

What could it be that draws neo-Nazis to western Maricopa County town of Tonopah? Desert vistas pregnant with ennui? The occasional corpse dumped next to the Interstate? Exhaust from the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant? Whatever it is, Tonopah will once more be the place for the booted and braced come…

Fox 10 journo Sarah Acevedo filed a report Sunday night on the more than dozen cars hit with juvenile, neo-Nazi graffiti in Fountain Hills over the weekend. The crude swastikas, male genitalia and w.p.’s for “white power,” reminded me of the ransacked aftermath in Orlando Diaz’s house in north Phoenix, which I wrote about…

Aarti Shahani talks 287(g) on GRITtv This video from Laura Flanders’ GRITtv is a must-watch for anyone concerned about Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano’s recent expansion of ICE’s 287(g) program — the program, which in Flanders’ words, “turns traffic cops into deportation agents.” The 10 minute clip features Aarti Shahani, co-author of the…

Has DHS given the pro-immigration crowd the ol’ pitch and switch? Have lefties been snowed by ICE? It was with great fanfare last week that Janet Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security announced brand, spanking new rules governing the agreements that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has with local law enforcement agencies, such as…

If you’ve read about the latest kerfuffle involving soon-to-be former Mesa Police Chief George Gascon and Sheriff Joe Arpaio — a kerfuffle egged on by the Arizona Republic — then you know it involves a statement made by Arpaio in earshot of William Finnegan, the journo who just profiled Arpaio for The…

Apparently, not even a federal judge and her family are free from the intimidation of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his law dogs. I’ve now learned that Judge Mary Murguia’s July 15 order recusing herself in the big Melendres v. Arpaio racial-profiling lawsuit came days after Arpaio’s lawyers in the case subpoenaed Murguia’s sister Janet for…

In a surprise turn of events yesterday in the ongoing racial profiling lawsuit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio (Melendres v. Arpaio), U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia recused herself from the case in response to a motion filed in February by the sheriff’s legal team. The motion claimed that because Murguia’s twin sister…

I have seen the future of newsprint, and it’s in The Slammer, literally. Indeed, with all the bitching and moaning in the bloody Fourth Estate about layoffs, the Web, and the end of newsprint, here’s a weekly newspaper that appears to be thriving at a dollar a pop, for sale in…

Our Republican Gov. Jan Brewer has effectively banned abortion for 24 hours with the stroke of her pen. Where are the Arizona Democrats? Asleep somewhere, dreaming of Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama gamboling in a field of poppies. And I don’t see any sign that they’ll be waking up any time…

Gilman’s vid, reposted by naui… As I mentioned in my blog post Monday on British Holocaust denier David Irving’s recent book signing party at Jerry’s Restaurant, Phoenix videographer Dennis Gilman was present and covered the local anarchist protest of the event. I promised to post his video when it was…

Loads of reporters have parachuted into Phoenix over the years to write up our power-mad top constable Sheriff Joe, and often they’ve told the easy story of the flamboyant law man who talks like a mafioso and treats county inmates worse than the hounds in his kennels. Thankfully, the New Yorker’s Bill…

You know your career as a historian has hit a new low when you’re hawking books out the back of a Phoenix diner better known for its hash browns than its literary events. This is the best the infamous British Holocaust denier David Irving can do these days, reserving the back…

Janet Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security has just issued a press release announcing new, standardized 287(g) agreements that all law enforcement agencies participating in the program will have to sign, including Sheriff Joe’s MCSO, which boasts a massive 160-man 287(g)-trained force, the largest in the nation. “DHS and ICE will…

Remember just a couple of months ago, when Sheriff Joe was saying he “welcomed” a Justice Department probe into the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, telling the press he intended to cooperate fully with any investigation, and saying explicitly that, “We have nothing to hide”? Now Joe’s squirming like a stuck…

These uber right wing Tea Parties continue to be a magnet for extremists and crazy folk of all stripes. Though I wasn’t able to make the recent hate-Obama rally that took place July 4 at the Arizona state Capitol, I have since discovered from info provided from some pals that…

The Norwegian video interview of Shawna Forde and a fella by the name of Todd Hezlitt Someone recently sent me a link to the blog Immigration Talk with a Mexican American, which in turn links to the blog Crooks & Liars and a Norwegian news video featuring the infamous Shawna…

Dennis Gilman asks the timely question: Which racist nativist will pop off next? My June 22 post last week on alleged kid-killer and minutewoman Shawna Forde received a number of comments from the immigrant-bashing side of the argument accusing me of painting their prejudiced movement with too broad of a brush…