Diamond Does the Desert (reprise)

Caricature of Don Diamond as a King of Diamonds

[Ed. note: First published in our pages in 2012, we are reprinting this piece in the interests of giving a more rounded assessment of Don Diamond’s legacy than that offered by the Tucson Weekly and Inside Tucson Business, who ran identical articles about him, titled respectively “Requiem for a Heavyweight” and “Mourners laud Don Diamond’s …

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Tucson’s Reign of Bombs

OCCUPIED TUCSON CITIZEN Third in an ongoing series of irreverent profiles on Tucson’s One Percent, this time featuring Raytheon Missle Systems Net Worth 2012 net income was $1.9 billion. Net sales weighed in around $25 billion. Tucson’s economy is at the mercy of this corporation, the city’s largest employer and the world’s largest guided missile …

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CLICK HERE for Climate Catastrophe

Graphite pencil drawing of Jim Click as the Jack of Clubs--with the dimensions of a playing card. Stripes on his coat double as pipes emitting smoke into the background.

OCCUPIED TUCSON CITIZEN Net Worth Who knows? Clue: he owns one of America’s largest automotive groups, with over 1,000 employees and $315 million in annual revenues. Business model: it’s all about the PR. As easy as it is to hate a car salesman, Jim Click makes it pretty tough to hate the dealer. His well-oiled …

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Occupy Winesburg

Young woman holding megaphone in front of protest signs. Large sign in back reads, "All Voices Heard Here."

OCCUPIED TUCSON CITIZEN Day 1. I pitched my tent between the soccer field and the playground in Emile Durkheim Park, across the street from Emile Durkheim High School, my stinking alma mater, and I dove the dumpster at Dollar General for sheets of cardboard. My mother texted: you’re making a fool of yourself, honey. Did I care? …

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Diamond Does the Desert

"Don Diamond, with large red stencil lettering above which reads, 'WANTED'"

OCCUPIED TUCSON CITIZEN First in an ongoing series of irreverent profiles on Tucson’s One Percent Net worth: $400 million, as estimated in 2003 by Worth magazine. Business model: Buys a swath of heartbreakingly beautiful desert—preferably abutting an environmentally sensitive area—and spends a decade or so gaming the political system to increase its value. Then, having …

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