I’m not happy with Arizona. Not happy with the makeup of our economy, our outlook on future growth and our attitude toward those different than us. And last night’s Arizona Gubernatorial Debate proved that we aren’t making any progress.

This guy as your Arizona governor, or...

I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore. Neither should you. So who’s at fault? Is it our real-estate-driven economy? The far too common attitude of wanting to be left alone? Our intolerance of anything different than the way things have always been? It’s every single one of those and more, and the only way to drastically affect change is to take leadership. I read yesterday that democracy exists to protect the smart from the strong. If that’s true, and I think it is, what if we are both smart AND strong?

The new generation of Arizonans needs to step up. We can’t keep bending over for developer interests and follow the lead of out-of-touch old people who seem to still think of Arizona as some western outpost that’s fighting the “good” fight against anything that might make our state a better place to live.

...would you rather have this lady, who can't balance the budget, claims there are beheadings in the desert and looks like a crazy old lady??

It’s time to get rid of that empty bags at the top and TAKE authority. It’s time to write in Samuel Isaac Richard for governor. Why? Why not? A vast majority of voters in Arizona are over the age of 50, which says to me that those under 50 either don’t care, don’t want to care or are too stupid to vote correctly. Those that are smart enough to vote correctly but don’t care can start. They can start right now.

I’ve watched and participated in seeing social media connect the Valley like never before. Compared to other states, two-way online communication has benefitted our spread-out state in a way similar to the telegraph or long-distance phone calls did back when the entire country was sprawl like Arizona is today. And the social media people are getting really good at holding conferences that talk about social media and we’re really good at retweeting messages that we like, so let’s use our power to actually achieve something.

Let’s write in Samuel Isaac Richard for governor. Make a statement. Make a stand. Let’s do more than bitch and complain about our leaders, let’s elect one of our own.

#samforgov because we need someone better.

(I can assure you that Samuel did not pay for, nor did he ask me to write this. He is a friend of mine and asked me to help him run for Phoenix City Council in a few years. I can’t wait that long for him to actually do something. Check back later this week for an outline of his issues and a plan that he can show Jan Brewer.)

How about a random post?

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CenPhoCamp – Helping small businesses succeed in the new economy

September 1, 2010

It’s time to get together again. Last January’s CenPhoCamp brought together business leaders, customers, teachers and those interested in getting connected to downtown Phoenix for nearly six hours of sharing and collaborating.
And we’re about to do it again.
This October 9 from 1 to 4:30pm, CenPhoCamp, again held on the downtown ASU campus in the Cronkite [...]

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Priority inbox is the anti-net neutrality for gmail

August 31, 2010

Just a few short weeks ago, geeks everywhere were up in arms over Google and Verizon’s discussions on ending net neutrality for wireless networks. A scant few people agreed with their reasoning for assigning important for certain types of network traffic over others. It seemed un-American and wrong.
Google isn’t stupid. Just yesterday they announced priority [...]

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AZ Book Publishing Association e-reader panel on 8/30

August 29, 2010

(I’ll be speaking tomorrow night at the Phoenix Airport Sheraton, along with a Nook user and iPad fan, about my e-reader experience)
I’ve read a lot of books in my life. In grade school, I was the kid who always read a book under the table, during meals and even during recess (gasp). There wasn’t much [...]

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How To Blog Like An Asshole

August 28, 2010

Nearly every blogger or writer has done it. Once your work reaches a certain reader or viewership level, the writing becomes less about what you have to say and more in the way you are saying it, in a attempt to emphasize their own importance to what is being written. They become less of a [...]

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The Weekly August 21-27

August 28, 2010

Tyler’s writing ranged all over this week from fantasy football to a surprise wedding anniversary party. His visit home led him to talk about his desire to belong in Phoenix. Persona non grata is another random musing, and if you want to see his accidental buzz cut go here.

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Persona non grata

August 27, 2010

Being authentic, open and honest all the time is tiring. It’s boring to not be able to make up stories or pass along little fibs, and it’s high time I tried something different. It’s time to create a persona that’s made up of only the good things about me, while simultaneously filtering and, if needed, [...]

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Holy crap, I buzzed my head on the lowest setting

August 26, 2010
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Surprise 40th Wedding Anniversary

August 25, 2010

Getting married is easy. Staying married seems much harder. In a time when around half of all couples get divorced, the ability to get married, buy a house, raise kids, start and close a small business and work as an independent salesman (my dad) or work as a career specialist for two high schools (my [...]

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Everything feels like it belongs there

August 23, 2010

Every time I come home I feel a twinge of nostalgia. From my parents’ house to my grade school and my first job to my first girlfriend, every significant moment in the first 24 years of my life happened in or near Kent, WA. For many of the people I grew up with, this familiarity [...]

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