REMEMBERING AZ CENTRAL BLOGS (2006-2012)

One of my favorite bloggers is Glo.  She has been around almost as long as this blog has.  She and CJ were the first female bloggers I had after the AZ Central blogs launched on December 6, 2006.  I think their first entries appeared about a month or two later in early 2007.  They have both followed me to this blog which I did as a secondary item until AZ Central got ruined in 2011 with the arrival of the Facebook requirement for comments.

In a way, Facebook was a blessing.  Before it was required, I would get 50 or 60 comments on a blog story.  One of my favorites was something I did on how soda pop was referred to in different parts of the country.  I called it “Soda, Pop, or Coke” and never thought that something so mundane would get many hits.  It wound up with 74 comments by 44 readers; some of them from far away.  When I re-printed it in February of 2009 on my Google blog, it drew another 36 comments.  It just goes to show that one never knows what will work when doing a piece.

A large percentage of my AZ Central blogs still exist in my Google blog archives and I enjoy checking them out now and then for nostalgic reasons if nothing else.  AZ Central was a good thing that eventually scared the Arizona Republic when some of the comments became a bit overwrought over their political preferences.  I didn’t do that much in the way of politics so I got swept aside when the Facebook nonsense became effective and I refused to be a part of it.

In the first paragraph, I mentioned Glo and Cj but I mustn’t forget others like Middy, Mike, Proud, Sam, native, Allen, Ken, AHG, Lynda, John W., Doc John, Larry, DG, Steve, Kevin, Lynda, rettajim, stealth, blue, Niagara Dave, and the irrepressible Rick.   There are others I may not have named but do appreciate.

Speaking of Glo and Middy, I have found in my Shorpy archives a couple of vintage photos that apply to the part of the country where they lived before becoming dues paying members of Arizona.

This is a photo of some ladies enjoying a night of bowling in Glo’s home state of Connecticut in 1942.  They are playing the eastern game of duck pin bowling hence, the smaller balls.  The lanes they are using are located in the basement of the fire station in Bantam, Connecticut.  Could the lady throwing the ball possibly be Glo’s mom?

Since Middy grew up in the panhandle of Texas, I thought a good old fashioned dust storm photo would bring back memories of those years.  The photo was taken in Amarillo, Texas in 1936 during one of the dust storms.  Residents of that area have said that a windsock to them was a “brick welded to a chain.”

That sounds about right.  I had the honor of being stationed in Amarillo for a couple months in 1961 and some of the wind I experienced probably wouldn’t move the brick!

PHIL MICKELSON, A CHAMPION IN GOLF AND LIFE

Professional golfer and ASU grad Phil Mickelson has recently spoken about his combined tax hit from the federal government and the State of California going into the 60% to 63% range.  Understandably, Phil is unhappy about such a situation and is considering leaving the golden state.

Mickelson has always come across as one of the really good guys in sports.  He is mannerly, a good family man, and a fan favorite who has had his share of heartaches over his wife’s and mother’s battles with breast cancer.  Through it all, he has smiled, never brushed off autograph seekers, given balls to and gloves to kids, and helped charities.

Phil shows his trophy received for winning the 

2000 Buick Invitational

As expected, the day after Phil declared his unhappiness with the tax situation, the $1.98 an hour liberals started coming out of the woodwork calling his statements “controversial” and criticizing him as being a greedy athlete.  Being the guy he is, he actually apologized unnecessarily for his comments about moving from tax heavy California.

On another blog I do (AZC Voices, Politics) one of the fiery female liberal loudmouth contributors took issue with Phil trying to point out that with all the money he makes, he should be glad to pay the higher taxes and that even after paying up would still have more than most people.  It’s as if she is the one who should decide how much money Mickelson should make and how much he deserves to keep.  One of the favorite statements from liberals is:  “Gosh, how much do you need?”  My answer is “None of your damned business”.

This is the classic liberal mentality that we have to put up with today.  They believe that taking more than half of someone’s income is only right because it is their supposed “fair share”.  Of course, with the above mentioned female blogger who derogatorily referred to Mr. Mickelson as “dear sweet Phil”, she loves looking at successful people as needing to pay more taxes to prop up the almost 50% who don’t pay any taxes.  Maybe if she tried to play golf, she would realize what an impossible game it is and give guys like Mickelson the respect they deserve.

Actually, she wouldn’t because that is not the way liberals think.  They don’t want a wealthy class; they want everyone equal with the rich doing the heavy lifting and giving more to those beneath them.  That’s the type of mentality that saps initiative away from the makers of the world and why we have a liberal president who wants job killing items like a $9 per hour minimum wage while squandering millions to losers like Solyndra and Tesla.

The good news is that his approval ratings have slipped in a couple of important polls.  Maybe America is finally seeing the light.

Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson is doing well this weekend in the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles.  I would love to see him win it and pocket another million bucks.

POLITICALLY CORRECT NONSENSE AND TIRESOME EXPRESSIONS

Remember when someone would be considered “fat” if they were short and weighed 400 pounds?  How about someone who refused to work and sponged off others being called a “bum.”  Let’s not forget the guy who would pick up your trash as the “garbage man” and guys like George Washington, Jefferson, Adams, etc. being known as the “Founding Fathers.”

Forget all that as we are now in the idiotic world of political correctness and are not supposed to use those terms.  I say “we” are in that world but in reality I am not a member of the political correctness society and I’m sure many of you aren’t either.

Today, in our liberal society that dreads the remotest possibility that someone may have their feelings hurt, that 400 pound guy would be referred to as having “an enlarged physical condition caused by a completely natural genetically induced hormone imbalance.”  To those of us who are from the old school he still is “fat”.  The “bum” is now a “homeless person” and the “Founding Fathers” are “The Founders”.  We can’t risk offending women of the 18^th century who might have pitched in!  As for the “garbage man” he is now a “sanitation engineer.”

I wonder where this "sanitation engineer" from the 
1950s received his degree.  Yale?  Harvard?

It’s all nonsense brought about by a clueless group of today that has no sense of reality.  I remember a few years ago when Tiger Woods hit a bad shot, the microphone picked up his voice muttering “I hit that like a retard!”  He caught hell over that even though not too many years’ earlier “retard” or “retarded” were common terms for someone with a mental disability.  Another no-no was from Barack himself when he proved on the bowling lanes that he has no athletic ability whatsoever and exclaimed that he looked like he was a member of the Special Olympics.

Philip Atkinson, author of A Study of Our Decline, says it best: "Political Correctness is merely the resentment of spoiled children directed against their parent’s values." 

It’s not just political correctness that is annoying today.  How about some of the popular expressions we have to hear continuously.  What better place to start on those than from Barack himself.  This guy is more repetitive than a Thompson machine gun but far less effective.  How many times have we heard him say “…but I won” and “It’s a problem that I inherited.”  My favorites are “Make no mistake.”  “Change isn't easy.”  “Let me be clear.”

Remember a few years ago when there wasn’t a teen age girl in captivity that didn’t utter “Whatever!” at least a hundred times a day?  It’s still around but like “awesome” and “dude”, is not as popular as it once was.

Our buddy Barack gets to take credit again for the term “fair share” as in “I want to raise taxes on the rich so they pay their “fair share” to support the bums on welfare.”

Then there is “not a problem” (what happened to O.K.?), home invasion (it sounds less crude than “break in”), “my bad” (sounds stupid even from a kid), “hone in” (are people so dumb they don’t know its “home in”) and many others of which I’m sure you are familiar.

Be patient; I’m sure more inanity is on the way.