1554 November 5

Page 1

November 05, 2014

Issue 1554

Arizona’s Stevie Nicks First gay governor possible was queen of the selfies 40 years early OBSERVER STAFF PHOENIX -- As a young singer fresh out of Arizona, Stevie Nicks became “the queen of rock ‘n’ roll” 40 years ago as the lead singer for Fleetwood Mac. President Barack Obama shakes hands with U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, the Maine Democratic gubernatorial candidate, during a campaign rally in Portland, Maine.

She’s not so wellknown (though very accomplished) in a category that didn’t even get a name until a few years ago: the selfie. A collection of her Polaroid selfies dating from 1975 to 1987 were Continued on page 16

Inside Trying to make sense of GOP threat to shut down government on Dec. 16 misses the point

Page 7

Festival for Life: past and present Page 11

TIHAN offers Thanksgiving for people with HIV Page 6

Does Ronan Farrow’s sexuality matter? Page 3

You’ll never guess which country Googles gay porn pictures the most Page 4

OBSERVER STAFF At press time Tuesday night, Democrat Mike Michaud was hoping to make history by being elected governor in Maine -- the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor.

“For every love affair I had, there are pictures.” --Stevie Nicks

Tucson pastor had not been near Ebola two months ago, but the panic is on! OBSERVER STAFF A Tucson pastor was rousted out of bed by police at 2 a.m. recently because he had been to Zambia (about 3,000 miles from the Ebola countries) two months ago (Ebola’s incubation period is 21 days). Pastor Michael Petzer learned that a woman from his congregation went to UofA Medical Center with “possible Ebola symptoms” (which are also possible symptoms of many less exotic ailments) and told doctors that Petzer “had been to Africa.” The hospital called the cops. According to the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson police spokesman Sgt. Chris Widmer told a reporter the patient had told hospital staff from the get-go that Petzer returned from Africa on Sept. 6, so everyone concerned would have known that even if he’d been in the Ebola area, he had been home considerably beyond the incubation period. Both hospital and police spokespersons insisted that all this fuss was necessary for public safety, but Petzer was not amused.

The race was still rated a toss-up between Michaud and incumbent Gov. Paul LePage, one of the more uncouth Tea Party elected officials in the country.

“I am NOW in a country that has had Ebola. I traveled from a non-infected Continued on pge 4

At the time, it was assumed Michaud would be the main beneficiary but polls were inconclusive. Early results had not been released at press time.

‘Enough’ seems just right OBSERVER STAFF If “Enough Said” were a room it’d be that favorite go-to space that’s comfy and cozy; a favorite space where you are always welcome and nothing is out of place. There’s plenty of room in Jason Carder’s second release with Jeff Haskell and Brice Winston for everyone

to curl up and mellow out. The nine early jazz standards on the album are some of the finest interpretations -- soft, intimate and always bluesy. Drawn from the world’s musical history they span the period from the 1500’s to 1967 and they really Continued on page 12

Vote for people who don’t want government to function? Then don’t gripe when they accomplish it By R.D. Smith GUEST COLUMNIST It’s one of the many irrational things about U.S. politics right now: The people who gripe the loudest about government dysfunction are the ones most likely to vote for candidates who clearly say up front that they don’t intend for government to function. And so it continues.

“I think this is hysteria, and a zero understanding of geography,” he said.

Also unknown was how many voters would support Eliot Cutler, running as an independent. Last week, Cutler acknowledged that he couldn’t win and “freed” his supporters to vote for either Michaud or LePage.

The most glaring example currently is Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who has flushed his state’s economy so far down the hopper that nobody’s even offering advice on how Kansas will get out of its mess.

Brownback cut government jobs to the bone and couldn’t figure out why that increased unemployment. He cut government contracts to the bone and couldn’t figure out why that increased unemployment even more. (Lesson No. 1: Government contracts help keep businesses in business -- real jobs in the real world.) Going into the general election, though, he has a decent chance for re-election because, well, he’s the one with the “R” after his name. That’s about the only promise he’s kept. Last week, Brownback insisted that Continued on page 11


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