So far, "Boycott Arizona—Boycott the Tucson International Mariachi Conference!," a new page on Facebook, has only 28 members.

Still, the idea of boycotting the conference makes me wonder if the people behind the idea understand who benefits from the annual event, and that this is Baja Arizona, not Maricopa County. If you're on Facebook, consider sending them a message.

Here's a quote from that Facebook page:

Until Arizona's SB 1070, HB 2281 and other laws are repealed, we are going to stage a boycott of the Tucson International Mariachi Conference (TIMC). This conference is a long-standing tradition in Tucson, whose influence is far-reaching and whose Executive Board has power in the city of Tucson. How many students have played in class while the Board of Trustees representatives have listened and applauded? What message do you think would be sent if all conference participants were to stay home next year? How much money would be lost if we were not there to spend our money staying at the Hotel Arizona, going to class at the Convention Center, or buying food and gas from the surrounding restaurants and gas stations? What’s more, the Fiesta de Garibaldi, an outdoor event in a city park, attracts huge numbers of conference participants, locals, tourists, and vendors. With the threat of detention and deportation, these numbers could drastically diminish. What is being done in Arizona is wrong, and we need to stand up and send a message to the Tucson Mariachi Conference Executive Board, to their donors, to the city of Tucson and the state of Arizona that we do not support the recent actions of their government. The conference board and their donors have a significant influence in Tucson. We as participants in the conference have a voice in what goes on at our conference and in the city where it takes place. It is time for us as a population, to stand up against the actions of the Arizona government, and let our voice be heard!

A Phoenix New Times blog post today finally answers this question: Why do bands play Tucson instead of Phoenix?

"Why is this cool band that I really love playing that bumblefuck shithole down South when they could play our sprawling metropolis of interconnected stripmalls?"

Read the shithead's comments here.

As the Aug 24 U.S. Senate primary approaches, the campaign commercials will be getting nastier and nastier.

While McCain's latest ad attacks challenger J.D. Hayworth on the grounds that he is a "huckster," we at Tucson Weekly TV think there is a more pressing matter in this race: which candidate has the fanciest handwriting.

After the U.S. Justice Department filed suit Tuesday against Arizona, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar had the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service release the Chupacabra or “goat sucker” into Saguaro National Park in Pima County. Salazar, acting on orders from President Obama, said, “We are encouraging Arizonans to repeal their immigration law before it goes into affect on July 29th, or we will be forced to release more Chupacabras into Arizona towns, cities and Home Depot parking lots.”

Upon learning of the release of the creature into her state, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was defiant, “Bring it on! We’ve dealt with aliens, monsters and mutants in Arizona for the last fifty years — especially since Don Imus moved into the state. Arizonans don’t scare easy. The feds can send in a Bigfoot Army if they want, we will take them on. And we will win!”

Can Bat Boy be far behind?

Read the whole thing here. We miss seeing the Weekly World News at the grocery checkout stand.

Hat tip to Valley Fever.

Iran bans the mullet in order to free itself of 'decadent' Western hairstyles:

Jaleh Khodayar, who's in charge of the government- backed Modesty and Veil Festival, explains that the styles "are inspired by Iranians' complexion, culture and religion, and Islamic law."

It's not all good news for fans of the short back and sides, however: 1980s-style floppy fringes are acceptable, as are quiffs. And, worryingly, there seems to be a lamentable softening of Iran's hard line on goatees.)

Mother Jones' take on Beck University:

The forthcoming institution o'learnin', appropriately titled Beck University, will "explore the concepts of Faith, Hope and Charity and show you how they influence America’s past, her present and most importantly her future." Its faculty features such luminaries as a free-market economist whose degree is in psychology and a Texas Republican Party bigwig who hates, hates, HATES church-state separation. It even has an Ivy-style crest—featuring a feather, a buffalo, and the disembodied head of George Washington—and a Latin motto, "Tyrannis Seditio, Obsequium Deo" (roughly translated: "Revolution against tyrants, submission to God").

Classes on Faith 101, Hope 101 and Charity 101 start tomorrow. There is no tuition for Beck University, but you have to be an "Insider Extreme" subscriber to different Beck products, which evidently start at $6.26 a month.

From: Jack Frazer
Sent: Monday, July 05, 2010 9:39 AM
To: Jimmy Boegle
Subject: stupid

you are like all media only print a little truth when you state no automatic citizenship for
people born in the u.s.a . what he is talking about are the wetbacks that come up here to have a baby then claim there citizenship you can die a hole lot more than a little jack

Stephen Colbert and the president of United Farmworkers of America are challenging unemployed Americans and anti-immigrant folks to take the jobs often done by undocumented immigrants.

Farmworkers are tired of being blamed by politicians and anti-immigrant activists for taking work that should go to Americans and dragging down the economy, said Arturo Rodriguez, the president of the United Farmworkers of America.

So the group is encouraging the unemployed — and any Washington pundits or anti-immigrant activists who want to join them — to apply for some of thousands of agricultural jobs being posted with state agencies as harvest season begins.

Read the whole story here.

This is already old news, but I'm pretty sure it never made it onto the Range. From the Huffington Post:

Arizona's new immigration law is just about crime, its supporters say, but given that the state's new education policy equates ethnic studies programs with high treason, they may not be using the commonly accepted definition of "crime."

Under the ban, sent to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer by the state legislature Thursday, schools will lose state funding if they offer any courses that "promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment of a particular race or class of people, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

Legislators have somehow grouped promoting the overthrow of the U.S. government with ethnic studies classes, and Tucson Unified School District's Mexican-American studies department is specifically mentioned as a target of the new restrictions.

The story also links to a Wall Street Journal story about a new law that could ban Arizona teachers with heavy accents from teaching English classes. The story goes on to say that the law is especially ironic being that the state spent the last decade recruiting teachers who speak English as a second language.

It's going to take a public-relations miracle to resurrect the state's image after all this.

Update: The Arizona Daily Star is reporting that Tucson Unified School District has no plans of changing its curriculum as a result of the law.

Amidst birther bills and immigration clampdowns, Stephen Colbert adds another entry into Arizona Embarrasses Itself Week on last night's The Colbert Report.

After explaining how the border is "(lined) with the crappiest states," Colbert said if SB 1070 were to pass, it "will make sure no one will want to live there."