More on Arizona's new immigration law

Pima County (Tuscon) Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, a Republican opposes the law. His Department already arrests and turns over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) more illegals than any other law enforcement agency in the nation. I already told you that the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police opposes it, right? Dupnik's problem is that the law doesn't give public safety officers any tools to do this job but it does mean that more people will sue policemen and departments (keep that in mind when I tell you about the law's author in a couple paragraphs). He doesn't like the fact that this law also puts the economic burden squarely on local departments to hold/house/feed/care for/and prosecute illegals, where as currently they are handed over to ICE, a federal agency to deal with. Dupnik (again- a Republican)says that he believes the only reason this law was created was racism or possibly to create political division.

This law wasn't even written by Arizona legislators, but by Kris Kobach, a lawyer from Kansas, at the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR),which the Southern Poverty Law Center has listed as an anti-immigrant hate group since 2007. Joe Arpaio had already been paying Kobach $1,500 per month, plus expenses and travel, plus $300 per hour to teach Maricopa County Sheriff personnel how to racially profile immigration suspects.

Kobach has a conflict of interest because he is also Kobach is senior counsel for the Immigration Law Reform Institute, which describes itself as representing “citizens experiencing injury resulting from illegal immigration.” In other words, he stands to profit financially from people who are hurt by the very law he helped craft!

Republicans should probably oppose it because Nationally Hispanics voted for Obama 2 to 1, in AZ it was something like 54% to 41% and that's over home state favorite McCain. Hispanics constitute the fastest growing minority group in the US., making up almost 15% of our population. 30% of Arizona residents happen to be Hispanic! This issue may activate the tea-party base, but it's bound to erase whatever gains the GOP thought it was making over health care reform.
I knew that the GOP had gone crazy, but I didn't think it had become so foolish that they didn't even CARE if they got back into power or not. Wouldn't a political party WANT to appeal to the fasted growing segments of society? They proved that they're the party of the rich by opposing Wall Street reform, now they're proving that they're the party of white racists too. Keep it up Republicans, you're helping the Democratic Party more than all the elitists in Hollywood ever could

Feel like every Valentines is a Friday the 13th?

If you're looking for an alternative to the cynical, commercial exploitation of Valentine's Day? Then THIS YEAR, celebrate a better day. Spread the word about the better February 14 holiday- Arizona Statehood Day!

Learn how you can help by re-reading some of my annual Arizona Statehood Day columns:
http://tedscolumn.blogspot.com/search/label/Arizona%20Statehood%20Day


MySpace Countdowns

Celebrate Arizona Statehood Day with it's native dish

Category:		Baking
Style:		Mexican
Servings:		Six

Description:
Arizona-Sonoran cuisine is considered the "soul food" of Arizona. Non-Arizonans mistakenly refer to this style of food as "Tex-Mex," which is just downright offensive.
El Charro Cafe, the oldest Mexican restaurant in Tucson has a family legend that says that Monica Flin, who started the restaurant in 1922, cussed in the kitchen when a burrito flipped into the deep fryer. Because young nieces and nephews were in the kitchen with her, she changed the swear word to "chimichanga," the Spanish equivalent of "thingamagig." The customer loved it and it became El Charro's signature dish, although Macayo's, another restaurant in Phoenix and later Las Vegas, has tried to claim that they came up with it.


Ingredients:
6 (12- to 14-inch) flour tortillas
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup red chile sauce or enchilada sauce
Salt and black pepper to taste
Vegetable oil
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
2 cups chopped green onions
Chopped tomatoes (optional)
Guacamole (optional)
Sliced black olives (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Warp stacked tortillas in aluminum foil, and heat in oven 15 minutes or until hot. To microwave, wrap a stack of tortillas lightly in paper towels and warm on high for 6 or 7 seconds per tortilla.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, brown beef; drain, leaving beef in the pan. Add onion, chile or enchilada sauce, salt, and pepper; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until onions are transparent.

In the center of each warm tortilla, spoon 1/6 of meat filling. Fold tortilla, tucking in the ends to make a secure fat tube, and fasten with wooden toothpicks. NOTE: Assemble only 2 or 3 at a time, as the tortilla will absorb liquid from the sauce.

In a large pot or deep fryer over medium heat, add at least 4 inches of vegetable oil. Heat oil to 375 to 400 degrees F. Fry the chimichangas, 1 or 2 at a time, 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil, drain and place on serving plates. Top with Cheddar cheese, lettuce, green onions, and any optional ingredients that you prefer.

Hey Shadow Mountain Matadors!

Glad you guys like'd that little trip down memory lane

• I saw Star Wars at Cine Capri (stood in line in 100° for it too) Town & Country was my favorite shopping center- especially the Tang's Imports and Ed Debevic's was the greatest- especially cheese fries
• I saw First National of Arizona become First Interstate become Wells Fargo- my brother & I both worked at that Bashas'. Anyone remember the Pizza place that was there that showed Laural & Hardy shorts and the servers wore straw hats (like a Farrelll's)? And what about Shea Plaza Cinema- $1.50 all seats/all times except for 50¢ Midnight Movies? We saw Raiders of the Lost Ark there every night for like two weeks one summer.
• I LOVED Thrifty's cylindrical ice cream scoops, really took the edge off summer.
• Remember when the Home Depot on Cave Creek and Thunderbird was a Woolworth's Woolco? Or when the SubWay was the Submarine Factory?
  
• Definitely had a birthday on the Ronald McDonald train
• SO miss Uncle Sam's Pizza, that was a Friday night before or after the game ritual
• Anybody else remember having to cycle through cruising Central Ave. with cruising Metrocenter because there was some law about passing the same point more than three times in an hour? Remember when Castles and Coasters was called Golf & Stuff?
• Anybody else see the Beach Boys on the 4th of July at Giant's Stadium? Remember the Booster Rooster at Phoenix Giants games?
• Who was at Shadow Mountain when someone had won the call in contest to KZZP and got "Tiffany" to put on a concert from Senior Square?
• How about that night when KISS, Boston and Chicago all had concerts in the valley on the same night, and some people actually tried to go to all three?
• Did any of YOU guys ever listen to the Red Radio Show on kUpd?
  

Remember everybody, no matter where you are, Feb 14th isn't about Valentines, it's about being a "Zonie," From the Arid-Zona. Be sure to celebrate Arizona Statehood Day! Have a Margaritta and a Chimi!

And special thanks to Wendy Lane who takes care of our SHMS Yahoo Group and the Alumni website at http://www.shadowmountainalumni.com

More Wallace and Ladmo

Here's three great clips from my favorite show growing up as a little kid in Arizona; the Wallace and Ladmo show

WallaceWatchers.com :: The Official Site of The Wallace and Ladmo Show: wallacewatchers

WallaceWatchers.com :: The Official Site of The Wallace and Ladmo Show

If you grew up in Arizona between the years 1954 and 1989, these words are familiar. Our pal Wallace, also known as Wallboy, greeted us every morning or afternoon (depending on their time slot) during the week and the fun began.

The Wallace & Ladmo Show is truly an Arizona icon. The show had a remarkable 35 ½ year run on local television station KPHO-TV5 in Phoenix. It was eventually seen all over Arizona, northern Mexico and towns in California that were near the Arizona border. The show was even briefly syndicated to Los Angeles and New York.

Apart from their television appearances, the trio that made up the show (Bill “Wallace” Thompson, Ladimir “Ladmo” Kwiatkowski and Pat McMahon) also made thousands of personal appearances all over the state. Their sports team, the Ladmo Jets, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities.

Wallace & Ladmo provided a daily dose of classic cartoons and live skits that lampooned local and national news, politics and life in general. Regular characters such as Marshall Good, Captain Super, Gerald, Aunt Maud and Boffo the Clown provided humor that the adults could relate to while the kids in the audience waited for the next cartoon.

Maybe you can't go home again

"Rawhide," Arizona's 1880's Old West Town closed, or got bought-out and moved. And it's expensive enough to discourage any parent from driving an hour across town to visit it in 100 degree heat.

Worse than that, the Miller Beverage Company of Mesa Arizona has gone out of business. Just as well since Rawhide's "Golden Belle Saloon" was just about the only place you could get it.

The CBS station is now FOX, the ABC station is now CW, the independent station is now CBS and the old Fox station is now ABC.

And the Phoenix metropolitan area has grown at least 20% in just the last 6 years! When I was a kid, our house was almost as far North as you could get in the city. The street next to our subdivision was dirt. The city put oil on it to keep the dust down. Neighbors had horses and chickens. Now there are houses and strip malls East- not just up to but surrounding the Indian reservations, West to the Air Force base and Nuclear power plant, North to what used to be distant towns along the Carefree highway, and South almost all the way to Tuscon.

Mind you, I appreciate having a major league baseball team and plenty of Starbuck's coffee shops- but the Phoenix of my youth was much more like Albuquerque or Palm Springs- the Phoenix of today may as well be L.A. A million and a half in Phoenix proper and pushing 13 Mill for the whole "Valley of the Sun."

Don't get me wrong, Phoenix will always be a part of me- but the Phoenix where Clint Eastwood filmed "The Gauntlet" at the brand new civic center and police headquarters, the phoenix where you could see South Mountain from North Mountain- unless there was a dust storm, the phoenix where Wallace and Ladmo gave out bags of treats on Chanel 5 and where streets were named for desert plants instead of land developers.

But whatchya gonna do? Pull up your roots and move to a sleepy little hamlet of 500-600 in the Iowa hinterlands? Wyatt Earp left Iowa for Dodge City, then Tombstone, then L.A. But the new frontier is finding your way back to the open spaces, and back to Jeffersonian agrarian society. Go East, young man. Go East.

Some more Arizona Favorites

Two cartoonists and an indigenous painter...

One of my all time favorite cowboy artists is a guy by the name of Bob Boze Bell. First he drew a cartoon called "Honkey Tonk Sue; Queen of Western Swing." It was for The New Times, an alternative weekly newspaper in Phoenix, full of scathing satire. I guess they were collected into graphic novels, but are very hard to get your hands on. He had an awesome, sleek, sexy, art deco sort of style. He also wrote a humor column. Later he became part of a morning DJ crew on KSLX FM "Radio for Men." All 60's-70's album rock. Today he is the editor/publisher of True West magazine for which he illustrates. He also does fantastic paintings of old gunslingers and such.
Of course, there's everybody's Phoenix hometown favorites, Bill Keane and his son Jeff. Sure, I'm more into Doonesbury myself, but come on- since 1956 Keane has been making it onto people's refrigerator doors and their hearts with his classic family gags.

Finally, my personal all time favorite John Nieto. I don't know if he's Hopi or Navajo and from Arizona or Zuni from New Mexico or Sioux from South Dakota- heck he could be a Kick-a-poo from Kansas for all I care. He's amazing. All I know is that I fell in love with his stuff in Scottsdale and have seen it in Sedona and if I ever get rich enough I want to own one. Being in a room with a Nieto holds the same thrill as Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, or O'Keefe. His colors are SO vibrant and alive and contemporary- yet at the same time so evocative of the actual colors in nature all over the deserts of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico it is absolutely breath taking.

I'm tellin ya, go see if the painting I did of my student Megan wasn't influenced by Nieto; I SWEAR, I didn't even realize it at the time, but now that I've been looking at Nietos I can totally see it.

More Painted Desert

Purple Mountains

Above is a panoramic collage of "Sunset Point" North of Phoenix near Black Canyon City on I-17. Below are some of the Superstition Mountains North of Scottsdale.

Green Giant

Here is my homage to David Hockney and to the mighty Saguaro.

Catus gallery

Coyote Canyon

Here is a painting I did back in college (1990-something) I was really into John Nieto ( http://www.johnnieto.com ) back then. He's still one of my favorite Native American artists. In hind-sight, I'm not sure how much I still like it- you know how you're kind of uncomfortable with artwork you did a long time ago. It isn't really cohesive, it's kind of busy and has like 3 or 4 different styles. Still, I love the joyful abandon I had when I did it and I love how Southwestern I was trying to be.

Red Rocks

Here are some pictures I took in Northern Arizona, near Meteor Crater .

Painted Desert

Above was a pretty poor picture across I-40 on the Navajo nation, basically because of the time of day. If I had been there after 6 pm, during what Hollywood directors used to call "the golden hour" when the sun is at a 30 degree angle or lower instead of directly overhead- the colors would've been much more dramatic. But you can't always control when you get somewhere on vacation- so... below is some fun in PhotoShop after we got home. I think it reminds me of an Indian sand painting- pretty cool huh?

Bird of Paradise

I'm always trying to use the "Macro" feature on my camera to pay homage to Georgia O'Keefe. This flower is near my Brother's home in Suprise, Arizona. Ya gotta love the orange and red, it's so Arizona!

Blue Elephants, Red Donkeys

Lets see if they’re really different or not;
Why Blue Elephants made the difference- by a Red Donkey
Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper Schleswig Leader, Thursday, November 16, 2006 Page 3

Last week a very dear Republican friend of mine sent me an E-mail: “So...Have you calmed down since the election is over and Rumsfeld is out? What is your reaction to the fact that a number of states have voted for protection of/clear definitions of marriage amendments?”
I don’t know... what’s calm? Political and news junkies like me get off on letting our blood pressure boil over pundits, party talking points and politicians. Other people watch football or bet on basketball.

I’m fine with defining marriage as one man and one woman as long as you don’t deny anyone equal treatment under the law. Of course I think that having to pass a law defining marriage as between one man and one woman is superfluous, it’s like passing a law to define the sky as blue, so it was obviously a flawed attempt by extreme right wingers to “activate their base” and get the gay-hating Christians to come out and vote.

Some of us are Christians, agree that the Bible pretty clearly prohibits homosexuality, and agree that marriage by definition is only for one man and one woman, yet we don’t have a huge irrational fear and hatred of gay people and we believe that they live under the same Constitution.

Should Rumsfeld have been removed from office sooner? Heavens yes? Would that have helped Republicans fare better in the election that was just held? Gee Wilikers? Who knows? Is it pretty convenient that since he’s getting the boot now, his replacement (who was pretty involved in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980’s) will be confirmed by the current 209th Congress rather than the newly elected 210th with a Democratic majority in January? By Golly, you betchya!

You know what? Now is when the rubber really hits the road. It was pretty easy for the Democrats to win a majority. They didn’t have to run for anything. The Republicans were so steeped and soaked in scandal, corruption, hypocrisy, mistakes, extremism, and of course the muck of a miss managed war and a stubborn, Presidency.

Some Democrats would like to think that the voters sent President Bush and the Republicans a strong message, that they’re ready for change. But I don’t put much stock in alleged “mandates.” I don’t think that Liberals have any more mandate than Bush mistakenly claimed when he was barely reelected.

Democrats won because most Americans are centrists. They won because moderate Republicans jumped ship because they got tired of people who talked about compassionate conservatism but really aren’t either.

This election saw a new development. “Goldwater Democrats.” That’s right. Sound like an oxymoron? No more than “Reagan Democrats.”

Growing up in Arizona, I came to see Goldwater, our senior Senator for most of my life as sort of a patron saint. When the shrimp hit the fan with Watergate, he went to Nixon and told him to step down. Goldwater was angry that Nixon had been lying to him.

Now mind you, I disagree on his stand on states-rights in opposition to civil rights, especially integrating schools and of course there was the idea he had about using “strategic” nukes in Vietnam. Nobody’s perfect. But time and time again, I find myself agreeing with him on many things that I used to be able to find common ground on with my Republican friends- things like deficit reduction, government reform and smaller, streamlined government. Not to mention keeping the Government out of your private life.

Democrats won this recent election because, like Goldwater, American voters don’t like lies and secrets and have no patience for ineptitude- not because Americans suddenly all became progressives. Many of the Democrats who won consider themselves fiscal and social conservatives. Some are Iraq veterans who felt abandoned or betrayed.

What the Democrats had better do now is deliver. House Speaker elect, Pelosi promised the most uncorrupted, moral and reformed Congress ever. Its easy to be the “reform” party when you’re on the outside. If they let power corrupt them then they’ll deserve to get kicked out just like their predecessors.

We can only hope that the Democrats will finally put the brakes on the out of control spending habits of Bush and the Republicans.

We can only hope that they’ll REFORM (not raise) taxes in a way that benefits the middle class, not corporations and the super rich. But only time will tell.

On Barry Goldwater

Much is being said lately about Barry Goldwater. His granddaughter CC released a movie on HBO called "Mr. Conservative; Goldwater on Goldwater." Watergater John Dean put out a book he started with Goldwater called "Conservative without Conscience," criticizing the excesses of the "neo-conservatives" of the current Bush administration. Many Republicans, feeling betrayed by Bush and the current Congressional majority's abuses are re-registering as "Goldwater Democrats" (sort of like when "Reagan Democrats" became Republicans). Still other Republicans feel like the current power holders have abandoned Goldwater's ways. Prairie Home Companion host, Garrison Keillor wrote in his 2004 book "Homegrown Democrat," that the current Democratic party is more like the Republican party of his youth (1940's-early 60's). Humorist Al Frankin has been voicing similar feelings, that Democrats, not G.W.Bush-Republicans are the party of traditional American (dare we say "family") values.

Growing up in Arizona, I came to see Goldwater, our senior Senator for most of my life as sort of a patron saint. When the shrimp hit the fan with Watergate, he went to Nixon and told him to step down. Goldwater was P.O.ed that Nixon had been lying to him. When we got a wing-nut governor in the late '80's, he was highly critical of the corrupt, religious speaking, flag waving freak show that had hijacked his party. Now mind you, I disagree on his stand on states-rights in opposition to civil rights, especially integrating schools and of course there was the idea he had about using "strategic" nukes in Vietnam. Nobody's perfect. But time and time again, I find myself agreeing with him on SO MANY things that I USED to be able to find common ground on with my Republican friends- things like deficit reduction, government reform and streamlining. I think that if he were still alive today he wouldn't have much good to say about President Bush Junior, Speaker Haster, or former Majority Leader DeLay. As a matter of fact, I think he'd be pissed about how we got into Iraq and he'd probably take current Arizona Senator John McCain out behind the woodshed for a lashing a few times for what a whimp and a hypocrite he's been for not standing up to the Bill Frists, Carl Roves, and Dick Cheneys of this world.

Anyway. In honor of one of my favorite Republicans (Lincoln, Roosevelt, Ike, Clarence Hoffman, and Mom), here are some wise words from the old man of the desert:

"I am a conservative Republican," Barry Goldwater wrote in a 1994 Washington Post essay, "but I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state. The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don't hurt anyone else in the process."

When Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1981, some Religious Right leaders suspected she might be too moderate on abortion and other social concerns. Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell told the news media that "every good Christian should be concerned." Replied Goldwater, "Every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Falwell's ass."

"I don't have any respect for the Religious Right. There is no place in this country for practicing religion in politics. That goes for Falwell, Robertson and all the rest of these political preachers. They are a detriment to the country."

"Being a conservative in America traditionally has meant that one holds a deep, abiding respect for the Constitution. We conservatives believe sincerely in the integrity of the Constitution. We treasure the freedoms that document protects. . .

"You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight."

"on religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in "A," "B," "C," and "D." Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.'" -- From the Congressional Record, September 16, 1981

Sunset Flag

Here's an experiment dedicated to my home state of Arizona, using 4 or 5 layers in PhotoShop

That time of year again

So I’m looking through half a dozen isles in Wal-Mart trying to find the right Valentines for my daughter to distribute at school and probably at the baby-sitter and no doubt at dance and gymnastics class too, when it dawns on me what a sucker I’ve become. I am a victim of the Candy-and-Greeting Cards-industrial complex.

Over the last fourteen years of marriage my beloved wife has come to accept and to some extent even accept our religious differences. Oh, we’re both Christians, but she understands that I refuse to observe this decadent, saccharine, pink and red excuse for sappiness and sentimentality that in spite of how unreligious and commercially exploitative it is, people cal Saint Valentine’s Day.

She loves me and knows that I love her, but now, finally, since I have a child in school, I have stooped to caving in to peer pressure. Rather than dig in my heels and try to teach my children that we should not be afraid to be different and that sometimes we may have to buck the dominant culture, I buckled under and purchased not one, but two bags of Sponge-Bob Valentines. I wonder if this is how Atheists and Jews feel at Christmas time.

Not that she needs them. Just this morning I caught her writing to a young boy in her class that she likes him on one of my Post-It notes that she snagged from my Day-Runner.

In the interest of promoting tolerance for my fellow non-Valentine’s-celebrators and as a public service for those of you who may be alone, lonely, burned, bummed or merely irritated by all of this cute, cuddly, and confectionery revelry- I’d like to remind my readers of the alternative holiday on February 14th, Arizona Statehood Day.

Oh, I know, you’re not all Arizona natives like I am, but may I remind you that perhaps the most famous Arizonan, Marshall Wyatt Earp of “Shoot out at the O.K. Corrall” fame was in fact an Iowa native. And after all, if you simply play a game of six degrees of separation, I’m sure that each of you can think of at least one close relative or dear friend that you know of who is now in, or at least spends some time in the Grand Canyon State. Many is the Ioweagian, who makes a perennial sojourn to the Southwest during this very time of year.

“Ted, how can we recognize this the 93rd anniversary of our 48th state? What kinds of things can we do to celebrate Arizona Statehood Day in our homes and with our families?” I hear you asking. I am so glad you asked, because I would like to suggest just a few:

Read a novel about Arizona by best selling author Tony Hillerman about Navajo Indian Reservation police detective Chee, or by J.A. Jance, about Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady. Or, if you prefer a rootin’ tootin’ western to a murder mystery, there’s always Arizona’s own Zane Grey, second only to Louis L’more in the genre.

Prefer non-fiction? How about a biography on one of two of the greatest politicians in American History, Barry Goldwater or John McCain? I know kids who think they’re Republicans but have never even heard of old “Mr. Conservative” Goldwater. Alas, I weep for my country.

Rent a movie. There have been plenty of fine films just about Old Wyatt Earp and how he enforced frontier justice with his brothers and the legendary Doc Holiday down in Tombstone. I enjoyed Kurt Russell’s portrayal more than Kevin Costner’s myself, but Coster’s version has a terrific performance by Val Kilmer as Doc. Of course, you may prefer to get your hands on a black and white “My Clemontine” starring Henry Fonda, and who could blame you.
Of course, almost every movie that either Clint Eastwood or John Wayne made were filmed in Arizona, even if they were supposed to take place in Texas or Mexico. Two dead giveaways; Monument Valley in the background, or Saguaro Cati. (Cati is plural for Cactus for you greengos, and Saguaros only grow in one place in the world, kind of like Loess soil is only here and China.)

You could listen to some Arizona music. Waylon Jennings earned his wings there, Glenn Campell still lives and golfs there, and of course there’s always George Straight’s classic “Ocean Front Property in Arizona.” But, if Country is not your thing, “The Tubes” and “Mister Mister” are great 80’s bands that both hail from the Valley of the Sun. And if you’re looking for something from the 60’s or 70’s, Stevie Nix and Alice Cooper both call the “Arid-Zone” home.

I’m lobbying hard to get FTD to deliver bouquets of ocotillo, perhaps with tumbleweed accents. Who wouldn’t love to receive a scorpion or rattle snake paperweight on February 14th? And if they can charge and arm and a leg for a Vermont Teddybear on Valentine’s, why not go online to order a Sonoran Kachina doll? If a pajama-gram, why not a Navajo rug or a pair of Apache Moccasins?

If none of this is within your means, at least you can wear a bolo tie (the official state neckwear of Arizona, the only state to have an official state neckwear) and enjoy some nachos with a margarita or a cold Mexican cervesa (that’s Español for beer).