Lots of local governments have been talking about hiring companies to reduce their energy use, in some cases by floating revenue bonds that would be financed by "savings" from the energy strategies.

Oops, in a couple of opinions, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel opines that pledging these "savings" -- to the extent they are tax money -- is unconstitutional. Primary opinion is here. Secondary one here. See, savings do not equal revenue.

This is kind of funny. Didn't a newspaper around here once frown on the use of the word "gay," preferring homosexual? Forcing this issue can be problematic, as we shall see.

The nutty American Family Association, not busy enough censoring TV programs and such, has programmed its OneNewsNow website, including news searches, to replace the word "gay" in every use with homosexual.

You know where this is going don't you? Don't believe me? Actual search result here, with lead paragraph from top item.

Homosexual breaks Greene's US record in 100 at trials

Jun 29, 2008 ... Tyson Homosexual got quite a fright in his first race Saturday. He set a record in his second. Homosexual broke Maurice Greene's American ...

For those of you who don't read the sports pages: The reference is to Tyson Gay, the former UA sprinter, who just ran the fastest 100 meters ever.

Says here that Bush thinks he's having a great year and feeling the love as he travels around the U.S. In denial?

We'll check on the adoring throngs that turn out in Little Rock tomorrow for a feel-good photo op in North Little Rock and then a Republican fund-raiser at beer distributor George O'Connor's home on Palisades. If we're allowed with 100 yards of him, that is.

Says here that Bush thinks he's having a great year and feeling the love as he travels around the U.S. In denial?

We'll check on the adoring throngs that turn out in Little Rock tomorrow for a feel-good photo op in North Little Rock and then a Republican fund-raiser at beer distributor George O'Connor's home on Palisades. If we're allowed with 100 yards of him, that is.

A blog reader posted this on the Ark. Blog in an open thread yesterday and we put a call this morning to confirm, but a news release from U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder beat us to the punch:

Please be advised that my wife Rev. Betsy Singleton is 10 ½ weeks pregnant with triplets.  Obviously the pregnancy is still very early, but so far everything and everyone looks fine.  We appreciate all the good thoughts and prayers now and in the weeks and months to come.   And yes, we did say Triplets.”

Snyder, 60, and Rev. Singleton, 47, have a son, Penn, 2.

Brummett's column on religion and politics was timely. Despite the indication that other issues are more important these days, it doesn't mean politicians aren't still taking care to water the religionist roots of the Republican Party.

Such as Mike Huckabee. This came in via the Austin newspaper. Gone in his altar call for a meeting this week of evangelists -- LaHaye, Wildmon, etc. -- is any hint of the moderation he uses successfully before different audiences. The opening lines catch the spirit:

America and our Judeo Christian heritage is under attack by a force that is more destructive than any threat America has faced since Adolph Hitler in 1934. Defeating the radical jihadists will require renewed resolve and spiritual rearmament by the evangelical pastors in America.

Rediscovering God in America’s goal is to ignite people of faith to again engage the culture and bring America back to our standing around the world as a Beacon of Hope and a Shining City on a Hill

Reader "Waterboy" added this comment on the Sunday night open line, but I thought I'd call further attention to his contribution to the argument that the Little Rock Board of Directors should change leadership of Central Arkansas Water Tuesday by rejecting the reappointment of lawyer Jane Dickey, who's already had 11 years on the commission.

Pat Lynch made this similar point this morning in his Democrat-Gazette column: If Strong Mayor Mark Stodola is really serious about putting new blood on city commissions (that was his argument for denying a new term to Larry Lichty on the Airport Commission) he'd ask for new blood here, too.

Waterboy adds some background as well on the current commission's role in preventing then-CEO Jim Harvey from acquiring Lake Maumelle watershed land on which Jay DeHaven and other investors now hope to reap a windfall from the water utility. Waterboy's account is the same given to me by Harvey last week.

SPEAKING OF WATER: The utility, the U.S. Geological Survey and UALR today announced a plan to use Lake Maumelle for environmental education in the course of monitoring water quality. Let's hope it doesn't result in reports on steady deterioration of hwat has been a pristine source.

Wall Street Journal features the growing conflict between environmental concerns and the push to develop new gas production in the U.S., some in places mostly untouched before by heavy production. (For example: Arkansas.)

Arkansas is not yet listed among the states, such as Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, that have taken steps through additional regulation to safeguard the environment in the midst of heavy exploration pressure. Of course. When polluters run the state environmental protection commission, what do you expect?

PS -- As anticipated, some new pipeline construction was announced today to serve the new gas production in Arkansas. This will provide a goodly number of temporary jobs.

Gen. Wesley Clark said it on CBS yesterday.

I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.

The prediction is that the right will go nutz over this today.

UPDATE: Obama condemns Clark statement.

Mainstream media is wildy distorting what Clark said. Kind of reminiscent of how they covered some Clinton campaign statements. Except, this time, the lefty blogs are howling rather than dittoing. At least Obama got some help from a Clinton today:

Statement by Matt McKenna, Director of Communications, Office of President Clinton, on President Clinton's Discussion with Senator Barack Obama:

President Clinton had a very good conversation with Senator Obama today. He renewed his offer to do whatever he can to ensure Senator Obama is our next President.

President Clinton continues to be impressed by Senator Obama and the campaign he has run, and looks forward to campaigning for and with him in the months to come. The President believes that Senator Obama has been a great inspiration for millions of people around the country, and he knows that he will bring the change America needs as our next President.

Brummett wades into theology. Do you prefer Barack Obama's "expansive" view of Christianity? Or does the pinched James Dobson/Mike Huckabee view -- with its heavy attention to abortion and sexual matters -- appeal more? And will voters really be mobilized on this ground this year?

As it happens, Jeff Greenfield in Slate is covering similar ground and saying that Obama is making some headway with evangelicals. Referring to a former Huckabee supporter, Steve Strang, he writes:

Will Strang vote for Obama? Almost certainly not. But will he regard an Obama presidency as a mortal threat to his most deeply held beliefs? Almost certainly not. Strang reflects the same attitude that Stephen Mansfield presents in his forthcoming book, The Faith of Barack Obama. Mansfield, who has published a similar book about President Bush, writes: "Obama's faith infuses his public policy, so that his faith is not just limited to the personal realms of his life, it also informs his leadership." Mansfield can't bring himself to support Obama because the candidate is pro-choice, but it hardly sounds as if Mansfield will be trying to shepherd hordes of voters to the polls on Election Day to defeat him.

And that's the point. Sometimes, the most effective approach for a candidate is to lower the temperature of the opposition—to say, in effect, "OK, don't vote for me; but you have nothing to fear from me." In other words, to reassure them that you're not so bad.

McCain, meanwhile, had face time with Billy and Franklin Graham.

But forget about religion. The emerging GOP issue is Obama's flip-flopping. Charles Krauthammer's latest, published today in D-G, distills the talking points and makes a bit of fun of his media worshippers.

What do you think?

Interesting article here notes that Monday is John White's final day as chancellor at the University of Arkansas and also the final day of the payout agreement with former basketball coach Nolan Richardson (right). White, while discussing his own mistake, does seem to be shoveling a little of the blame for the Richardson meltdown off on Frank of the Ozarks, already departed from UA officially, but still on the payroll. Other articles in the package talk about goals of the new chancellor, David Gearhart (one of them, more Ark. butts in UA seats) and give his view on campus protests.

The single most important reason why Obama must win:

For much of its term, the Supreme Court muted last year's noisy dissents, warmed to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s vision of narrow, incremental decisions and continued a slow but hardly steady move to the right.

But as justices finished their work last week, two overarching truths about the court remained unchanged: It is sharply divided ideologically on some of the most fundamental constitutional questions, and the coming presidential election will determine its future path.

A victory by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, would probably mean preserving the uneasy but roughly balanced status quo, since the justices who are considered most likely to retire are liberal. A win for his Republican counterpart, John McCain, could mean a fundamental shift to a consistently conservative majority ready to take on past court rulings on abortion rights, affirmative action and other issues important to the right.

NY Times reports on a photo exhibit of a harmonious piece of American statesmanship of the 1950s. Instead of war, the Eisenhower adminisration waged music, sending jazz bands around the globe to spruce up the country's image. There was a spot of trouble:

[Louis] Armstrong canceled a 1957 trip to Moscow after President Dwight D. Eisenhower refused to send federal troops to Little Rock, Ark., to enforce school-integration laws. “The way they are treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell,” he said. “It’s getting so bad, a colored man hasn’t got any country.”

Administration officials feared that this broadside, especially from someone so genial as “Ambassador Satchmo,” would trigger a diplomatic disaster. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles told Attorney General Herbert Brownell that the situation in Arkansas was “ruining our foreign policy.” Two weeks later, facing pressure from many quarters, Eisenhower sent the National Guard to Arkansas. Armstrong praised the move and agreed to go on a concert tour of South America.