Coming Soon: Big Brother at YOUR dinner table

The FDA announced today that it’s considering regulating salt.

Yes, salt.

You may no longer be free to consume as much of it as you want soon.

People, this is why it’s important to oppose ANY government control in the minute details of our lives. This is why fierce opposition to things that may seem “good” (like smoking bans in restaurants, as one example) is so important. First it’s one thing, then another, then another, and suddenly everyone wonders where their freedom went.

I was infuriated when people I know who call themselves freedom lovers voted for the Arizona smoking ban. Do they not realize that things like that only pave the way for more and more government intrusion and control over our personal lives?

On that sad election night I listened to the Rush song “Witch Hunt” over and over … the following lines really stuck out:

Ignorance and prejudice, and fear walk hand in hand
Those who know what’s best for us must rise and save us from ourselves

What’s next, banning red clothing because psychologists say it incites anger in people? (Maybe I should keep my mouth shut because Nancy Pelosi might try to get that one passed.)

I need your vote!

I’ve just learned that my latest book, “Selling Sucks,” has been nominated for Business Book of the Year for 2007 by 800-CEO-READ! I’d hugely appreciate your vote -

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Thank you!
Frank

New Scottsdale cafe to be named “Temporary”

How appropriate, in a town where there is zero loyalty and the mindless herds just run to the next new place.

At least the owners of this place seem to know, through tongue-in-cheek humor, that everything in Scottsdale is temporary.

I’ve never seen a town with so little loyalty and so much mindless herding to the latest trend.

Of course, as we all know, Scottsdale of the past 7 years has been “temporary” and is going away since it was fueled by easy credit and housing-ATM money instead of any real wealth or income.

Well Said. Very Well Said.

Thanks to Joe Jacari – this one deserves it’s own post.

I’ll be quite honest with you. For the most part, I like the desert of Arizona: the big sky, the austere sparse beauty, the mountains, the various species of cacti, etc.

What I don’t like is the avalanche of cookie-cutter Olive Gardens, McDonalds, Pier One Imports and Wal Marts being slapped up in new strip malls, sprouting like weeds, on every other corner around the valley.

This whole valley is becoming one, big, stucco McCity.

It’s bad enough that hostile, lib socialists have taken over the bureaucracy of the once-inviting Scottsdale.
What’s worse is that the quick buck artists, shysters, tweekers, botox beauties, materialistic dolt wannabes, house flippers, illegal aliens and $30K a year millionaires now outnumber the true heirs and original inhabitants of the city.

I think people will continue to move out, or just sequester themselves away from the riff raff, in an attempt to maintain sanity. There are still some enclaves of Scottsdale that have resisted the takeover; however, at the end of the day, you have to be taking home some serious bread to maintain an authentic lifestyle.

And that’s theme of my post: authenticity.

Scottsdale used to be authentic. It had some real cowboys left, a legitmate and pleasant upper class, an influx of Los Angeles entertainment personalities in the winter, some snowbirds who knew when the weather was good and when it was time to leave, and a solid middle class.

Sure, you still had the perpetual underclass and your share of losers and those with serious personal issues, but they had a certain charm to them, and held a semblance of nobility as many struggled to make a better life–armed with a genuine work ethic–rather than a sense of entitlement and today’s quick-buck-at-any-cost mindset.

What Scottsdale’s morphed into is anyone’s guess–and it’s not good–but is easily intuited by even a casual observer with a cursory knowledge of the City and what it used to be.

Sure, it still tries to maintain the the pretense, the mirage of class, exclusivity and prestige. But you don’t have to dig deep and mereley have to scratch the surface to see that behind the glittering facade lies some shoddy workmanship.

Scottsdale has become the perfect metaphor for the negative direction America is headed.

For the most part, I’d rather be up in Prescott or Payson and cool out with real people, in an authentic community.

Wouldn’t you?

Video Message from Frank

What the f*ck?

Sorry for the title of this post, but I just returned from a large family gathering in Scottsdale where I was yesterday and returned home early today. The visiting family included myself and my girlfriend, relatives from Orange County, LA, San Diego, New York, Georgia, and a smattering of others.

We were at a relative’s house in north Scottsdale – Troon to be exact – and the one thing that kept coming out of the mouths of the visitors regarding Scottsdale was, “What the f*ck?” Everyone was completely baffled as to why anyone would live in Scottsdale.

The first thing that got everyone was how maddeningly slow everyone drives. “What the f*ck?” This was quickly explained as soon as everyone noticed the overzealous enforcement of artifically low speed limits, including both live cops and photo radar, leading to another “What the f*ck?”

Nobody could believe the sheer number of photo radar installations all over the place (which have gone WAY up in number since I moved away). They also couldn’t believe how many cops wasted their time on traffic patrol in a place famous for its property crime rates and illegal aliens. My girlfriend’s cousin was stopped and forced to take a breathalyzer test in Scottsdale simply because she had trouble finding the headlight switch in her rental car. It seems the Constitution-ignoring scum Scottsdale cop who was waiting outside the restaurant decided that a two-second delay in turning on the headlights was enough to “justify” a DUI stop.

Luckily she hadn’t been drinking and got away no problem, but I found it interesting that there were three – yes three, Scottsdale cop cars with her on the side of the road to give roadside sobriety tests and a breathalyzer, just because it took her a few seconds to find the headlight switch in her rental car she’d just picked up that day.

I wonder how many homes were burglarized, how many cars got stolen or broken into, and how many illegals roamed without a worry while three cops pulled over a sober 27-year old woman for taking a few seconds to turn on her headlights????

Are Scottsdale cops such pussies that they require three cars to feel safe stopping one 27-year old woman? Or are they lazy pieces of sh*t who were trying to avoid real work?

What a f*cking joke the Scottsdale PD is. “What the f*ck?”

Continuing on, many of the visiting relatives were shocked and appalled that the pussified residents of Scottsdale tolerate the insane photo enforcement on every corner. Having seen that, after only one day of visiting Scottsdale for the first time, they decided that if the residents won’t fight back and will tolerate that crap, they deserve it.

I couldn’t agree more.

They could see why such Gestapo-style traffic enforcement actually makes the roads *more* dangerous. We all had a good laugh at the stupid residents and leadership of Scottsdale since we all live in places where 85 mph is the norm and you won’t get a ticket for it, and yet we all feel safe on our roads and accidents are few and far between. We mutually agree that anyone who buys into Scottsdale’s “speed kills” propaganda is a moron. Driving in Scottsdale felt extremely unsafe, especially at night – flashes going off all over the place, people slamming on their brakes, slowing down for the cameras then speeding up again, having to pass idiots on the right who aren’t aware that going slow in the left lane is dangerous and illegal, and on and on and on.

What a shithole.

The relative who hosted the event at his Scottsdale home seemed to be bragging when he mentioned someone getting clocked doing 100 mph on Loop 101 photo radar, then the cops picked him at work the next day and dragged him out in handcuffs. None of us could believe that this would be tolerated in the United States of America and were astounded that a resident was actually *proud* of this nonsense. Not only is it indicitave of a police state gestapo, but it’s a misuse of police resources.

Today at breakfast, my girlfriend and I were re-awakened to how worthless Scottsdale parents are. While living in Arizona, we were always fed up with having to hear obnoxious misbehaved kids in restaurants while the lazy-ass indifferent Scottsdale parents just sat back and allowed it. We both come from the northeast where you get thrown out of a restaurant if your kids act like that. Today, we saw it going on all around us. We suddenly realized that in Orange County, there are even *more* kids around, and yet we never, ever see that kind of behavior. We sat in disbelief as the bratty kid at the next table jumped on and off his chair, screamed and yelled, ran around, while both the parents and the restaurant just ignored it. We finally turned and yelled “SHUT HIM UP ALREADY” as the lazy indifferent Scottdale mom sat in disbelief, while continuing to do nothing about her bratty kid. No wonder why Arizona breeds so many criminals and deadbeats – there is no parenting and kids never learn about values and discipline.

Then we got up to get in the car and get the f*ck out of that hellhole.

After visiting Scottsdale for just a day, I’m still in shock and awe at how terrible the people, the police, and the government of that town is.

All I can say is, “What the f*ck?”

Ah, Scottsdale….

My girlfriend arrived in Scottsdale today for a big family gathering this weekend (I’ll be in and out, staying only for one day … I can’t stand the place any longer than that).

She’s at a hotel in north Scottsdale and her relatives who live there are up in Troon. She called to tell me she cannot believe how ugly the entire place looks after having been gone for almost a year now. She’s baffled and mystified as to why anyone would ever choose to live there, and seeing how ugly and useless the entire area is (and how grumpy and rude all the people are), she’s more convinced than ever that no one with any real wealth, substance, dignity, or intelligence would ever choose to live in Scottsdale. She and I both find it laughable that anyone would associate living in Scottsdale with status. To us, living in Scottsdale is something to be ashamed of. If you must live in Arizona, at least have some dignity and live in a part of the Valley where the people aren’t a complete freakshow.

Just to set the record straight, she has mentioned on numerous occasions that if she hadn’t met me, she would have moved out of Scottsdale and back to NY almost immediately (we met only a couple of weeks after she moved to AZ). She was excited to be single in a new city, but immediately saw that Scottsdale has no real men and instead is a collection of super-lame dorks and phonies, and a pathetic wannabe nightlife, and knew instantly that she’d never find the quality of men she’d been used to in the Northeast. She only moved there because her relatives in Troon offered her a good job and she wanted to experience a different part of the country. I’m glad we met when we did, because after only about a month, she knew she didn’t want to stay, and we’d have never met had I not caught her sooner!

And believe me, in the two years we spent together while living in Arizona, she was miserable and couldn’t wait until the day we packed up and moved on. If you think I hate Scottsdale, you need to meet her!!

Interestingly, we wound up moving sooner than planned, after I had a particularly bad day of dealing with horribly rude and nasty Scottsdale a-holes. We immediately went to OC to look for a place to live. The following week I had a speaking engagement in Long Island, NY, and wound up handling all the paperwork via fax and finding a local bank to wire the money to secure the house. That’s what happens when you finally get fed up with Scottsdale and realize you’re not going to waste another minute of your life in that hellhole. The author W. Clement Stone called it “inspirational dissatisfaction.”

By the way, now that ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ is back on the air, we watch it now and then to make fun of it, but even as bad as that show is, we agree that we’d live in Coto de Caza before we’d ever move back to Scottsdale!!

Cave Creek turning pansy like Scottsdale?

It appears that many Cave Creek residents want to ban mounted shooting, claiming that it’s “dangerous.”

If you’re not aware, mounted shooting is a 100% safe sport where cowboys on horseback shoot blank ammunition at balloon targets (when shooting blanks, there’s no bullet, but the hot gas coming from the gun is enough to pop the balloon). However, more and more Cave Creek residents think it’s “dangerous” and, in the new tradition that is Arizona, they wish to ban anything and everything they don’t like.

It’s a shame that Cave Creek, which has such a rich western and cowboy heritage, is turning into another pansy-ass liberal town like Scottsdale.

People, this is what happens when you get a bunch of losers who can’t even get approved for a car loan or apartment lease and you give them $800,000 mortgages (because they lied on their loan applications and nobody verified their income) and let them move into what was formerly a nice area.

Report from the field

Thanks to Raven for this one. I’ll be in and out of Phoenix for a day next week and can’t wait to see how desolate Scottsdale has become … it was already looking like a ghost town when I was there last, in September.

Back in North Scottsdale for a couple of weeks to tie up some loose ends. Some on the ground observations:

Retail, supermarkets and eating establishments/restaurants are absolutely dead…customer traffic is basically nil…clerks and employees just hanging around talking to each other. This was observed at DC Ranch Marketplace, the Summit (Ashler Hills), the strip at the corner of Scottsdale Rd. & Pinnacle Peak and the one at the other end at Pima Rd., (Bank of America location of which I was the only customer in my two visits). Across Pinnacle Peak Rd. at the other strip, AJ’s had very light customer traffic also..while the smaller stores in these strip malls, (spa, tanning, Mailbox, dry cleaners,etc.), are EMPTY of any customers.

Numerous “AVAILABLE” posters hang in the windows of empty storefronts thruout these strip malls.
Tomorrow, a new center is coming on line on the corner of Scottsdale & Lone Mtn. Rds. with the grand opening of another AJ’s as the anchor…will check it out. Further north, El Pedregal has devolved into a true desert ghost town…very depressing…they’re reduced to a free shuttle from the Boulders up the road to bring in trinket shoppers.

As for residential real estate…the number of FOR SALE and OPEN HOUSE signs is astounding…on a couple of occasions, I’ve seen three houses in a row with FOR SALE signs on the same block! Also, a large number of FOR SALE OR LEASE/RENT signs as desperate homeowners will do anything in this saturated and dropping market to unload the huge mortgage burden. In several conversations here, the talk eventually turns to the economy and the “market”. Some believe that now in “the season” (snowbirds) things will pick up. One stereotypical Scottsdale a-hole realty broker was telling me how “the doctors” moving in because of the new (small) Scottsdale Healthcare hospital facility near Grayhawk would “revitalize’ the high-end market. I felt like throwing up on his stupid Tommy Bahama knock-off shirt…..

Arizona Foreclosures up 566% this year (so far…)

Arizona foreclosure filings up 566% (so far) in 2007

“The foreclosure problem in Arizona is only going to get worse,” said Fred Karnas, the new director of the Arizona Department of Housing.

Based on figures from the past few months, as many as 10,000 homeowners across metro Phoenix will lose their homes this year. Last year, there were fewer than 2,000 foreclosures.

Gee whiz, maybe if people didn’t lie in their loan applications and use their home equity as an ATM to pay for Escalades, Rolexes, hookers, and cocaine, then we wouldn’t be in this situation.

I wonder what the percentage in Scottsdale itself it, because you know it’s way higher than the state overall.

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