The city of Scottsdale is running an On-Line Survey to determine the resident’s wants, needs, and desires for the downtown area transportation plan.

To be heard yet again, every citizen needs to take this survey as soon as possible at:

We really don't understand why a new survey is needed. We had a 22 member panel of highly credible and knowledgeable citizens who gave well over a year and a half of their time and gave specific and voluminous input into this problem, a hired gun, HDR that we paid a cool ^$1.2 million, with a consultant whose prime income was selling modern streetcars to cities, who came up with a huge "generic zero" recommendation, as well as many other public meetings, discussions and general public input into this problem. There should be enough information available to fill Apache Lake and still develop a number of plans with the information available to the city!

Apparently, "Mother Mary" and Jan Dolan haven’t gotten the answers they want yet, to hell with the hard work of the citizens and their wants, needs and desires as well as tax monies spent on consultants.

Now could it be that because both "Mother Mary" and Jan Dolan are heavily involved in MAG and our answers aren’t acceptable to MAG (a non-city organization) that they are still trying to weasel what they want by getting some hack job survey done quietly by telling only certain people of it’s availability? We think this is the REAL answer!!!

Every citizen who has a computer, no matter your ideas on transportation in the downtown area should complete this survey no later than late this Thursday.

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As you all know, for the last few weeks I have been considering running for Mayor in the upcoming City elections.  I considered running for Mayor because I believe that my being in the race would offer Scottsdale voters the clearest choice between two competing visions for Scottsdale’s future. 

But the overwhelming input I received from my supporters was that they do not want me to give up my Council seat to run for Mayor.  They want me to stay on the Council to continue fighting for the things that we all believe are important for Scottsdale.  So, I have decided to forego the Mayor’s race and stay on Council to do the job you, the voters elected me to do. 

Councilman Bob Littlefield

 ~ SkySong: Mass Misinformation?

When David Roderique, who was smart enough to leave the employ of the city this week, was asked by one of our staff members if the buildings at SkySong would be LEED certified, his written answer on Monday, January 14, 2008 2:40 PM was:

"Per the public hearing process they are required to be LEED certifiable.  I checked today and found out that ASUF intends to submit buildings one and two together for LEED certification, so they will submit after the second building is completed this coming May. They are quite comfortable that the two buildings will receive certification, as they have incorporated many green aspects.  I know they have also been working with Anthony Floyd on Green Building practices for the apartments.  If you need details you can check with Anthony, or Kroy Ekblaw who is the project manager for SkySong."

The ASU Insight states:

"The dynamic center will be a home for a diverse set of tenants: ASU units, large multinational corporations, small and medium-sized technology companies, and arts and culture organizations, among others. These tenants will build a culture of innovation to advance the regional economy."

"Construction on the 1.2 million square foot project begins in March with occupancy scheduled for early 2007."

"On a larger scale, the center will be a global focal point for cross-disciplinary collaboration, technological innovation and entrepreneurial ventures. Physically, it will embody creative architecture in an urban environment with 1.2 million square feet of high-tech commercial office space, displays of ASU’s most innovative technologies, multimedia-enriched pedestrian areas, retail space, restaurants and community outreach programming."

And ASU President Michael Crow stated: "This center is not a traditional research park, nor a business park, nor a university campus; it is a hybrid of all three," says ASU President Michael Crow.

"This center will become home to activities and organizations that stimulate new forms of commerce, research, technology, art, education and economic development."

Very interesting to say the least because………

".... with occupancy scheduled for early 2007." Yeah, that happened didn't it?

"..... high-tech commercial office space, displays of ASU’s most innovative technologies, multimedia-enriched pedestrian areas, retail space, restaurants and community outreach programming." Oh, and so has this??

So much for the wildly off base and out of touch predictions, let's talk "Green".

According to the U.S. Green Building Council, "LEED provides a complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals. Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state-of-the-art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. LEED recognizes achievements and promotes expertise in green building through a comprehensive system offering project certification, professional accreditation, training and practical resources."

Based upon the information above, we took a LEED trained commercial contractor and consultant very familiar with the requirements of a LEED compliant project with us to do a daylight Saturday inspection of the SkyFlop buildings which are supposed to be "state of the art" architecture, LEED certifiable, and edgy design, but found nothing but the following:

In building 1, it was very interesting to see the ½ inch + wide gaps all around the 12 foot tall and 4+ foot wide single pane plate double glass doors and the single pane plate glass walls to which they are attached. No LEED compliance here!

We also took notice of the lack of insulation in the ceilings of both buildings between floors. They do have double pane glass windows in building 1 which appear tinted but we couldn’t find any printed or stamped evidence of the glass being UVA/UVB/"green" certified, although there are some barely overhanging shades to divert some direct sunlight which might be a lame or weak excuse for a LEED claim.

The landscaping is currently in progress which will hide some of the failures of the design as well as the lack of LEED certified components. As far as LEED compliant plants and trees are concerned, there seem to be trees and shrubs that will use a lot more water than native trees, plants and shrubs which should be used but are not foliated as heavily as the current choices which will be able to hide more of the flaws in design.

In building 2, it is obvious that there are zero LEED compliant materials being used in the basic structure and the fire retardant material sprayed on the beams doesn’t seem to cover all areas which it should, but we realize the building is still under construction. We didn’t see any LEED compliant insulation between the exterior portion of the walls and the interior walls as well as zero insulation between interior walls.

It was very interesting that all of the original renderings and LEED compliant material lists have all disappeared from any and all websites including the city website, and have been replaced with the current version of the far less than the quoted "two buildings will receive certification, as they have incorporated many ‘green’ aspects."

Our questions are really very simple:

On the northeast corner of College Avenue and University in Tempe,

sits the Fulton Building, home of the Arizona State University Foundation. Check the building out and compare it to the construction project on the southeast corner of McDowell Road and Scottsdale Road, aka SkySong.

The architecture, construction, style and character of the Fulton Building shouts cutting edge and edgy. What is sitting on the former Los Arcos site does not compare.

The ASUF- Fulton Building is describes as follows:

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Is it any wonder that Ron McCullagh, the Panderer-in-Chief of the Scottsdale City Council, is the top fund raiser in his bid for re-election?   He has been handsomely rewarded by the Chamber-types and the hard core developers for his consistent support for subsidies and secrecy. 

In Scottsdale, the conventional way to get elected in the first place is to promise subsidies; and to get re-elected by voting for subsidies for your supporters. 

You get electoral support by giving away tax money. 

What a great place Scottsdale is.

McCullagh has never voted against a subsidy in his time on the City Council.  Even though he goes to Republican gatherings and calls himself a fiscal conservative, the truth is that he has never seen a subsidy he didn’t support--including for car dealers.  And why not?  His campaign financial report shows the success of his political "principles."

Steve Evans is a major contributor.  You remember Steve?  He is the guy who sold the City Council on subsidizing the ASU Foundation’s Sky Song project to the tune of $120 million.

Eneas Kane is a major contributor.  Maybe you haven’t heard of Eneas.  He’s Drew Brown’s lawyer—think "One Scottsdale" at Scottsdale Road and the 101 Freeway.  Brown, of course, was also the guy who, along with Evans, negotiated the Los Arcos giveaway.

Virginia Korte is a major contributor.  You know Virginia.  She’s the one who wants to build a hotel across the street from SkySong; and, of course, will be seeking a subsidy.

David Barnett is a major contributor.  David is on the Scottsdale Planning Commission and is obviously appreciative of McCullagh’s total commitment to pave over downtown Scottsdale and to tall buildings, high densities and big subsidies.

Jim Pederson is a major contributor.  Name sound familiar?   He’s the guy who developed the Promenade at Scottsdale and FLW—with a huge city subsidy.  Wonder when he will show up again with his hand extended for more of McCullagh’s largesse.

Funny thing, McCullagh doesn’t want anyone to know who the people are that contributed to him—he refused to provide legally required information disclosing for whom his contributors work.  

The Scottsdale Activist has filed a Formal Complaint with the City Clerk asking that McCullagh comply with the law.  Ron, we know your background is in real estate and finance.  Why try to hide the fact that you are a developer’s best friend?  

Your support for subsidies for anyone who asks for one is biblical in proportion:  "Ask and ye shall receive." 

Ron, you don’t represent voters; you represent the bleeders and leeches of public funds.  In fact, you are one of them.  You don’t espouse Republican principles.  You are a giveaway artist who represents private interests. 

McCullagh is interested in only one thing—to let his friends and colleagues turn downtown Scottsdale into a replica of downtown Phoenix.  Although he says he is against light rail on Scottsdale Road, McCullagh has broken every other promise of any significance he has made, so why should we believe him on light rail? 

His Campaign Finance Report tells us that we should not.

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Although we didn’t always agree with Dave and felt he could have done a better job in a number of situations, we also knew he, like most others that have left city employ, was hamstrung by the secrecy, massive mismanagement and foolish spending of the current Manross-Dolan administration.

Dave is the latest of a long list of highly qualified city employees who have sought better working conditions and friendlier work surrounding over the last few years and we have no bad feelings about his leaving other than the city is slowly slipping beyond the point of no return with the loss of still another Drinkwater era employee who really knew the city and residents needs well and tried to respond in kind.

Most of the current batch of Dolan appointees cannot come close to filling the shoes or experience of most that have left for a number of reasons, but mostly because of the total lack of a strong, open and nurturing management style of one Jan Dolan. When you don’t know what you’re doing, how can you expect anyone to excel or stay around for any length of time when there are far friendlier places to work?

Enough said?

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~ PDG America to "Flip" out of "Centrovida"?

Many neighbors apparently weren’t even contacted about the revived "Centrovida" by Technical Solutions according to many calls we have received. If they were contacted, they totally opposed the original development as well as the changes and expressed their opinions accordingly.

Could it be that PDG America is trying to get the zoning, height and density changes so they can "flip" out of the property and recover some monies lost in a very poor investment based on promises from the city??

The following website might shed a lot of light on that question.

It clearly states:

PDG America to shop Phoenix portfolio

PDG America intends to sell its class A retail portfolio in the Phoenix area for $330 million. The 11-property group, which comprises neighborhood and power centers and regional malls, has 1.5 million square feet and an overall occupancy rate of 92%.   GlobeSt.com (7/31)

Scottsdale Republic Columnist Laurie Roberts hit the nail on its head with a sledgehammer Thursday and we thought everyone should read it.

This Column is a MUST READ!!!

We rarely pass on stuff from the Republic but they somehow let this one slip through the Manross Administration censors.

 ~Parkinson's Law

Parkinson's Law as commonly referenced states that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."

A more succinct phrasing also commonly used is "work expands to fill the time available." He explains this growth by two forces:

Parkinson also proposed a rule about the efficiency of administrative councils. He defined a coefficient of inefficiency with the number of members as the main determining variable.

This appears to describe Jan Dolan’s management plan to the inth degree doesn’t it?

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We dropped Raun Keagy an email asking for the outcome of the Carriage Hills Subdivision problem with illegal plants and sprays involving the NAOS/ESLO areas of the subdivision.

He promised an answer last week,. Well, that week has passed and we haven't received that promised answer.

If the heat's too much for the department, maybe City Manager Jan Dolan needs to get involved.  

 ~Letters to the Editor  

The following questions come to mind regarding PDG America's re-named (but unchanged) Scottsdale Centrovida project for the site adjacent to SkyFiasco currently known as Los Arcos Crossing:

Why is PDG proposing to build apartment units when both Mark Taylor Co. and Sundt Construction have apparently concluded that residential construction just next door at SkyFiasco is untenable due to market conditions?

Why should the City of Scottsdale pay for the construction and maintenance of an extension of the east-west SkyFiasco Boulevard through the Centrovida site?  Is this a veiled attempt to bail out the failing SkyFiasco while claiming that the improvements are for the benefit of the Centrovida project?

And what type of expensive and unwarranted precedent does this establish?

At a time when the commercial credit markets have dried up, does PDG America actually having a funding source, and secured funding, for this project?  Or is PDG merely seeking an approval for upzoning of the site in order to flip it in an attempt to recover lost dollars due to purchasing a grossly overpriced property in the first place?

What exactly were neighbors in the surrounding neighborhood told by Technical Solutions (Susan Bitter Smith) in the supposedly extensive community outreach?  They certainly were not told, as several have personally informed me, of the imminent announced closing of the Basha's supermarket.  They were also not informed of the existing 32 foot height limit for the site being raised to 50+ feet.

The proposed project is untenable - too high, too dense, insufficient retail.  And under no circumstances should the City Council approve this project in any form unless Rick Sodja of PDG America demonstrates he has the money in hand and personally guarantees he can proceed to a finished product.

Michelle Aubert
Scottsdale 

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After the recent submission of Ronald "McOsterman’s" campaign finance reports in which he decided he was going to try to cover up those who have been supporting his campaign, there has been much debate about how quickly and how badly Ronald got blasted and exposed.

Being the nice person I am I decided that I would let this edition expose some facts about Ronald "McOsterman’s" submission in one of this week’s hard hitting editorials. This works out okay with me as it gives me a little more time to continue to dig into Ronald’s buddies.

It allows the Oz Tribune the time to report on information I have already sent them and, possibly, do an article exposing Ronald’s ties to developers. Then come next week I will be dedicating this column to all the nasty little secrets that Ronald wants to hide from people, namely the voters of Oz. Don’t for one minute think though that I am not going to get some digs in on "Old Ronnie Boy" now, though.

Here is an interesting little fact I pulled up this week that should really chap South Scottsdale and Downtown merchants. Now everyone knows just how much "worth" Ronnie has been at working with neighborhoods to protect them from bad development, height increases, density issues, and of all things that come with this thing called traffic in the Land of Oz.

Should you find it surprising then that the "little weasel" who will not stand up for our communities or our city appeared at a variance hearing and in, of all places, Tempe, where he objected to a house being remodeled and adding a second story in an area that already had such housing and most neighbors had no objections to it?

Oh, yes siree! It is true and factual that "Ronnie Boy" went to Tempe to air his complaint about the same things that are happening here in Oz that he allows and approves regularly during Council meetings. He knows damn well residents here are all against such projects in their neighborhoods and he allows it on a much larger scale than just a house.

On April 26, 2006, Ronald "McOsterman" appeared at a Board of Adjustment hearing in the City of Tempe to object to the house in question and you can verify it yourself from this link.

Now, let’s not ignore the fact that "the weasel" was apparently there to support a family member and thought that by some chance he could use his "Scottsdale City Councilman" influence to kill the project, if you read his objections you will note the "little rat’s patoot" stated the CC&R’s and their conditions for the properties.

Now, if anyone remembers some of his recent comments regarding how the City of Oz cannot use the CC&R’s of homeowners to force the city to deny a development on private property, then you should be highly pissed about now to see that "the weasel" went to another city and tried to use the same reasoning that I recently heard Darlene Peterson using to protest the new fence ordinance the city adopted.

Talk about being a two faced politician, don’t you think?

Wait, it gets better. Remember that COPP and the North supported this weasel in his election win, and I think that was based more on his stance of destroying the first amendment with the banning of "Political Signs".

We pulled up Ronald "McOsterman’s" real estate license information and found it funny that Ronnie claims to be retired which we all know is a lie, but "Ronnie Boy" is again showing his weasel abilities by hiding his business name and I am wondering why it is that he is hiding it?

Does he have a license to conduct business in Oz or is he hiding from having to pay the city the required fees and license costs to run a business in the city?

Could it be that maybe he has ties with other big developers in the city doing business here and he does not want anyone to be able to link him to them?

Now, what about "Ronnie Boys" comments in 2004, when he wanted to be elected and compared with his previous 4 years in office? What did Ronnie Boy say back then and what has he actually approved in his typical weasel style?

 ~In Ron McCullagh’s own words:

Traffic congestion:
 
"Traffic congestion is a result of an irregularly shaped city, poor planning and slow corrective action. The Scottsdale Master Transportation plan is a sound plan that will improve the flow of traffic when completed. The plan includes more traffic lanes, improved street designs and a flexible transit system. In the meantime, construction of the improvements compounds the problem."

Preserving desert open space:

"Preserving desert open space: Scottsdale must balance rapid growth and development with its desire to protect desert open space. Growth is inevitable, so it must be managed. Scottsdale's master plan illustrates how much land is left to develop and how it is to be developed. Scottsdale must adhere to that plan or face additional growing pains."

Ron McCullagh holds a doctorate in business, is a former university professor and is retired from the financial services industry.

Did I just read Ronnie Boy state "poor planning" and all the while he has sat up in that Council seat on the Dias in the "Hallowed" Kiva approving piss poor planning project after project?

Now this link is one that will probably help some people to decide just how much of a weasel old Ronald "McOsterman" actually is and you better hurry up and click on it as once he remembers it is still up he will rush to shut it down. (we’ll save it for you just in case.)

I loved these quotes from his old website posting; tell me how you think the weasel is doing?

Leadership: Leadership must restore a sense of

In this one, please note his "concern about the resident’s quality of life and then think about what he has voted for in the South and Downtown and his concern for "Our quality of life":

"Economic Development is necessary to support the amenities that make Scottsdale a great place to live, work and vacation. The quality of place that makes the city attractive to its residents also makes it attractive to visitors. And small businesses grow to be large businesses and form a support network that attracts other business. Therefore, economic development strategy should focus on support of existing businesses and the improvement of things that contribute to resident’s quality of life".

Finally, I loved his comments printed here again for the second time, and you should measure his words of wisdom against what he has actually done.

To repeat: Leadership must restore a sense of

Bottom line is that Ronnie Boy is a Flipping Weasel and a person who will tell you whatever he needs to, to make sure he gets your vote. He has proven that time and time again.

Next week he will not be able to hide as I roll his financial backers (and their backgrounds) out to the public for them to decide who is telling the truth, the politician or me.

After all, if he was so dead set against election signs, than why did he spend huge sums of money from his "clean election campaign" when he ran for a State Legislative seat and then was mad when he lost, and had peppered the city with his campaign signs?

Yeah, sure he cared what you thought then about signs and only used his new insight into the sign law of Oz as a tool to get you to vote for him.

~Scottsdale Centrovida, another joke in zoning.

 ~The loss of yet another Oz asset.

Michael Merrill
F8713@aol.com

Thank goodness for TV remotes. When a campaign commercial for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama appears on the TV screen -- Click! -- I turn to "I Love Lucy" reruns, which are far more intelligent and educational.

There, as Ricky Ricardo would say, you’ll see a "Cooban" who is married to a red-headed, blue-eyed Irishwoman, probably the most popular couple ever on TV, and a couple that headed a Hollywood empire. But that was before the US government and its obedient, unthinking and insensitive minions in business and academia insulted Cubans and other distinct ethnic groups by taking away their unique identity and lumping them together with different groups under the "Hispanic" label.

Hey, minions, a Cuban is not the same as a Mexican, just as an Italian is not the same as a pasty-faced Anglo. For one thing, Italians have better teeth and libidos than Anglos. They also have larger noses, which I think makes them look distinguished. No doubt, a lot of African blood made its way to the Italian peninsula. So did a lot of chimpanzee blood, given the fact that DNA analysis shows that all humans are racially identical, with 98 percent of our genes the same as monkey genes. (For President Bush, it’s 99.5 percent.)

Speaking of Italians, is it possible for an Eyetal" to be elected president? The minions have taught me to see racism everywhere, so Rudy Giuliani must have lost because of the racist "Godfather" movies and "Soprano" series, not because he ran a lousy campaign or was a Benito wannabe when he was a New York prosecutor. Of course, New York Italians are mostly Sicilians and Napolese. That makes them about as similar to a northern Italian like me as Louisiana Creoles are to Boston Brahmins.

Phew! This racial bean-counting is complicated.

But to continue with the bean-counting, the media pooh-bahs won’t tell you something that I learned by living in the Mexican barrio of San Antonio: that Mexicans don’t have a lot of affection for blacks. Nor will they tell you what I learned by working as a teenager as the only white, er, olive, on a black janitorial crew: that a lot of blacks are racist.

Thank goodness my kid’s generation sees the racial poppycock for what it is: an arbitrary system of doling out racial spoils and favors. For example, one of my kid’s high school classmates has a Spanish surname and whiter skin than my son. His dad is a lawyer, and his mom, a CPA. He razzes my son about getting more admission points to college because of his last name.

Is this what Barack Obama means when he says that he’ll unite us? Is he going to eliminate affirmative action for Mexicans, or is he going to expand it to Italians?

While we’re on the subject of platitudes, what does Hillary mean when she says in her campaign ads that she works everyday to help people? Well, she doesn’t mean that she works at the Salvation Army soup kitchen. She means that she uses government force to take stuff from some people and give it to other people, so she can pretend to be compassionate.

By the way, I think a law should be passed requiring that the words "some people" be substituted for the word "government." That way, instead of Hillary or Obama saying, "I’ll see that the government helps the XYZ group," he or she would have to say, "I’ll see that some people help the XYZ group."

Don’t think that I’m being partisan. I dislike John McCain as much as I dislike Hillary and Obama. After all, this a guy who idolizes Teddy Roosevelt. Elect him president and we’ll send the Navy to the Philippines to brutally quash Filipino independence.

Hmm, why don’t the media talk about McCain sharing Roosevelt’s desire to project American power around the world? Because the media are primarily Democrat, and the history of the twentieth century shows that Democrats have been just as war-like and as meddlesome in other countries as Republicans--more so, when dead bodies are counted.

I’m off subject. What was the subject?

Oh, yes, it was race. You see, we really don’t share 98 percent of our genes with monkeys. Given how Americans buy into government propaganda, candidate platitudes and media claptrap, we actually share 98 percent of our genes with sheep.

An author, columnist and Eyetalian, Mr. Cantoni can be reached at ccan2@aol.com.

 ~ Council and Mayoral Candidates Information
This part of the web site is reserved for candidates who wish to post vital information about themselves such as Biographies, Campaign information, etc.

John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens), called "pullets," and ten roosters, whose job it was to fertilize the eggs.

The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into the soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time, so he bought a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone so John could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply by listening to the bells.

The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch, a very fine specimen he was, too. But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch’s bell hadn't rung at all!

John went to investigate. The other roosters were chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover.

But to Farmer John's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one. John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the Renfrew County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.

The result........The judges not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.

Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making: who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention.

Vote carefully...the bells are not always audible!

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~ Information You Can Use

Just click on the logos below to go to these websites.

Send our Brave Troops "Something from Home", Click on  Links below.

Gathering of  Eagles Website was launched 2/9/07. Click on the Logo above for more information on how they are protecting America's Memorials.

~ UPDATE!! A "Must See" for All Americans

Every American should check out all of these websites to learn more about what the American population is about to have to deal with.

This is NOT for Children.

I don't normally allow anything but Scottsdale information in the Scottsdale Activist but after receiving many emails about this and viewing it, I think that it's imperative that every adult at least look at what's offered here if for  nothing more than their own education and to have everyone stop and think about the future of our country. Click on the link below,

 www.obsessionthemovie.com

If you don't have Adobe Flash, install it from the bottom of the page that comes up after you click on the link above. You should be able to view all available links within the main page.

The website below is of great interest as seen from a Lebanese point of view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8fa9yKQeTY

The website below gives some history of Terrorist attacks:

http://patriotfiles.org/civilizationcalls.htm

This website tell you what REALLY happened:

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened

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~ Arizona Tax Revolt

~ Prop 13 Arizona