Arkansas Blog

Fantastic protest video by what I think may become my favorite group: Clan Dyken.
Try the clicky - I'm not very good at this.....

Reposted for zelda (also on yesterday's open line):

zelda- there are a handful of rare hummingbirds that show up in Arkansas every winter. My wife would leave a feeder out every winter and say: "This is the year we'll be one of the lucky ones and get a rare winter hummer."

Well, 3 or 4 years ago my wife got her wish when an adult female rufous hummingbird spent the entire winter, November to March. She (the hummer, and my wife too, for that matter) was a beauty. The hummer was banded, and she left the same March day an adult male ruby-throated hummer showed up and performed an aerial display right in front of her. She must have been thinking: "He's not my kind, and I'd best be gone from Arkansas. I am so lost!"

The following winter we had another hummer, this time a juvenile male rufous as I recall.

You can search the Arkansas Audubon Society bird records database at:

http://www.arbirds.org/aas_dbase.html

to see that something like 10 or 11 hummingbird species have been documented in Arkansas over the years. So we do get some rare hummers, and the folks who get to enjoy them are the ones who leave a feeder up during winter months.

In the early 1990's a North Little Rock woman got a total of 4 winter hummingbirds during a 5-year stretch. All were banded and all were different individuals. She had a very ordinary back yard, but she did have a winter feeder up and ready for customers.

Any rare birds you see including hummers should be reported to either the Rare Bird Hotline sponsored by the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas (501-753-5853 in North Little Rock) or to the Arkansas Audubon Society.

The 10 Major Newspapers That Will Either Fold or Go Digital Next

24/7 Wall St. has created its list of the ten major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shut their print operations and only publish online. The properties were chosen based on the financial strength of their parent companies, the amount of direct competition that they face in their markets, and industry information on how much money they are losing.

1. The Philadelphia Daily News.

3. The Miami Herald, which has a daily circulation of about 220,000. It is owned by McClatchy, a publicly traded company which could be the next chain to go into Chapter 11.

5. The Boston Globe is, based on several accounts, losing $1 million a week. One investment bank recently said that the paper is only worth $20 million. The paper is the flagship of what the Globe's parent, The New York Times, calls the New England Media Group.

the rest are clicky

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Former Hog Matt Jones will be spending the rest of his week in jail. He had a few beers during a round of golf...a no-no according to the terms of his probation. He'll get out Sunday at 8 am. Just in time for church.

ARK. BLOG: More info, please.

Arkansas Public Policy Panel needs your help. A whole package of energy efficiency / global warming legislation was filed that will help the environment, save consumers money and create good Arkansas jobs.

Could you please help by signing the petition on my name. Thank you.

(bills are listed with the online petition)

In Hamburg last week, and stopped by the library. On the door an important public notice: "Cell phone numbers are going to be released by the government to telemarketers next week...."

Have these people not heard of Snopes? Or even Google?

What is it that draws me to all these bird and outdoor people? I admire nature

as much as the next but looking from windows of my sunroom. We feed all the

little boogers and keep a fresh clean birdbath but, really, I hardly know a hummer

from a buzzard, when, if, I walk in our yard I feel the yen to don a pair of Frenchie's
steel toed combat boots, ya know those bad things from the garden of eden that
could rise up and bite you on the toe.

My friends and kin all have tons of bird books, hike every weekend, even rim to rim

at Grand Canyon, rock climb, now going down in caves.....they seem driven to
email me every word about every moment.

Me....give me good music, good book and view from my sunroom.

And something cold to drink. Right Jazzy!

Are online petitions valid?? I thought I read somewhere that they were not.

Jazzy, I'm with you, a book, a little song and a nice view, birds are nice, the only ones I can tell apart are my dove couple [I do love for them to sing] and a cardinal! Ha!

Squirrelhinge,

I got a letter last week from one of my credit card companies saying that unless I canceled my card, they'd assume they (and their partners) had permission to call me on my cell phone, even if it cost me money.

Maybe it's a coincidence. But it's the first letter I've ever gotten from any company announcing they were going to start calling my cell phone to sell me crap.

I'm canceling that card.

Right Goof.....a little something cool going down makes one enjoy all that

wild-life, out the windows, even more.

Salut

HI Nance

jazzy, you remind me of my great aunt. I loved her so.

Hi Jazzy, Glad to see all is well in Hot Springs.....the electricity being on and all!!

There you go, Nanc, ruining jazzy's say!

Dammit! Ruining jazzy's DAY!

ES..........you have me nailed.........old on the outside, 16 in the brain.

Going for a haircut tomorrow.....my fave outing.....raise hell in a beauty salon.
I look for an uptight, Duggar type woman to sit next to and start talking about
sex in the White House,,,,,,,,,,,,never fails to cause a riot, but I haven't been
jailed yet.

Baby daughter is taking me, she is rather shy and on quiet side.....but, deep down
I think she admires her mom.

Yeah.....all well in the Spa.....can flip a switch and have light............

now,,,if only they will fill up the lake........time to open flood gates.

Detainees Say They Planned Sept. 11 (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/us/10gitmo.html?hp
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
The five detainees at Guantánamo Bay charged with planning the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have filed a document with the military commission at the United States naval base there expressing pride at their accomplishment and accepting full responsibility for the killing of nearly 3,000 people.

The document, which may be released publicly on Tuesday, uses the Arabic term for a consultative assembly in describing the five men as the "9/11 Shura Council," and it says their actions were an offering to God, according to excerpts of the document that were read to a reporter by a government official who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The document is titled "The Islamic Response to the Government's Nine Accusations," the military judg

snip (more at clicky)

Cato - Nanc is a ok. Worked for me many many moons ago part time.

Well, jazzy...if ya sit outside as much as I do you can't help but get acquainted with most of the critters. I've always fed the birds, a little; but I really turned up the care when I watched Conway bulldoze an entire forest behind my house. Sure, mother nature can adapt...but not when centuries-old oaks are felled in one/two days. I cried...the sound of the oaks groaning and the smell of burning timber was too much. You'd think they'd have offered that wood up for use; at least then it wouldn't be a complete loss. Then came the egret rookery slaughter...so I kinda got drawn into feeding all the critters. It's not like they had time to adapt...and it's not like I have the ability to donate large amounts to Audobon/Sierra or Green Peace or fly all over working for em. So I do my little part here in my little corner.

I am amazed by how much personality birds have and how much joy/tranquility they bring to me. I have so many hummingbirds in the summer that sometimes it's like swimming in hummingbirds.

In another life I'm one of those nature nuts running naked through the woods tending to my critters.

But I'm definitely with you on those snakes. I won't have a pond 'cause of em. I know they're nature, too, but we have an agreement: I won't have someone kill them if they can stay away from my SMALL piece of earth. And I make all the noise I can muster to warn them away.

Sorry, elwood. I do support energy efficiency and environmentally responsible design regardless of whether it is a paper or digital petition.

However, SB440 - Reauthorization of Legislative Task Force on Sustainable Building Design & Practices contains a "buzz" phrase that is disturbing to me. It sounds like some of the initiatives of the U.S. Green Building Council USGBC, which to me and some others in the industry are more driven by generating legislation to restrict sustainability efforts and design methodology to their proprietary, very cumbersome, prescriptive, very expensive, Leeds system in achieving building design sustainability. I tried to research it, but could not find enough information to assuage my fears.

A more open, generic and cost effective methodology needs to be investigated and adopted, but USGBC and it's organized lobbying efforts tend to overpower other concepts. I will find ways to helpp support the other energy efficiency/environmental legislation.

It's not up yet, but tonight's Colbert Report has Colbert using the Memphis paper's outing of Tennessee's concealed carry permit list as his Word of the Day. I do so regret I cannot yet post it at my blue name. But it will be coming to an Internet Tube near you very soon. Someone should fill Colbert in on Max's recent troubles.

Obama is pitching them at us so fast, it's a blur. But today's signing and setting free the stem cells could have more effect on our lives than anything he's done so far. I ran into both my kid's favorite high school teacher today at Wal-Mart. He's 55, he's got a long ponytail, he's a Buddhist, he's brilliant, he's non-combative, he's the fairest teacher in teacherdom and he's got Parkinson's. He walked on through Wal-Mart sorta like a totem pole come to life. Losing him at Northside will be like turning out the lights.

Something good will come from stem cell research, maybe everything good will come from it some day. It may not save Mr. Jones, it may not save me or anyone reading this blog. But it might save your children and grandchildren from the kind of misery that's always been with us. Polio and TB killed hundreds of millions before a cure was found. Tying the hands of science ranks right up there with the biggest sins of Cheney-Bush. Free at last! Free at last! Thanks you President Obama!

TRUE COLORS

". . . Greg Sargent notes that in the National Journal today, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) 'offered an unusually blunt description" of the Republican strategy right now.' Dropping any pretense that his party's opposition to Obama's agenda is based on anything other than politics, McHenry explained that House Republicans' only goal right now is to 'bring down approval numbers for Pelosi and for House Democrats':
'We will lose on legislation. But we will win the message war every day, and every week, until November 2010," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., an outspoken conservative who has participated on the GOP message teams. "Our goal is to bring down approval numbers for [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and for House Democrats. That will take repetition. This is a marathon, not a sprint.'
Despite how "blunt" McHenry's pronouncement may be, it is a widely held view among House Republicans. In fact, McHenry is echoing the sentiments of the House Republican leadership. Steve Benen explains the implications of such positions, writing, 'If we take McHenry at his word, Republicans can't be constructive, they necessarily have to be destructive.' . . ." Think Progress

That truly demonstrates how the Republican oath of office has changed from"

"I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

to:

"I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Republican Party against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation quietly, with the mental reservation and purpose of evasion of appearing patriotic and true; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the beneficially Republican duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Wanna bet this guy won't be in office a second term? Maybe he won't finish his current term:

...................Mexico condemns US 'corruption' ..........................
"The Mexican president has blamed US "corruption" for hampering his nation's efforts to combat violent drug cartels.

Felipe Calderon also told the AFP news agency that the main cause of Mexico's drug gang problems was "having the world's biggest consumer [of drugs] next to us".

"Drug trafficking in the United States is fuelled by the phenomenon of corruption on the part of the American authorities," he said on Wednesday.

Calderon, who has deployed more than 36,000 troops to the troubled Mexico-US border regions to crack down on violence, also said that the US must halt the flow of weapons into Mexico, where the police and security services are often outgunned. "

(of course members of his domestic intelligence forces are bought by the dozen.eLW)

Al Jazeera article on clicky

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[Health Sector Has Donated Millions to Lawmakers]

"The concern here is that money is buying influence and policy changes that help the industry but hurt the American people," Flanagan said. "They want a policy that requires Americans to buy their product."

...

"Health insurers and their employees contributed $2.2 million to the top 10 recipients in the House and Senate since 2005, while drug makers and their employees gave more than $3.3 million to top lawmakers during that period, according to an analysis of federal elections data by Consumer Watchdog, a California-based advocacy group.

The biggest beneficiaries in the Senate included John McCain (R-Ariz.), with $546,000; Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), with $425,000; and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), with $413,000, who as head of the Finance Committee will play a leading role in the debate over health-care reform.

In the House, the two groups gave $257,000 to Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and $249,000 to Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.). On the Democratic side, Rep. Earl Pomeroy (N.D.) received contributions from the insurance sector ($104,000), while Rep. John D. Dingell (Mich.) took in $180,000 from drug companies. [CLICKY]

87 MILLION...In past 2 years, 87 million in U.S. went uninsured..." buy their product" please stop the BS!

"You'd think they'd have offered that wood up for use; at least then it wouldn't be a complete loss." -- Zelda

Allow me to offer a bit of explanation here, Zelda. Companies and individuals have to be concerned about being sued and woodcutting is particularly dangerous even for those who do it regularly. Many, maybe most, companies have insurance which generally bars non-employees from job sites. Years ago, you usually only had to worry about whether or not that non-employee would sue if he were hurt, or if he would agree that he cut off his fingers as a result of his own carelessness. Now his health insurance company will pull out all the stops to see if they can shunt off their "loss" for that guy's health care.

Having said all that, I heartily agree with you. I'm also devastated when I see the ongoing destruction of natural habitat around me. If only I had had enough money to buy every piece of land within my sight and simply let it be . . .

DBI.. YOU FOOL. YOU SOUND AS THO PRES BUSH BANNED ANY AND ALL STEM CELL RESEARCH. YOU ARE EITHER DRUNK OR DRUGGED. CK ON IT. ADULT STEM CELL EFFICACY HAS OUTSHONE EMBRYONIC BY 10 TO 1. PROB MORE BY NOW. HE DID NOT BAN IT. HE JUST LIMITED THE EMBRYONIC TO THE LINES ALREADY IN THE CHUTE. THAT WOULD BE DESTROYED ANYWAY.
YOU LIB DEMS LOVE TO PAINT A DIRE DARK PIC OF WHAT HE ALLOWED AND DIDNT. YOU ARE ALL WET.. ALL THAT BLOWIN AND BLUSTERIN OUT OF THE FAR WEST LEFT. JUST CURIOUS WHY DID YOU STOP AT THE ARK WESTERN BORDER, WHY DIDNT YOU KEEP TREKKIN TO THE FARRRRRRRRRR WEST TO STRIESAND LAND, AND PENN'S CRIB
. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIRTY UP WESTERN ARK.
WHY DO YOU LIE .. YOU ARE MORE CRIMINAL THAN BUSH /CHENEY EVER THOUGHT ABOUT IN UNFULFILLED DREAMS. YOU ARE OF THE WORST ILK, YOU BEND AND PAINT TO SUIT YOURSELF. YOU TWIST HISTORY TO SUIT YOUR EVIL NEEDS.
GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES AND THANK GOD WE HAD THEM. SEE.. YOU WOULDNT HAVE HAD OBAMA IF NOT.
WANNA RUN IN 2012, HILLARY WILL GIVE HIM A REAL RUN FOR HIS MONEY , IF HE HASNT TANKED US ALL BY THEN. AND ITS LOOKIN THAT WAY. IF HE RUNS THIS COUNTRY THE WAY HE HAS PICKED HIS CABINET LOSERS.. WE ARE ALL UP SHIT CREEK WITHOUT A TOOTHPICK. NO PADDLES NEED APPLY.