Arkansas Blog: Scanning the blogs

...while looking for signs of the attorneygate document dump, I see I missed some good stuff on the Brummett Blog today after my first check this morning.

1) Has the governor, seeking compromise, gummed up the Walton merit pay bill with some reasonable AEA amendments?

2) I'm overdue to share his outrage over the Farm Bureau's continued opposition to a bill to make animal cruelty a felony. That opposition despite every precaution necessary to allow farmers and ranchers to maim and kill their livestock as needed. I should have written something Sunday when the Democrat-Gazette's outdoor writer threw in with the Farm Bureau and more or less defended the torture of deserving cats, "the most destructive exotic species in America." He said this bill would have PETA arresting you for trying to keep a cat away from your bird feeder. I swear. Read him by copying and pasting the following: And then microwave this sportswriter's dog tonight. It's only a misdemeanor. The Farm Bureau would let you do it as a second time as a misdemeanor, too, if you'd wait five years between microwaves.

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/184881

Comments

Who was the raving lunatic testifying against the bill by saying that there had been 'hundreds' of arrests in other states. A dude with short cropped blonde hair.

Posted by: 70%er | March 19, 2007 08:18 PM

Referring back to the other thread, lots of knowledge-based industries choose to locate where animal torture is acceptable but gay parents aren't. (rolls eyes).

Hey, maybe I could get some of that venture capital to produce a new cat microwaving process. The market must be millions in this state alone.

Posted by: Crazy Horse | March 19, 2007 09:15 PM

Once again, I'm with you crazy horse!

It's astonishing.

Posted by: rablib | March 20, 2007 04:02 AM

Not the first time I've been in the minority here, but I don't quite get the drive for this bill. The current misdemeanor is punishable by a $1,000 fine and a year in jail. Boiling a cat is horrific, but a year in Tucker is a high price to pay so it seems like a fair trade now. The sheriff who testified in committee cited a case where a few hundred animals were neglected and convictions were returned on 20 counts. Wouldn't 20 consecutive terms be longer than Wayne Dumond served? And if 20 years wasn't long enough they could have prosecuted another 50 or so cases and wrapped things up as a near-life sentence.

As bad as cat torture is, I'm just not sure a college student caught in the act should lose his right to vote for life or be barred from most employment opportunities. Felonies have lots of results other than jail and fines. The civil libertarians on here need to also remember that prosecutors like to press felony charges so they can plea misdemeanors instead of working to build a real case. Prosecutorial abuse is probably a bigger problem in this state than animal abuse.

Posted by: Theodosius | March 20, 2007 08:59 AM

"Prosecutorial abuse is probably a bigger problem in this state than animal abuse."

That's the truth!!

Posted by: Crazy Horse | March 20, 2007 09:34 AM

Not having a legal mind, lucky to have a mind at all......I still have to wonder if a case before the Supreme Court might play the dickens with Shirley Walter's bill that took away free speech from Arkansas students.

As I see it, if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the student in this court case it's going to automatically make Princess Walter's bill unconstitutional. Click on my name and form your own opinion.

Posted by: Deathbyinches | March 20, 2007 10:33 AM

Arkansas Blog

Scanning the blogs

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