Willin'

I spent the better part of the last two days driving through Arizona. Brought my passport just in case but managed to elude the blue meanies. The people that I talked to in the state are not too thrilled with their new reputation as America's jackbooted stormtroopers. They tend to blame everything on the illegal invasion.

I heard last night that the reason that practically all of the highway rest stops have been shut down is because of the illegals causing the state to go broke. News has popped up in the last two days that the cause celebre of the anti immigrant movement, the unfortunate rancher shot dead on the border, might have actually been killed by an anglo. And the criminality rate of the illegal aliens is around 5.3%, much lower than the general legal population. But facts be damned. People across the land and Arizona are apparently in Governor Brewer's corner. Of course, most southerners backed slavery as well.

I had the realization today that unlike its neighbors to the east and west, Arizona is a state mostly denuded of spanish names for it's cities. I tried to name one and got stuck after Casas Grande. Odd that the spanish influence leapfrogged the Grand Canyon State, a state long known for its paleface conservatism.



I stayed with friends in Phoenix last night and had a great sushi dinner. They had a very good book on Vienna and Austria that broke down the cultural and political environment that led to the rise of national socialism. An Austrian politician in the late 1800's would get nowhere unless he peppered in a little anti-Semitism. Hitler was greatly influenced by two jew and immigrant hating local politicians, Karl Lueger and George Ritter Von Schonerer. It all started with a wave of senseless anti immigrant behavior and morphed very quickly into one of the most horrible episodes in human history.

When I try to explain that my feelings lie with the latino Americans who will now be forced to show identification in Arizona, it doesn't seem to impact my white friends, who think it is no big deal and a necessary intrusion. I got into an interesting side conversation with my friend, who is a religious person, regarding where Jesus would stand on the illegals. I maintained that he would be there for the weak and dispossessed but my friend said that I had it all wrong, Christ was a law and order guy. What do I know?

My friends also told me that a client of mine had died several years ago in a drowning. I had no idea. Got a strange hollow feeling knowing that he has been gone all this time.

The trip was long, windy and boring. Lots of wind gusts blew the van around. The dust storms were like a thick red rouge that covered the sky like pastels. Tumbleweeds hurtled towards my car and slammed against the windows at breakneck speeds. Not too hot, never got over 101 degrees.

I like to check out the small hometown newspapers from some of the small communities I pass on my route. I was reading the Cibola paper today and apparently a couple of the local abandoned mine sites may soon go superfund. Uranium mining has despoiled a lot of the local sparse water supply and there is no money to do anything. One rancher has been waiting for help since 1975. These are poor people without much voice or power and their cries go largely unheeded. When we start trumpeting for more nuclear power we need to think about what happens to the poor communities where the uranium is located and the horrible mess that we have already left..

I listened to KTNN for a while, the voice of the Navajo Nation. There are very few musical idioms I have problems with, but polka and indian drumming are two of them. Hippie drum circles are another.

I turned on christian radio for a while, as I sometimes do when I am bored. Cultural eavesdropping. A pastor said that you can not be spiritual without believing in spirits, and ladies and gentlemen, apparently they are all around us. A lady in his church saw two demons sitting on his shoulders. Very weird stuff.

Another pastor gave a great lecture on the book of Ruth the Moabite and her relationship with Boaz, a mighty warrior of the Hebrews, and more importantly her mother Naomi.  I think that I will reread it when I get a chance. He pointed out the repeated failure endured by the champions of this book, including Sampson, I think. Said that even if you are not religious, it is a wonderful literary effort and the love for Ruth and Naomi quite striking.

Went to one of my favorite barbecue joints tonight, Rudy's in Albuquerque. It is located on Carlisle. I had a half pound of burnt brisket ends, potato salad, pickles and root beer. Really delicious.