Arkansas Blog

Any new ideas on how to stay signed in for two weeks so you don't have to "sign in" every time you access the blog?

Thought it was interesting that the new Entergy television spot features an arrangement of "Classical Gas" as the background music. Odd choice for the electric company.

DK,
I don't know about everybody else, but I seem to be signed in all the time. There's a place up there where I can "sign out". Have you checked the li'l box that says "remember personal info?"?

I have 'about' a two-hour window that I stay signed in...and I'm excited when that happens.

I dunno. I guess you guys are just known troublemakers and/or I'm special.

I've had no problem, knock wood, type my message and post it.
SAINTS playing on ch 4 tonight....never give up on them. We were there for their first
game in old Tulane stadium, torn down after Super Dome was completed.....geeze I was a
young chick then.
MAX...used to see you on PBS....Arkansas Week....where are you????????????

RB,

The answer was in your post, they must not be able to read. But since it's DonKey AND Zelda, it's a bipartisan failure to communicate.

Channel 4 in Little Rock did a brief story tonight about the anti-war ads that are now being shown about every five minutes. The story started out "U.S. Troops are speaking out about the importance of the war," as if every member of the armed forces is in full support of this misbegotten fiasco; and the anchor called the ads "public service announcements."

I have no quarrel with the injured veterans who appear in these ads -- they certainly have the right to express their opinion on the war. But there is honest disagreement even in the military whether this war is accomplishing anything good and whether leaving our troops there or even sending more to be killed or maimed is a wise course of action; for Channel 4 to present these as public service announcements like "don't smoke" just boggles the mind. They did at the end of the piece briefly present the views of a woman wearing an impeach Bush T-shirt; they labeled her "anti-war," which was about the only accurate part of the segment (at least they didn't label her views a public DISservice announcement).

Apparently everything "matters" at Channel 4 except a little integrity in how they present the news.

I don't know why this bugs the hell out of me, since it's none of my business, but I read this morning that wealthy New Yorkers have begun sending their dogs to swimming lessons at the The Dog Run pet spa in Manhattan. The spa has a canine pool, replete with doggie steps in which well-heeled dogs wearing life jackets are instructed by a trained "swim therapist."

"We teach them how to swim, how to get in the pool," says owner Stacy Alldredge. "It's about becoming socialized. The notion that all dogs are born knowing how to swim is a myth," Alldredge adds. Some breeds are natural swimmers, but others "feel awkward" in the water and can benefit from gentle instruction. Talk about fools and their money soon departing.

Durango,
Just imagine the stigma of being the only dog at the pond that can't swim. How're you gonna be the one to get out there and retrieve that frisbee? Or, perhaps, being that dog that can't get across the creek to escape Michael Vick. All kinds of benefits to this - not the least being the money some clever entrepeneur is separating from the previous owners. If only I was smart enough to come up with something like that....

I remember a line from "All the President's Men," . . ."What happened to the money, little lady? . . ."

Where was the congress and administration during this episode fo graft and corruption on a grand scale?

View the article by clicking on my handle. Don't skip 4,5 and 6. The "accounting" firm that wasn't. The mailbox address in one the money laundering and hiding capitols of the world. The accusation that the DoD and Department of the Army were responsible.

Why does my mind instantly jump to Enron?

The Bush/Cheney administration is a poster child for corruption.

". . .retired admiral David Oliver, the C.P.A.'s director of management and budget. Oliver was asked by a BBC reporter what had happened to all the cash airlifted to Baghdad:

Oliver: "I have no idea-I can't tell you whether or not the money went to the right things or didn't-nor do I actually think it's important."

Q: "Not important?"

Oliver: "No. The coalition-and I think it was between 300 and 600 people, civilians-and you want to bring in 3,000 auditors to make sure money's being spent?"

Q: "Yes, but the fact is that billions of dollars have disappeared without a trace."

Oliver: "Of their money. Billions of dollars of their money, yeah, I understand. I'm saying what difference does it make?" . . ."

Thanks for the open line MB, the news tonight was fertile.

Tomorrow's #1 White House Talker
1) DAMN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING OFFICE (GAO) HAS JOINED THE LIBERAL, DEMOCRAT, MAIN_STREET MEDIA ANTI-BUSH CONSPIRACY

http://tinyurl.com/ysm7lv

". . . inadequate funding, unclear priorities, continuing reorganizations and the absence of an overarching strategy, the Department of Homeland Security is failing to achieve its mission of preventing and responding to terrorist attacks or natural disasters, according to a comprehensive report by the Government Accountability Office.

The highly critical report disputes recent upbeat assessments by the Bush administration by concluding that the DHS has failed to make even moderate progress toward eight of 14 internal government benchmarks more than four years after its creation. . . .

. . . The GAO states that after the largest government merger in more than half a century, the DHS met fewer than half of its performance objectives, or 78 of 171 directives identified by President Bush, Congress and the department's own strategic plans. . . ."

Are you a "Hillary" person? Do you line up with Barack's politics?

Take this little survey to find out which candidate lines up best with the issues that are important to you. You might be surprised.

http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html (or go the the link at my name)

I don't know how scientific or how accurate the survey is, but it was interesting.

p.s., Thanks Max and the AT for all the recent good work turned out.

Mike Gravel? He's my candidate? Good grief.

hugh, ain't no way your measurin' stick can be right. I'm an Obama man, ya see, and have done wrote him a check and everthang, yet I matched up 86.96% with Biden and only 2.55% with Obama. What a stunner! Do I need to admit myself to rehab?

Rick, I think I neglected to tell you the other day that I really liked your column about Larry Craig. What a hoot.

My top three matches were Kucinich, Gravel, and Hillary in that order. I'm proud to say that Mitt was my least compatable match (only 5%).

Rick, good to see you back in good form.

. .War with Iran anyone?

If you watched the debates last nite you saw FOX-BUSH News channel get that heated debate going about Iran. It was no accident. Orders from da boss.

Cheney Orders Corporate Media to Sell Iran Attack
http://adereview.com/blog/?p=24

"They [the source's institution] have 'instructions' (yes, that was the word used) from the Office of the Vice-President to roll out a campaign for war with Iran in the week after Labor Day," Packer quotes Rubin, "it will be coordinated with the American Enterprise Institute, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, Fox, and the usual suspects. It will be heavy sustained assault on the airwaves, designed to knock public sentiment into a position from which a war can be maintained. Evidently they don't think they'll ever get majority support for this-they want something like 35-40 percent support, which in their book is 'plenty."

AND from WPE Am Legion address today:

President Bush Addresses the 89th Annual National Convention of the American Legion
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/08/20070828-2.html

"We toppled two regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq that gave harbor to terrorists, defied the international community,
and threatened the security of our nation. "

"Others say Iran's leaders are actively seeking to provoke the West. Either way, they cannot escape responsibility for aiding attacks against coalition forces and the murder of innocent Iraqis. The Iranian regime must halt these actions. And until it does, I will take actions necessary to protect our troops. I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities. "

( Yes, it is lengthy, but just notice how many things he states that are just
plain, flat wrong or inaccurate.)

My top three were Kucinch, Gravel, Obama in that order

All republicans came in with negative sub zero ratings..

Thompson -39
Brownback -39
Cox -40
McCain -43
Huckabee -52
Giuliani -52
Tancredo -74
Romney -85
Hunter -86

FYI, Over 150 thousand people have taken the quiz.. Kucinich matches up in a landslide.. breakdowns on each question and candidate are available on this page. (at my name)

[I really thought Edwards would have been in my top three]

The sound effects in the dinosaur ad on the home page are annoying - and the exhibit doesn't start until November. I hope we don't have to endure it for the next two months.

What an exciting time to be in Arkansas - we are #1. That is, we are the first in the country to get the Smithsonian's Jim Henson Muppets exhibit at the Arkansas Art Museum. Speaking of the Muppets, it's a shame that AlGore-rhythm hasn't bothered to do a revised version of "It's not easy being green."

While President Bush is far from perfect, he occasionally does something right. Here's a trivia question. So who has the "greener" home - President George Bush (Crawford Ranch) or Al Gore?
Not only does President Bush have a higher college grade point average than John F. Kerry, he also has a much "greener" home than the great environmental visionary Al Gore.

Al Gore's home: A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by
natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest
house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more
energy than ! the ave rage American household does in a year. The
average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. In
natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the
national average for an American home. This house is not situated
in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.

President Bush's home:
Designed by an architecture professor at a
leading national university. This house incorporates every
"green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is
4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the
American southwest. A central closet in the house holds ; geothermal
heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the
ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer! The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

For details, please see: http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

There is an unusual event going on this weekend at the NLR airport. The local EAA Chapter is hosting a stop on the EAA's Ford Tri-motor tour. This might only appeal to aviation buffs and gearheads, but this 1929 'Tin Goose" airliner, one of 199 built by Henry Ford, gave birth to today's airline industry, as it made carrying passengers and freight economically feasable. More information can be found on the tour website www.flytheford.org, and you can book a ride on their 1-800-843-3612 number. The plane has been delayed a couple of days due to weather, but should be arriving at the NLR airport sometime around noon Friday. Come out to see what it was like when air travel was an adventure, not a hassle. Next stop for the tour is in Tulsa next weekend.

Now this is really crazy. Took hugh's quiz again. Changed a couple of responses after deeper reflection and switched a couple more from medium to low because I didn't feel THAT strongly about the issues. New results:

89.80% Obama
41.07% Gravel
22.05% Kucinich
03.41% Biden (originally my 1st choice)

Forget rehab. I ain't a goin'.

Severus, 8 more US troops died today for a lie......no one is interested in Gore's mansion or Bush's photo-op ranch. The stealing of 2 national elections wasn't plotted out in Gore's home, but it was at the Crawford Ranch. The invasion of an innocent 2 bit country wasn't planned out in Gore's home, but it was at the Crawford Ranch. The deaths of 700,000 Iraqis wasn't planned in Gore's home, but it was at the Crawford Ranch. The outing of a CIA agent wasn't planned out in Gore's home, but it was at the Crawford Ranch. Ignoring dying people in New Orleans after Katrina didn't happen in Gore's home, it was done at the Crawford Ranch. The blood of 3753 US troops isn't dripping down the walls of Gore's house, like it is all over the Crawford Ranch.

I don't know and I don't care if Gore's house is Green. But whatever color represents death...that's the color of the Crawford Ranch. When all this is over, the buildings should be burned and the ground sanctified by Buddhist priests. It should never be allowed to become a ghoulish tourist attraction.

To have such scholarly credentials, dubya sure turned out to be a total fking moron. His Daddy should demand a refund for all the money he paid (off) to get his son's degrees.

Vegan4Hillary, When a bunch of billionaires get together and pay a soldier (amputee at that) to perpetuate a lie on the American public.. and a news organization embraces the money received from those rich liars and then turns around and calls it a public service announcement with free falsified publicity on the news!!! I almost never say this anymore..but there ought to be a law against buying or selling a war on the airwaves with lies like that. There ought to be a law that says you can't use images (of the WTC on fire) someones death to sell a campaign for a politicians campaign or a war

Goebbels couldn't be more impressed if he were still kickin'.

Of course Bush was asked about Iraq by Howard while still on the tarmac upon his arrival in Sydney.. Bush said, "were kicking ass!"
So what about that mission accomplished commander codpiece show a few years back Mr Pretzel Pres? Who else wins a war and sticks around so long they have to lie endlessly about getting their arse kicked..which we are now.

It's an upside-down crazy world and these folks sure are enjoying the destruction of it. I mean... Betrayus wants to run for President now!

And the American/ Arkansas public licks it up like it was the last ice cream cone of the summer.

When it rains on the Craig family it pours:

WASHINGTON - The public spotlight on Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, which by default also shined on his family this past week, might mean an arrest in the near future for one of Craig's daughters.

Following a week of turmoil over a lewd conduct-related arrest, Craig made headlines Saturday announcing his likely resignation. On Tuesday, his daughter, Shae Howell, and son, Michael Craig, appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" to defend their father.

But a reader of the news Web site Boise Guardian discovered after watching the TV show that Howell also had a local warrant for arrest with a $500 bond. The warrant was issued in April because Howell failed to appear at a court hearing related to 2006 charges of unlawful entry and malicious injury to property, both misdemeanor charges.

"...But a reader of the news Web site Boise Guardian discovered after watching the TV show that Howell also had a local warrant for arrest with a $500 bond. The warrant was issued in April because Howell failed to appear at a court hearing related to 2006 charges of unlawful entry and malicious injury to property, both misdemeanor charges."

Sheer poetry. But hey...maybe the Craig family drives more hybrid cars and recycles better than the Dems.

Spent the holiday with family in our hometown, Bald Knob, and am disgusted with the mentality that doesn't want to talk about all the BAD stuff that brought about the school-financing disaster; but wants to go straight to football players, cheerleaders and bake sales for the Cause. Bald Knob is not alone, however, small schools/towns are notorious for wanting to pass over the bad stuff (or pass them on to another place) because it's just not seemly; and for having a good-ole-boy system entrenched enough to properly cover its members' guilty asses. (Oh yeah...my in-laws are divided on the issue: Father-in-law says until someone is actually held accountable, he's not donating a dime; mom-in-law is busy baking for the bake sale.)

Years ago (in BK) my best friend's teen daughter had a 'special' basketball coach who liked to tell her about his dreams of her...and her nubile young body. Well, after the shit hit the fan the coach left for another school with the 'public' no wiser and his 'public' record perfectly sound. Yes, the decision whether to publicly pursue the issue was left to the girl, but that was really a false choice...and the wrong choice (and it was personal, from my perspective). The point is that all of us know how this kind of crap works locally. Years of superintendent/principal coaches training us that the Team is everything...that using school mowers for a little side work at Bubba's place is worth having a winning Team...that we've got to save our local crooks at all costs...has led to the pitiful display of local news organizations going all out for things like the big BK fund raiser to save its school while not lifting a news finger to do the investigative work that would actually inform the community about what really happened to all that money.

(As it happens, the girl's 'heathen' parents did manage to deliver some small-town local justice to the nasty basketball coach...it was sweet, just not sweet enough.)

More bitching: I'll bet most of those Conway folks who're bitching about our big school-lunch scam haven't raised any fuss about all the ongoing immoral war-profiteering, about the billions lost and no one's even looking, about, never mind. I'm so proud...way to prioritize a community's anger, resources and budget slashing. (I first read about this in the Saturday Demzette; but I only have the Cabin link to give...free registration though.)

Zelda,

Think I met your "special" basketball coach in Lonoke after he became a principal. I seem to remember talk about him having prior trouble with a Bald Knob school. Anyway, a certain young girl reported him making untoward advances on her while she was in his office. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the girl was speaking the truth from those of us who had taught and knew her.
The sad thing is that none of his inappropriate behavior was on his records when Lonoke hired the SOB. Is it SOP for Bald Knob to sweep such shit under the rug and pass their problems on to others? Anyway, the last I heard, said miscreant principal was in Memphis selling cars, hopefully never to darken another school yard again.

I linked up to a breakdown (charts/graphs at my name here) last night which explains in detail how each candidate and issue weighs into the quiz results. Also links may be followed to a blog of a fellow who wrote and posted the code for the breakdown page.

It's no surprise to me that Kucinich and Gravels stand on issues are a match to most people here. First of all it ties in with a recent question Max posed.. Who do you trust?

Gravel and Kucinich are speaking honestly and openly about what they believe, imo. Unfortunately the smooth expensive consultant rich delivery from O, H, and E may lead many people to misinterpret much of where they really stand on issues.

Aside from Gravel, Kucinich has the most experience on all levels of public service, He has been in office most of the last 40 years.. That is what I call experience! Kucinich has specific answers as to what he would do on a myriad of important issues and he has a bill in writing on the table in the US House.. Kucinich is the Beef! (even though he is a vegan or vegetarian type). He is being to easily dismissed at all our peril, imo. Mostly for the same reasons we buy other products we don't really want or need..

If you want what Kucinich stands for he's a fellow who has been through it all.. poverty in childhood..all star quarterback in high school...lifetime of fighting honestly in public service.. much of the time with death threats. He will fight for what we want and need. And we need a fight.. other D's don't appear to be willing to fight at all for anything except the money and victory in elections.

Grandpa Gravel just feels a bit to old.. something could go wrong like we had happen with Reagan and Alzheimer's.. But he is right about the Dangers we face inside our own country from both parties.. we should listen to a man of such clear experience and act accordingly.. Americans fail to listen to it's wise elderly when they express common sense far to often, this seems to be no exception. After all he was the only senator who had the strength to read most of the pentagon papers on the senate floor so they would be on the permanent record.. among so many other things.

I hope people seriously consider why this quiz shows a few surprising results for many of us and vote for the honest candidates who genuinely have their best interests in mind when they vote in the primary next year.

I was quite surprised Obama placed third on my results, ahead of Edwards.. after thinking about it I realized I am often swayed towards Edwards because of his wifes stand on issues..which is very helpful but not exactly the same as voting for an actual candidate whom agrees with my positions.

Don, earlier in the week I complained as you are doing for I had to re-sign everytime I visited this site. Lo and Behold! Someone waved the magic wand and now I never have to sign in. I don't even know if I can sign out but......................

Zelda,

I know the "coach" of whom you speak, as well. Sorry SOB. I never can figure out why these things don't catch like wildfire and cause creeps like him to never get a job again. Good-ol'-boy system is about all I can figure. You know schools for miles around knew what had happened, yet they'll hire anyway.

Speaking of such, I just found out a neighbor has been charged with 2nd degree sexual assault (brief report in the local paper). Can I find out more? Like the age of the victim or details about the charges?

For the sign in problem, just click "Remember personal info" when posting. I have been signed in for weeks now. It's a big improvement on how it was. To be signed out, just click on (sign out) on the top line under "Post a comment."