Machine translation of the Baldwin article -

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=ht…

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This is for our oldest blog poster, Durango (still 92, right?):

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/07/08/…

Sent by my cousin to my almost 94-year young Dad and then to me and on to the blog. Enjoy!

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FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas is giving a major break to people 60 years and older who want to go to college.

Officials announced Tuesday that residents in that age group can enroll in credit courses at the school tuition free on a space-available basis.

Officials say college courses engage older learners in challenging and intellectually stimulating programs.

Julie Crawford is the coordinator of senior citizen admissions for the University of Arkansas. Crawford says some older students seek classes to complete a degree, while others take courses that interest them.

Those wanting to return to the classroom must apply to the university to ensure admission before the Jan. 13 registration period.

http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2011/nov/30/…

What about UALR? Any hep fer the grayhairs? Other campuses in the system?

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UALR has offered this for years, I'm pretty sure.

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Yes, old news at UALR.

http://ualr.edu/adults/index.php/home/over…

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Better be careful what you say on these discussion boards. Things you say may come back to haunt you. Anyone see this? Aggies’ athletics CFO admits to calling A&M president ‘putz’ --> http://blog.mysanantonio.com/aggies/2011/1…

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Skypilot seeking bigger issues than whether TAP has found someone to tap. A bar too high to clear, SP.

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>>UALR has offered this for years, I'm pretty sure.

I don't know why The Moron News ran this story as it did. It's an AP story.
UA-F has been offering free tuition for years. Back in the 70s I had neighbors in Fayetteville, fresh Chicago retirees, who were amazed they could attend UA classes for only the cost of books.

I really wanted to take Proff Stephen Smith's course, "labor rhetoric" which will only be offered in the Spring semester but, declining health means I couldn't navigate my way during Jan and Feb days of 5" snows and sub freezing weather...happens often up here.

Anyone recall what happened in NWA this time last year???
On the day of Nov 29, '10 it hit a seasonal high of 72 deg F. The next day
we had a helluva snow storm, about 6".

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@Sanford: Now THAT'S really raising bigger issues!

On another front: Tuition-free education for senior citizens. If you don't know this, haven't known this, you're WAY out of date! :

Community colleges offer tuition-free classes to senior citizens by state statute. I've taken more than a half dozen classes at two different community colleges since retiring and returning to Arkansas. Also taught one in the non-credit "adult interest" section one semester. Haven't paid a penny in tuition!

In general, education is available for ANYONE who really wants it in Arkansas.

At the very least, you can get a FREE library card and have access to every book in the library at no charge. You can study ANYTHING! And if your library doesn't have a specific book you want/need, you can almost certainly get it on interlibrary loan. Yes, there are some exceptions, but very few and very rare.

When I was first introduced to computers in 1982, I was not in a position to find a class and take it. I went to my local library and found five books on computers--very elementary and very limited. But that was a start. A few months later, bought a business computer. With its manuals and additional resources which I purchased, it wasn't long before I was offering basic classes to teachers and small-business people. It was several years before I set foot in my first computer class and received some "formal education."

Have a particular class in mind? Check with the school that offers it, find out what text is used, get a copy of the text. Can't get that specific text for some reason? Ask the instructor to recommend an alternative. Some classes have 50-100 different texts that would be suitable--books by competing publishers. You can find one if you really want it and you are willing to look for it.

In all my years as student and professor, I'm not aware of EVER knowing a teacher who would not be willing to recommend a book--or books--on a specific subject in his/her field, or who would not help you design a course of independent study, even. In fact, one of the things I instituted at Southern Arkansas University was independent study in my academic discipline for students who wanted to focus on something that we couldn't offer in the curriculum because of insufficient enrollment to make a class--and an insufficient number of teachers to teach it even if we'd had the students. I think ANY teacher would be complimented to be asked to assist in the design of such a study!

I know that generalizations are dangerous, but I'm going to stick my neck out here: The only people in the United States who remain ignorant (from lack of education) are those who WANT to remain ignorant!

IMHO

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Joke of the Day...

"A young man who was also an avid golfer found himself with a few hours to spare one afternoon. He figured if he hurried and played very fast, he could get in nine holes before he had to head home. Just as he was about to tee off an old gentleman shuffled onto the tee and asked if he could accompany the young man as he was golfing alone. Not being able to say no, he allowed the old gent to join him.

To his surprise the old man played fairly quickly. He didn't hit the ball far, but plodded along consistently and didn't waste much time. Finally, they reached the 9th fairway and the young man found himself with a tough shot. There was a large pine tree right in front of his ball - and directly between his ball and the green.

After several minutes of debating how to hit the shot the old man finally said, "You know, when I was your age I'd hit the ball right over that tree."

With that challenge placed before him, the youngster swung hard, hit the ball up, right smack into the top of the tree trunk and it thudded back on the ground not a foot from where it had originally lay.

The old man offered one more comment, "Of course, when I was your age that pine tree was only three feet tall.""

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Grassy Lake Road now high and dry for area residents. A case of government "socialism" to resolve and save the funds of a developer. Imagine that this could happen in this state. From the AGFC weekly newsletter (note that the actual dollar cost is not noted):

MAYFLOWER – Not long ago, Grassy Lake was a recurring headache for people who lived downstream from Lake Conway.
A new bridge, then a new road was the prescription that stopped the pain. Creating this panacea was a team of a half dozen or more entities that worked out the plan, admittedly with some difficulties.
The Grassy Lake success is one segment in an extensive and ambitious plan for the Lake Conway Watershed Advocacy Group, now more than two years old. The advocacy group, or LCWAG, has a persistent driving force in State Rep. Jane English of North Little Rock.
A bit of background here: Craig D. Campbell Lake Conway Reservoir, which celebrated its 60th birthday last summer, has problems. Some go back to the beginning, when not enough land around its shoreline was put into permanent public ownership. The lake has excessive vegetation. The lake levels have fluctuated too much. And, a key to all the problems, the residential and commercial development in the surrounding watershed has accelerated runoff into the lake and contributed excessive amounts of silt, which has reduced the depth of a large portion of the lake. The AGFC also had to restrict the spillway gate operations to reduce the frequency and duration that the road was inundated. That made it less efficient to manage flood water.
Years after the lake was built, a real estate development called Rogers Country Estates put dozens of homes near the lake’s lower end but just across the line into Pulaski County. Access was from near Mayflower by Grassy Lake Road and from North Little Rock through Camp Robinson. The latter route was shut off by heightened security after Sept. 11, 2001 at the military facility.
Grassy Lake Road was the only access, and frequent flooding closed it, isolating the Rodgers Estate people and other area residents.
A solution came in two stages over the past seven years.
A new bridge, elevated by several feet more than old structure, was built across Palarm Creek downstream from the Lake Conway dam. The bridge was completed in 2004 but did little by itself to ease the road’s flooding issues.
A raised road was the second step, and it took a massive meeting of minds along with creative financing and engineering to achieve.
English called together such organizations as Metroplan, the Little Rock-area visionary group, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission which owns the lake but not the territory below it, Faulkner County, Pulaski County, the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department and Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and two citizens groups – Lake Conway Citizens Advisory Committee and Lake Conway Homeowners Association.
The solution was a new road linking Arkansas Highway 89 at Mayflower to the new Palarm Creek bridge. It had to be elevated, and it was – not enough at first then much better with an additional foot and a half added to the roadbed to match the elevation of earlier floods.
This new route replaced the old Grassy Lake Road that ran under Interstate 40 and which was closed by floods every time there was significant rainfall in the area.
Along with the creative pooling of funds for the work, a maze of paperwork was required because the area includes wetlands, meaning federal permission for any construction.
Today the new hard-surface road parallels I-40 from Exit 135 south for 8/10ths of a mile to the bridge over Palarm Creek, and elevates the road to withstand high volumes coming down Palarm Creek and also backing up from the Arkansas River when it is at flood stage.
Changes to the road will allow the AGFC to change the Water Level Management Plan to include less restrictive spillway gate operations and increase the efficiency of flood water control in the future.

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Another joke:

Two men--one old, one young--crashed carts in a grocery store.

"My apologies," said the old man, "I was preoccupied, looking for my wife."

"That's all right," said the younger, "I was looking for my wife too."

"Oh? What does she look like?"

"She's tall, slender, buxom, red hair, blue eyes, gorgeous legs, wearing short shorts. What does your wife look like?"

"Never mind. Let's look for yours!"

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“Better be careful what you say on these discussion boards.”

No kidding, jrb. I flinched the other day when somebody noted, by name, that a once very high-profile former Arkie had showed up in a local bar years ago skunk drunk and casting about assorted vulgarities. I ain’t one of ‘em, but the high-profile fella still has friends here and . . . there are always lawyers who are hungry and, well, enough about that.

SP, have seen Margaret Dunning and that great old Packard roadster before, but it’s good to see ‘em again. They’re both beauties.

Moving on: For the past week a pic similar to the one on the link has been among the photos at the top of the blog. Take a look to refresh your memory.

http://goo.gl/kuUro

The photo is gone now, since the latest edition of the Times is out. But the dress Elizabeth Eckford was wearing that day — did ya ever wonder about it and what became of it? Sure ya did. So I’ll tell ya, since I read David Margolick’s book, “Elizabeth and Hazel” (in which Boss Brantley gets a mention) and I know th’ story.

Excited about the prospect of her first day at LRCHS, Elizabeth and her older sister, Anna, made the dress. They worked on it for weeks, and were so proud of the final product. After the disgraceful incident pictured above, however, Elizabeth went home. Took the dress off. Knew she’d never wear it again. Never even wanted to lay eyes on it again. Ever. Folded it. Handed it to her mama. And it promptly went into the attic. Where it was largely forgotten.

A climb to that same attic in search of the dress 50 or so years later was an exercise in futility. It wasn’t there. Probably thrown out during an attic-purging by one of her sons who lived in the house during a time when Elizabeth was elsewhere. Being a typical young guy, the son probably didn’t have a clue.

Tis a pity, imo, that here half a century and four years later, that “simple cotton dress” — perhaps the most famous piece of clothing in the world for a time — isn’t at the Smithsonian. Or on display at the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. Sometimes ya just don't know what could become a treasure.

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I wanted to post this before Sanford leaves for a Calif swim.

Smith's Alternative Arkansas History on this date:

30-Nov 1890 H.C. Quarles arrested for selling tickets at Capital Theater in Little Rock in violation of the Arkansas statute on Sabbath-breaking, conviction upheld by Arkansas Supreme Court

30-Nov 1930 University of Arkansas debaters James Anderson of Texarkana and Ray Forrester of Little Rock faced Cambridge University on "Resolved: Great Britain should immediately grant dominion status to India." Forrester was later the Dean of three law schools – Tulane, Vanderbilt, and Cornell.

30-Nov 1960 Seven Philander Smith students sat down at the Little Rock Woolworth's lunch counter. They were asked to leave, and all were arrested when they refused.
30-Nov 1972 UAPB Student Government Association President John Crenshaw addressed crowd of 1,800 at Hazzard gym and called for boycott of classes until resignation of President Lawrence Davis.

30-Nov 1973 Joseph Weston of Cave City published an article in the Sharp Citizen attacking Clay County Sheriff Liddell Jones, leading to his arrest and conviction for criminal libel.
30-Nov 1994 Carol Howell, former government reporter for The Baxter Bulletin, defeated Mountain Home Mayor John Ayers, who has sued Howell and the Bulletin for libel in March.
....
30-Nov 1998 Fort Smith, Alma, Van Buren and Dyer ordinances restricting the placing of handbills or leaflets on parked vehicles were declared unconstitutional by 8th Circuit Court of Appeals..
30-Nov 1998 State Senator Bill Lewellen refused to take blood alcohol test after his 1995 green Cadillac DeVille hit and killed Sheila Bowers, who was crossing Martin Luther King Street in Marianna. (Lewellen's license was suspended for 6 mo and charges of DUI were dropped)
....
30-Nov 2000 Washington County Chancellor Mary Ann Gunn dismissed libel suit by former Elkins Police Chief Keith Burrows against Ron Sparks, who told Elkins City Council that Chief Burrows made lewd comments to Tamra Garvin.

30-Nov 2004 National Conference for Community and Justice honors Nina Krupitsky, Arkansas' lone Holocaust survivor, for her Knowing Our Past Foundation's teaching racial and religious tolerance in Arkansas schools.
30-Nov 2005 Springdale Alderman Mike Overton suggested cutting the city library budget from $723,070 to $474,429; Alderman Rick Evans responded, “You have no idea how that library runs, do you?”

30-Nov 2006 Express Forestry Inc. of Leslie and officers, Rick and Sandy Thomas, agreed to pay $220,000 to Southern Poverty Law Center’s Immigrant Justice Project for wage theft from Guatemalan “guest workers.”

--compiled by Stephen Smith, PhD
-------------------------------------------------------
Should you find this offensive, be of good cheer, I will not put This post up again.

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eLwood, in regard to your Mike Overton post, I believe he went on to run for Mayor, didn't he?Fortunately, he wasn't elected.

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Jokes, Skypirate? Jokes? That's the bigger issue ? Old Stale Been Around Sexist Ageist Jokes? The bar not be higher after all.

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Sanford: A joke is not an issue.

You rail over eLwood's posts on Arkansas history and Norma's references to L.A.

And now you're railing over jokes?!

Raise bigger issues, Sanford; raise bigger issues.

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30-Nov 1890 H.C. Quarles arrested for selling tickets at Capital Theater in Little Rock in violation of the Arkansas statute on Sabbath-breaking, conviction upheld by Arkansas Supreme Court

Heck, this was happening over here in the 1930s.

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PRESIDENT OBAMA's LAST CHANCE TO ACT LIKE THE PRESIDENT MANY OF US THOUGHT WE WERE ELECTING!

His last chance to show his base that he's not the lesser of two evils and not Bush-Cheney-lite! I voted for him to remove Bush-Cheney policies not moderately continue to implement them them.

". . . The Senate voted . . . to keep a controversial provision to let the military detain terrorism suspects on U.S. soil and hold them indefinitely without trial -- prompting White House officials to reissue a veto threat.
The measure, part of the massive National Defense Authorization Act, was also opposed by civil libertarians on the left and right. But 16 Democrats and an independent joined with Republicans to defeat an amendment by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) that would have killed the provision, voting it down with 61 against, and 37 for it. . . ."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/s…

". . . Senator Mark Pryor (Ark.) . . . were the Democrats who voted with the rest of the Republican Party to kill the amendment."
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/11/30/us…

Will President Obama uphold his oath to ". . . the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Or will he cave again to the Mark Pryor's, chickenhawks, fearmongers and conservatives, move further to the right of center and emasculate the U.S. Constitution and every citizen's rights?!

He has already caved on shutting down Guantanamo, substituting military kangaroo courts for due process, and assassination of anyone by Presidential fiat. Will we still have a country next week or a big piece of land where our strong constitution is written on a piece of wet toilet paper and our leaders have backbones and moral fortitude made of similar materials.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY COUNTRY BACK!

P.S. If you care here's a petition to President Obama to encourage veto.
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/ndaa/?a…

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Sorry bejeezus, I like the Augusta 'Slammer' legend better . . . There’s an old Augusta National story told about Sam Snead playing a practice round late in his career and telling a young player how he used to hit the ball over the trees to cut the corner with his tee shot on the 13th hole. The young player tried it, and his ball rattled among the pines. “Of course, the trees were much shorter in those days,” Snead belatedly added.

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Good stories bejeezus and dott, either one can play well.

From glancing at the sidebar it appears that Ark could be center in controversy about
Academy Award nominations. Read it here or there.

http://www.katv.com/story/16160234/parents…

You wonder how youngsters could keep up a denial in the face of strong police interrogation, some intimidation and threats. I could understand an older, hardened criminal holding fast but not teen boys. Before unknown souls pounce I'm not suggesting that as evidence/proof but, only as part of a reasonable conclusion.

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Skyppy, you have a pretty low threshhold of raling. Or railing in your terms. I wont rail or rale. i merely write. or, in your terms, i meerly right.

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Follow up on Cato's post of a few days ago, it's done, now weep or move:

"61 senators betrayed you today, they authorized the indefinite suspension of habeus corpus (UPDATED)


‎61 senators betrayed you today. They authorized, as an amendment to the Defense Authorization act, the indefinite suspension of Habeus Corpus. We are now officially a police state. Read the Amendment provision here:

http://wearechangetv.us/2011/11/61-senator…

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Mark Pryor is the biggest asshole we have ever sent to Washington. He needs to go! I am ashamed to say that I have voted for him in the past.

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And while I am ranting, Ann Coulter (who thankfully sometimes wears turdlenecks instead of low cut dresses, so that people don't get distracted by the bobbing thing in her neck) calls for Occupy American citizens to be shot, just like Kent State. What a nice spokesMAN for the Republican party. Isn't she just precious?

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cbb, I've never heard Metroplan described as a "Little Rock-area visionary group". They are nothing close to visionary, more reactionary IMHO.

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Ann’s laryngeal prominence is one reason some suggest she may be a cross-dressing Subgenius prankster

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Durango--Brief review of FOTR. Loved it! Excellent cast. Relevant in light of current events. Will be singing or humming "if I was a rich man...." for days. Enjoy!

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First of all why did eLwood's post of Professor Smith's alternative history get 3 people, including me, liking it and 5 people not liking it. What's not to like? Smith isn't pulling these Arkansas facts out of his ass.....it's real life Arkansas history. Why would it offend anyone to review our history? Are you mad because we have a long history of asshole-ness? I think most states do too. It's a great thing to be reminded of the unpleasant parts of our history in hope we're smarter next time. I thank Stephen Smith & eLwood for these lessons and I hope to see them for many years to come...at least until Arkansas become a perfect state.

That old history won't hurt us.....Mark Pryor has and will hurt us because he's dumber than dog shit. Who fathered this man? Which of Mark Pryor's parents is the squirrelly one? Someone at home messed this guy up. I did vote for him once because little Eddie Christian swore up and down that Mark was a good guy and I'd never be sorry I gave him my vote.

It wasn't 6 months after Mark Pryor took office that little Eddie and I had our first Mark Pryor is an idiot discussion over our Friday drinks. And damn near every Friday after that it just got worse and worse until Eddie suddenly died of an aneurism...which I don't think was caused by his disappointment with his law school friend....but it sure couldn't have helped.

Why why why did Blanche Lincoln & Mark Pryor cross over to the dark side? Is Mark already lining up a good lobbyist job for when he gets his ass handed to him by another Republican? Will he just disappear into C Street and bake bread for the brethren with ashes on his forehead? Or will he put on a dress and move to Canada with Joe LIEberman?

President Obama has already said he'll veto this bill and no one suspects he's bluffing. There's one good reason to be joyous that we don't have President McCain. And a damn good reason to make sure there won't be a dimpled chad hanging next to Mitt Romney's name on your ballot next November. Another Republican President and the whole world will come after us and I'll avoid the rush by doing the downward facing dog in my front yard so I get to be slaughtered in the first round.

Mark Pryor must not only be defeated in the next election, he must be too embarrassed to ever set foot back in this state he has misrepresented so thoroughly since he took office pretending to be a Democrat. What a tampon!

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More on what I posted earlier-S1867 using military to "detain" (lock up) American citizens...seems both sides of the fence are opposed to this and the President is hinting at a veto:

Agin-
"I'm very, very, concerned about having U.S. citizens sent to Guantanamo Bay for indefinite detention," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of the Senate's most conservative members.

Paul's top complaint is that a terrorism suspect would get just one hearing where the military could assert that the person is a suspected terrorist -- and then they could be locked up for life, without ever formally being charged. The only safety valve is a waiver from the secretary of defense.

"It's not enough just to be alleged to be a terrorist," Paul said, echoing the views of the American Civil Liberties Union. "That's part of what due process is -- deciding, are you a terrorist? I think it's important that we not allow U.S. citizens to be taken."

For-
"The enemy is all over the world. Here at home. And when people take up arms against the United States and [are] captured within the United States, why should we not be able to use our military and intelligence community to question that person as to what they know about enemy activity?" Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said.

POTUS-
In criticizing the measure, White House officials said that it would cause confusion and interfere with a counterterrorism effort that has been remarkably successful since Sept. 11, 2001 -- across two administrations.

"It is likely that implementing such procedures would inject significant confusion into counterterrorism operations," the White House argued in a Nov. 17 statement.

Further, it contended:

This unnecessary, untested, and legally controversial restriction of the President's authority to defend the Nation from terrorist threats would tie the hands of our intelligence and law enforcement professionals. Moreover, applying this military custody requirement to individuals inside the United States, as some Members of Congress have suggested is their intention, would raise serious and unsettled legal questions and would be inconsistent with the fundamental American principle that our military does not patrol our streets. We have spent ten years since September 11, 2001, breaking down the walls between intelligence, military, and law enforcement professionals; Congress should not now rebuild those walls and unnecessarily make the job of preventing terrorist attacks more difficult.

A White House official said the administration stands by the veto threat. "We take this very, very seriously," the official said.

Both FBI Director Robert Mueller and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper backed up the White House with letters sent to congressional leaders. Clapper echoed the charge that the measure creates uncertainty and added that it could prevent intelligence operatives from getting critical information from suspects.

And although the measure allows the secretary of defense to waive it, both Mueller and Clapper said that could prove unworkable in the real world.

http://tinyurl.com/7aarb5a

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Kudos, DBI.

eL, Did Mr. Smith have anything to say about Iran-Contra? November was the 25th anniversary of that criminal enterprise. Saint Ronnie was given a free pass on that impeachable offense, because he couldn't remember---or something. Besides it wasn't nearly as serious as getting a blow job proved to be in the Clinton years.

In other news I read yesterday, tough guy, scion of the Amway fortune, brother of a public education meddler, new resident of the United Arab Emirates (no extradition treaty with the U.S.) and founder of Blackwater (now known as Xe) is threatening Representative Jan Schakowsky 'cause she's saying mean things about him.

While on the subject of the little prince, why would you ever name your corporation for something that gets flushed down your toilet? I suppose "graywater" is just too wishy-washy sounding. There is no gray area for loons like Prince. He's always right, and by God, God and the angels are always on his side---at least in that hellish landscape that passes for a mind inside his head.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/30/j…

Kizzy, you are spot on about Man Coulter. Her apologists often claim her projectile vomiting is meant to be humorous. Just another case of conservative humor going awry, as it ever does. Can't conservatives find even one funny Jew to be on their side? Conservatism destroys your sense of irony and your willingness to sometimes be the butt of your jokes, both of which are necessary to be truly funny. Look at what happened to Dennis Miller. He used to have a modicum of wit, but now whenever I see him, he is just STOOPID.

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NVR — muchas gracias for the review of Fiddler. If both you and Eric Harrison say it’s a knockout performance, then it’s gotta be. I’m looking forward to it tonight. If I were a rich man, ya ha deedle bubba deedle deedle dum, all day long I'd biddy biddy bum!

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Surely, when class warfare achieves its inevitable and you march on this edifice and the 'Aristos' with shouts of 'guillotine, guillotine' you will also remember people like Ann Coulter who facilitated the Aristocracy's reign. By the way, have you given any thought to the casting for the role of Madam Defarge? You really should. It is not too early.

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A little more for the President Obama apologists on the "Gut Check"

A Gut-Check Moment for Mr. Obama

When George W. Bush left office, and John McCain went down to defeat, there was a sense among a great many Americans that a tremendously dangerous  nightmare was over, that years of wildly violent, constitutionally questionable, unbelievably expensive and morally appalling over-reaction to 9/11 were behind us, that an America which didn't use the NSA to spy on virtually anyone, an America that didn't indefinitely detain people without due process of law, that didn't torture, that didn't consign millions to death and maiming by way of wars based on lies and the desire to make money while winning elections...a lot of people thought that America might show its face again.

But that was Hope and Change and all that stuff. The dreary fact of the matter is that the slash-and-burn attitude taken towards the US Constitution by the Bush administration did such tremendous damage to the most basic underpinnings of this society that it was widely feared there would be no going back. After all, any politician who has gotten to the point where the office of the President is even a possibility is a politician absolutely drenched in hubris, ego, and a desire for personal power. . . .

. . . Well, I'm not going to go so far as to say that one stroke of his pen can undo all that disappointment, but I am damned sure of one thing: this president has before him a gut-check moment of great significance. If he gets it right this time, a portion of faith will be restored. If he blows it, well...as Shakespeare reminds us, one may indeed smile, and smile, and be a villain. . . .

. . . So there it is. If this bill finishes wending its way through the Senate and passes, it will be greeted by the warm embrace of the Republican majority in the House, and will then be on its way to Mr. Obama's desk, where his veto threat will be waiting for it. Whether or not he follows through on his threat and slaps this dreck down is the question now before us all. One way or another, we will soon learn a very large truth about the man in the Oval Office, and whether he has the integrity to do what is right and follow through on his word.

We shall see."

http://www.truth-out.org/gut-check-moment-…

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