• Photo by Helga Esteb/Shutterstock.com
• George Takei and his husband Brad Altman have strong Arizona ties.

We have seen a number of people voicing their opinions against SB 1062. George Takei, Star Trek legend and LGBT activist, wrote an open letter to Arizona to express his disappointment regarding the anti-gay legislation that's pending Governor Jan Brewer's decision. Takei promises to never step foot or spend any money in Arizona if the Governor signs the bill into law.

From his Takei's website:

Dear Arizona,

Congratulations. You are now the first state actually to pass a bill permitting businesses—even those open to the public—to refuse to provide service to LGBT people based on an individual’s “sincerely held religious belief.” This “turn away the gay” bill enshrines discrimination into the law. Your taxi drivers can refuse to carry us. Your hotels can refuse to house us. And your restaurants can refuse to serve us.

Kansas tried to pass a similar law, but had the good sense to not let it come up for a vote. The quashing came only after the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and other traditional conservative groups came out strongly against the bill.

But not you, Arizona. You’re willing to ostracize and marginalize LGBT people to score political points with the extreme right of the Republican Party. You say this bill protects “religious freedom,” but no one is fooled. When I was younger, people used “God’s Will” as a reason to keep the races separate, too. Make no mistake, this is the new segregation, yours is a Jim Crow law, and you are about to make yourself ground zero.

This bill also saddens me deeply. Brad and I have strong ties to Arizona. Brad was born in Phoenix, and we vacation in Show Low. We have close friends and relatives in the state and spend weeks there annually. We even attended the Fourth of July Parade in Show Low in 2012, looking like a pair of Arizona ranchers.

The law is breathtaking in its scope. It gives bigotry against us gays and lesbians a powerful and unprecedented weapon. But your mean-spirited representatives and senators know this. They also know that it is going to be struck down eventually by the courts. But they passed it anyway, just to make their hateful opinion of us crystal clear.

So let me make mine just as clear. If your Governor Jan Brewer signs this repugnant bill into law, make no mistake. We will not come. We will not spend. And we will urge everyone we know—from large corporations to small families on vacation—to boycott. Because you don’t deserve our dollars. Not one red cent.

And maybe you just never learn. In 1989, you voted down recognition of the Martin Luther King holiday, and as a result, conventions and tourists boycotted the state, and the NFL moved the Superbowl to Pasadena. That was a $500 million mistake.

So if our appeals to equality, fairness, and our basic right to live in a civil society without doors being slammed in our face for being who we are don’t move you, I’ll bet a big hit to your pocketbook and state coffers will.

George Takei

• Photo courtesy of Rocco's Little Chicago Pizzeria.
• "We reserve the right to refuse services to Arizona Legislators."

Rocco's Little Chicago Pizzeria is notorious for its prolific witty and eye catching messages on their marquee. But pizzeria owner Anthony Rocco DiGrazia really outdid himself with a small window display to reserve the right to refuse services to Arizona Legislators:

This caught the Huffington Post's attention:

"A customer posted the sign to my Facebook feed, so I printed it up and laminated it," owner Anthony Rocco DiGrazia told The Huffington Post Friday in a Facebook message. "The response has been overwhelming and almost all positive from across the globe. I just want to serve dinner and own and work in a place I'm proud of. Opening the door to government sanctioned discrimination regardless of why is a huge step in the wrong direction. Thanks for all the support."

• Photo courtesy of Hero Phoenix.
• Hero Phoenix and Bad4AzBiz are planning a demonstration from 4 to 6 p.m. tonight at the State Capitol, 1700 W Washington St, Phoenix, Arizona.

Arizona was set back a couple decades on Wednesday when the Senate passed proposition SB 1062. The bill will allow businesses to refuse service based on the owners' religious beliefs. Jan Brewer's signature is the only thing that's keeping this piece of legislation from going into effect.

Some anonymous upstanding Arizonan created a Bad4AzBiz Facebook page in opposition of SB 1062 and HB 2153. HB 2153, also known as Religious Freedom Restoration Act, strengthens SB 1062 and jeopardizes a person’s free exercise of religion in Arizona. The Facebook page has gathered 1,400 likes and counting. Hero Phoenix and #Bad4AzBiz are planning a demonstration at 4 p.m. tonight at the State Capitol, 1700 W Washington St., Phoenix, Arizona.

From the Facebook event page:

Arizona’s State Legislature and the conservative majority in control are pushing to pass the expanded “religious freedom” bills and then have them signed immediately by Governor Brewer. These bills would allow businesses to deny services based on their deeply held religious beliefs, basically making discrimination legal and making the LGBTQ Community a clear target. But we know it won't stop there!

Yesterday we shed some light on the latest pathetic drinking game that has captured the drunken attention of young people all around the world. Instead of waiting for it to our hit home turf, there's a extremely better alternative to this fad that has probably already passed us.

The solution: Random Acts Of Kindness.

Anything is better than challenging your friend to poison him or herself, and who knows what kind of positive impact you may have on someone's life. The folks at Two Little Fleas created a "Random Acts Of Kindness generator" so you don't have to think of a selflessness deed yourself. Your ability to do what you feel is right is all it takes.

This kindness initiative kicked off earlier this month, and has received an overwhelming response from do gooders all over the world. Here's some more background information from the Two Little Fleas press release:

This positive twist on the original trend was inspired by Brent Lindeque, a South African with a social conscience. Thousands of others have now taken part in RAKNominate. Nominees have given out food and money in HongKong. One participant donated her hair to make wigs for unwell children. Schoolchildren have been sharing their sandwiches with those in need. Everyday Joes have been buying dinner for hard working guys trying to earn just a few pennies a day. All of these kindnesses have been triggered by an irresponsible social media trend. Proof that social media can be a powerful tool for good.

Adding to the good vibes spreading like wildfire across the internet are Two Little Fleas. Their community have compiled an instant “Kindness Generator”, ready to provide RAKNominees with all the inspiration they need to do something good. At the click of a button nominees can uncover their own perfect way to 'pay it forward'.

Over the last few days the official RAKNominate facebook page has attracted over 23,000 Facebook likes. Satellite RAKNominate pages are also going viral, chalking up over 20,000 likes combined. In the past 3 days over 2000 people in the UK have tweeted about RAKNomination including celebrities Russell Kane and The Last Leg C4 team.

According to official RAKNominate page owner, Robbie Matthews: "The response was really above any expectations we ever had, to think we had over 20,000 people like the page in over a week was overwhelming. The general public really embraced the idea of doing good deeds and encouraging others to do likewise.”

And Weekly World Central is posting her speech at the Human Rights Commission's Time to Thrive conference anyway. And yes, completely agree with actress Jane Lynch:

“When I was younger, I lied by omission. She should give herself a break and not call it 'lying.'”

Glee star Jane Lynch told People that she supports Ellen Page, who came out Friday in a moving speech delivered at the HRC’s Time to Thrive conference, and that she shouldn’t be so hard on herself. Lynch spoke to a People reporter at Saturday’s Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards in Hollywood.

“When I was younger, I lied by omission. She should give herself a break and not call it 'lying,'" said the 2012 OUT100 cover star. "But I know what it is to feel like you can't be open and honest about your orientation. Good for her!"

• Photo by s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
• Drake

Would you be mad if your cover story was taken by dead guy?

Rolling Stone promised Drake this month cover, but switched him for the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman without telling the rap phenom before going to press. Obviously, this is the last thing the actor/singer needs before he goes on tour in Europe.

Naturally, Drake spoke his mind on Twitter, but Gawker caught the tweets before he could delete his raw feelings:

I never commented on Yeezus for my interview portion of Rolling Stone. They also took my cover from me last minute and ran the issue.

I'm disgusted with that. RIP to Phillip Seymour Hoffman. All respect due. But the press is evil.

I'm done doing interviews for magazines. I just want to give my music to the people. That's the only way my message gets across accurately.
— Drizzy (@Drake) February 13, 2014

Drake, if you're reading this, you have a cover story with the Weekly waiting for you. Just say the word. But if a local, beloved Tucson celebrity dies, we might have to reschedule.

Dan Gibson beat me to the punch with his post about Ed Supe John Huppenthal shilling for the Goldwater Institute. Huppenthal voiced a robocall telling parents how they can use taxpayer money to send their kids to private schools. In his post, Dan includes the video of Brahm Resnick’s news piece about the robocall and a Facebook post by Democratic candidate for Ed Supe David Garcia, so I won’t repeat them. Both are worth a look.

Here’s a bit of the back story on the robocall, and it’s only a bit. There’s lots of unpacking to do about the Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA)— aka Educational Savings Accounts, aka (according to me) Vouchers on Steroids. I did some unpacking in an earlier post, and there’s plenty of material left for later. Now, though, I want to follow the money robocall.

A brief overview. The Goldwater Institute came up with the idea for ESAs as a second workaround (the first is our tuition tax credit law) to make vouchers legal in a state where the constitution prohibits the use of public money for religious instruction. (Did you know over 70% of Arizona’s private schools are religious?) The term of art for this kind of legislation is “backdoor vouchers.” In 2011, Arizona’s Republican-dominated legislature passed the ESAs into law for a limited number of students. In 2013, more students were added, and if a new bill passes this session, half of Arizona’s school aged children will be eligible for the taxpayer-funded private school vouchers. The conservative's ultimate goal is vouchers for all.

The Alliance for School Choice, a Washington, D.C., agent of the vast privatization/corporate complex, put together a script for a robocall to go out to Arizona parents whose children qualify for the ESAs. Huppenthal lent his voice to the robocall. Actually, he lent more than his voice. He lent the power and authority of his office to the message, making it sound like an official public service announcement. Huppenthal’s call sent interested parents to a website about ESAs created and funded by — get ready for it — the Goldwater Institute. And so the private-to-public-to-private-to-public-to-private cycle that begins and ends with the Goldwater folks comes full circle.

• Photo by G.PAGOMENOS/Shutterstock.com

There's another adult store popping up in Midtown Tucson. Le Boutique Erotica will open its doors tomorrow, and will be conveniently next to Ten's Showclub on the corner of East Speedway and North Rosemont Blvd. James Caddell, store manager, says that Le Boutique Erotica will be the biggest Corset dealer in Arizona and it's the "cheapest adult store in town." Caddell, 49, says that the shop won't carry any toys, but there will be over 700 different corset styles to choose from.

Caddell says he owned an adult clothing store in the past, but he doesn't like talking about it. Maybe he didn't want to talk about James's Boutique that was located on 4380 Speedway Blvd. "This isn't my first rodeo," James said.

Caddell says the shop will have an array of stripper wear, lingerie, belly dancing outfits, creative costumes, jewelry, perfume and heels. "We will have a little bit of everything," Caddell said. According to Caddell, the in-store hair salon is expected to open with the next few weeks. He also says they are waiting for the sign that was supposed to be completed months ago.

If you were looking around the Arizona Daily Star's website yesterday, you might have noticed a blog entry by Darren DeRonco about an app designed to fight the scourge of graffiti:

Got a graffiti problem in your neighborhood?

There’s now an app for that.

Tucson’s released an app where residents can file a report and even send a picture of the graffiti.

The app, dubbed MyTucson, was created in a joint collaboration between the City and Graffiti Protective Coatings. MyTucson is free to download for the iPhone and Android.

I suppose that DeRonco copy doesn't exactly mention when the app was released, but if you're thinking the story has a bit of a not-so-fresh feeling, it might because you remember our story on that very same app back in 2010:

The new application, called myTucson or Target Graffiti, debuted locally on Sept. 1, as part of a high-tech effort to crack down on graffiti in Tucson.

The app allows users to take a photo of graffiti using their phone and send it, along with a description and GPS coordinates, to the city of Tucson, where it is sorted by location and surface type before being forwarded to a Graffiti Protective Coatings employee in the field.

With the help of this new technology, the company can usually paint over a tag within 24 hours, said Lupe Mercado, the general manager of Graffiti Protective Coatings.

But, hey, we don't always share the same audience, so better late than never, right?l

Alan Davis, Tucson Weekly multimedia intern, captured some glass blowers competing at the 13th Annual Flame Off on Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Rialto Theatre. There were 20 local and international talents playing with fire at this year's Flame Off. This is one of the most visually appealing Gem, Mineral & Fossil events that comes once a year, so check out this two minute video if you missed it.

Here are some of the 2014 Flame Off winners:

Solo Competition:
1st: Matt Bain
2nd: Paul Kowan
3rd: Eli Mazet

Teams:
1st Place: Patty Lakinsmith & Joy Munshower
2nd Place: Ely Andrew Miller & Josh Kellems
3rd Place: Micah Blatt & Brian Jacobson