From smeared beans to future boycotts:
Arizona in the news around the world...

Unless you've been under a rock this past week, you've probably heard more than you'd ever think you would about Arizona's new immigration laws. Opinions abound...and AZ's image is even more tarnished...AZ-bashing on late-night TV and in newspaper columns has been de rigueur for the past week.

A local anecdote--a Hispanic student of mine said that when he went to the Swap Meet (aka 'the Mexican Mall') this past weekend, 'there were, like, NO Mexicans there.' The state capitol in Phoenix has been defaced with swastikas--smeared on with refried beans. Already, the fear sets in...

The government of Mexico has issued an official travel warning to its citizens planning to travel to The Grand Canyon State. The Washington Post has this article: "Seeking the best way to boycott Arizona over immigration law."

Taxis in Mexico City are posting signs in their windows: "We don't give service to gringos from Arizona!" (more from this reuters website...)

I appreciated this balanced article in yesterday's New York Times:
"Welcome to Arizona, Desert Outpost of Contradictions."
...and then this: "For Migrants, New Law Is Just Another Challenge"

A local perspective, Wednesday's political cartoon in the Tucson paper:

 
...Here is a link to a videoclip (in English) from a French-language Montréal newspaper:
click here

...and (if you read the language of one-third of Arizona's residents), here is a column in Spain's El País newspaper: "De Italia a Arizona."

...and just one more link to an international perspective, si vous lisez le français: a blog from France's Libération.com. (The commentary at the end of the posting is fascinating...)

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On a lighter, brighter note:

The brittlebush is in full bloom...

...So, if you can just ignore the ugly political realities, AZ really is beautiful.

Please don't boycott your friends who live here. ;-)

This past Saturday,

S. and I went for a hike in a part of 'our backyard' where she had never been--

Seven Falls in Bear Canyon--an 8-mile hike parallel to Sabino Canyon:

...still flowing strong...and we even had snow in the mountains last Friday--unusually late for us...and we've yet to hit 90 degrees this year...this will be the first time in many years that the thermometer will have stayed under that mark until the month of May...

But the heat will be here soon...
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...and also, in Thursday's paper here in Tucson:

Published again! Another semi-vain surprise to go with my morning coffee...(This is kind of bad, actually--I'm beginning to 'expect' a published photo when I open the Foothills section on Thursdays...)