Hold on to Your Rights

I just happened across a blog by a former Arizona Republic reporter, Carlos Miller, who was arrested for taking photos of a police arrest in a public setting.

What scares me is not so much his arrest, but some of the comments in the "About" section of his blog. It astounds me that people can be so casual to mail in their First Amendment rights - or those of others.

When I covered the cops beat, I did not go with the assumption that police were always the bad guys - or even that they were most of the time. I proceeded under the belief that they're everyday people doing a difficult jobs - that the stress could make them do the wrong thing, as could the possibility that they were the bad seeds that got through the screening process. No matter what, though, peace officers need to be held accountable.

Well-trained, principled and experienced journalists are essential in maintaining that accountability. I believe Carlos Miller falls well into that definition - I've seen his work, and I think he acted properly if his account his accurate.

Some of the comments insist that, though he was right, he should have backed down.

I can't believe the cowardice. Carlos chose the hard road, no doubt. He weighed his actions and decided, having determined what he was willing to lose and endure to do what he felt was right. These are the moments that set precedent, and let government entities know that people will stand up when they go to far.

By the way, a jury found him not guilty of disobeying a police officer and disorderly conduct. He is appealing the conviction of resisting arrest without violence. Notice how none of these had anything to do with being photographed in a public area? I hope that speaks volumes to those who think it's not a person's right to take photos in a public area, regardless of the wishes of those being photographed - especially when they are funded by your tax dollars.

You bet your pointy black hat, Joe

Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Immigration Hearings "a Witch Hunt"

I hope every Wiccan out there resents this.

Ized to Death

You know what I keep noticing in corporate communications?

First, nobody can use the word "comprise" correctly. Not once have I ever seen it used correctly in anything someone has asked me to edit.

Second, nobody can use anything anymore. It's forbidden. We must all "leverage" and "utilize."

Third -and this just means it's the third I'm going to rant about today, not that these are the only three things driving me nuts- and last is that everybody loves acronyms. Well, except editors. Why oh why oh why?!

Pay no attention to the missile behind the curtain ...

This afternoon, I made a visit to azcentral.com. I immediately knew that underprivileged girls were getting prom dresses.

But I needed a few visits to other news sites to find out that:

-North Korea is threatening war against Japan should Japan have the temerity to shoot down a North Korean missile that enters its air space.
-North Korea is also planning to either send two American journalists to hard prison labor on trumped-up charges, or use them as bargaining leverage against the United States.

Womens Pro Soccer - A Rare Time When "Kickoff" Applies

"Kickoff" is high on my list of overused words. Nearly every single thing is a "kickoff" of some kind - a grand opening, the first day of some marketing campaign, the beginning of a sale on Chevy Novas. What, is "beginning" a dirty word?

But hey, there are times when something really is a kickoff! I give you the impending kickoff of Women's Professional Soccer. This is a great thing, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. In my travel blog, I've outlined the reasons I'm happy that women again have a professional soccer league in the United States.

For now, though, just a few messages. One, two the word warriors out there - stop saying kickoff when you're not talking about sports. And to the Women's Professional Soccer players - best of luck to you all!

Say what you want - as long as I agree

There's something interesting going on at the Facebook Web site: A group called Soldiers Are Not Heroes has sparked quite a backlash. An acquaintance recently sent me invitation to join the group. I did not join, because I join very, very few groups.

Some of the "Soldier Are Not Heroes" group's messages are somewhat extreme, but it claims not to be anti-soldier. It purports to be simply against the hero worship of soldiers. That's fair enough - however, the group's language is filled with mixed messages.

The group's opponents - and there are many - claim not to be anti-free speech. One even writes "Although people are entitled to their opinions, there are ways in which they should be made public and that group is not the right way to do so!" Yet their goal is to pressure Facebook to remove the page, and they don't specify the correct way to air one's opinions.

I can see an interesting legal battle brewing should Facebook cave in.

The opponents' claims that they believe in free speech ring hollow, even more so than the group's claims not be anti-soldier. My call? A line often attributed to Voltaire, though it's not clear he actually wrote it:

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

I'm Really Not This Grumpy ... Honestly!

I'm pretty excited about the Arizona Cardinals getting so deep into the playoffs. We're talking two wins from a Super Bowl! And I'm not ever a football fan ... I don't know 99.8 percent of these players. But I am a relentless hometown sports supporter. I want all our teams to do well, whether they play badminton or basketball.

But The Arizona Republic is really overdoing it. Too much Cardinals coverage on A-1. We're a huge city. We have so many problems, so many opportunities, so many characters. I know this from being a news reporter. It's a fact.

But it takes work to dig into those problems, opportunities and characters. And it takes skill to make the readers understand that they are important. Great newspaper leaders give their staff members the time and skill to do so. I'd love to see The Republic take that approach ... I want that paper to be great, because I root for everything in my hometown - not just the sports teams.