How nice of J.D. Hayworth to try to pander to the transgender community, but I still don't think it will work. But if it catches on, could be interesting to see what McCain does in response.

• JOSHUA MORGAN

Professor Arlo U. Landolt from Louisiana State University regulates the temperature of the 2.1-m telescope at Kitt Peak. Landolt prepared the telescope for use despite the rainy conditions in hopes of being able to do more research on his final night with the telescope. He was allotted 6 1/2 nights with the telescope.

Landolt's research focuses on stellar photometry. Read about his research here.

Our friends at Maxed Art are celebrating the six-month anniversary of an international project they began called 27. The idea is that on the 27th of each month, photographers take pictures based on a different theme, from transportation to portraits, using only lo-fi cameras—disposable, cell phone, web cams, scanners, toy cameras, vintage cameras, etc. You can see the different photos they received from all over the world here.

The show is Saturday, Feb. 27, from 12 to 5 p.m. at the Candelabra Gallery,412 E. Seventh St., with music, refreshments and an interactive photographic experiment:

27 is an international group art project occurring on the 27th of every month. The project began in September 2009 as a collaborative photography experiment among mixed/multi-media artists and friends originally based in Tucson who, over the course of a few short months, found themselves living in different cities and missing the connection once accessible when it was easy to meet in person to share and talk about art.

Each month, we pick a different theme simple enough to shoot on

In January, Oregon voters passed several tax increases to counter the state's $700 million budget shortfall—doing just the opposite of the Arizona Legislature—namely tax increases on corporations and those with higher incomes.

The one-cent sales-tax initiative that goes in front of Arizona voters in May won't get close to raising what the state needs to cover its own budget mess, but a group of educators and school supporters are hoping to start a movement to counter any Tea Bagger anti-tax sentiment that could keep the meager tax from passing. See their Facebook page here.

To build support for school and education, the Arizona Education Association has organized March4Schools, a statewide march, at 4 p.m. on March 4. The local effort is at Reid Park. For info, call 358-8731.

Yes! Magazine took a close look here at the Oregon tax increases approved by voters and offers some tools the AEA and others could use—a different message than what the Tea Bags want us to believe: that education and our children are important and are worth more than a penny or two.

AEA March4Schools Statewide Day of Action
On March 4, 2010, at 4 p.m., thousands of education supporters statewide will mobilize in community outreach actions. These concurrent actions will have teachers, education support professionals, and parents sharing their stories about the impact of legislative funding cuts to their schools with the voting public in an effort to bring attention to the anti-education legislators who are attacking the teachers and schools in their neighborhood.

Every March4Schools Day of Action participant will wear a t-shirt that can be purchased online to demonstrate the broad and deep unified support for quality public education for every child in Arizona. Don't miss out on the March4Schools Statewide Day of Action. Visit www.march4schools.com for more information.

The National Labor Committee recently released a report detailing the illness and deaths of gemstone workers in India from silicosis. Since Tucson hosts an enormous gem show every year, this is something to be aware of. Here is a portion of the press release:

The National Labor Committee has released an explosive new report: “Hearts of Darkness, Workers in India, Including Children, Will Die Young Grinding Gemstones for Valentine’s Day.”

• An eight-year old boy squats in front of a primitive grindstone, using his fingers to press the semi-precious gemstones against the wheel to shape them. He is covered in deadly silica dust. It swirls around him. Younger children earn 11 cents. Most gemstone grinders started working when they were 12 or 13.
• More than 2,000 men, women and children have died miserable deaths from silicosis contracted while grinding gemstones—heart shaped agate pendants and ornaments, earrings, bracelets—even Star of David pendants and rosary beads—for export to the United States.
• Adult workers earn as little as 17 ½ cents an hour to do one of the most dangerous

Tucson Weekly arts editor Margaret Regan talked yesterday about her new book, The Death of Josseline, on NPR's Talk of the Nation. Listen here.

We've set the TiVo. Who will have the best liveblog?

• PHOTO BY JEFF SMITH

One hundred photograms of Sonoran desert mammals, reptiles, birds and insects (along with common and not so common desert plants) by Kate Breakey are on display at Etherton Gallery, 135 N. Sixth Ave., through Feb. 27.

Sen. John McCain suggests J.D. Hayworth is a nutbag for siding with the likes of Orly Taitz of the birther conspiracy movement in a new campaign ad.

Sam Stone of Huffington Post notes:

Hayworth has himself meddled in the birther movement, raising questions about Obama's birth certificate and justifying them by insisting that the country is in an "age of identity theft." But it is not something that he champions prominently — in fact, he's practically begged those who have interviewed him recently to move on from the issue.

McCain isn't willing to cut him any slack, clearly sensing that even the conservative base in his state is troubled by the conspiracy theory crowd. And yet, it could be a risky gamble. On Wednesday, nearly half the Arizona state House approved a measure that would require presidential candidates who want to appear on the ballot in Arizona to show their birth certificate to state officials before running.

Last year, Senate President Bob Burns, who will be our guest on Arizona Illustrated's Friday Roundtable on March 12, allowed few non-budget bills to be heard for the first half of the session. It was meant to make lawmakers focus on the budget, although that remains out of balance even today. It did, however, slow down a lot of nonsense, although much got passed anyway.

Burns has just sent out a release saying he's suspending committee work next week to make his caucus focus on the budget:

Consistent with his commitment to focus on the state budget crisis, Senate President Bob Burns has suspended all Standing Committee hearings for the week of March 1. The postponement allows members to give full attention to the issue Arizonans want addressed: completing budgets for FY 2010 and FY 2011.

President Burns and Senate leadership have been working on the budgets since the beginning of this current Legislative session. At the same time, the Senate has been hearing hundreds of bills. Next week, the Senate will continue to hold caucuses and have votes on many bills, so those that pass can move to the House. But committee hearings will not happen, so Senators will have extra time to help solve this budget crisis.

The release came the day after Burns sent out a bulletin expressing his concern with the debt lawmakers were racking up:

As our state suffers through this current budget crisis, much of the attention has been focused on shrinking revenues and program and agency cuts. What people don’t seem to be talking about is