Immigration Bill, Color Me Suprised

Mark Pryor's vote on the Immigration Bill suprised me. I thought for sure that he was going to vote for it. Well, a great big Kudos to him. Pryor's press release

We must reform our nation’s broken immigration system with tough, fair and realistic legislation. I voted against the President’s immigration plan today because the border security and enforcement measures are inadequate and the bill fails to effectively address the individuals who are already here illegally. We should not pass a plan the Congressional Budget Office estimates will only reduce annual illegal immigration by 25 percent.

The Senate has now failed to pass immigration reform for the third time. It’s time for a new approach. I advocate that we strengthen and implement the enforcement measures in this bill and show we can fully enforce immigration laws. As the Senate works behind the scenes to draft a stronger and more sensible bill, President Bush can and should take immediate steps to enforce the laws already on the books. He can do better, and so can the Senate.

Skateboaders and Police Scuffle, Staged?

Hot Springs downtown merchants are coming to the rescue of police officer Joey Williams. They are circulating a petition in support of him. The petition states that

"What was uploaded onto YouTube is edited and completely out of context with what happened," the letter states. "These officers were doing their jobs and thank goodness for that."

Mmmm, it would seem that those poor little skateboarders weren't as innocent as the video on YouTube portrayed. The fact that the video was edited would suggest that possibility that the skateboarders antics were deliberate.

Merchants, however, contend that McCormack rallied his friends and that the downtown skating that followed was an act of defiance. And why, they asked, did the skateboarders have cameras ? The fact that they had video equipment at the ready makes it look as though the kids were looking for publicity, business owners said. They also wonder about the motive behind posting the video on YouTube

I guess people are going to have to be careful about completely believing everything that gets put on YouTube. Kudos goes to the Arkansas Democrate-Gazette for pursuing the truth of the video and not playing up the "kids beaten by cops" story.

Supervising Another Project

I am in the middle of revamping my walk-in closet. I pulled up the carpet and laid in a wood floor. I took out the wire selves and I was starting to put in wooden shelves and dressers. Tigger is inspecting my work.


It seems Bows believes that the styrofoam is up to something and she's making sure that it stays put.



More cats at Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats

Mark Pryor, Racial Discrimination

Sen Mark Pryor uses a really poor requirement for appointing a federal judgeship in Arkansas.

U.S. Senator Mark Pryor is urging President Bush to nominate an African-American to fill the federal judgeship in Arkansas left vacant with the death of U.S. District Judge George Howard Junior. Howard was Arkansas' first black federal judge.

I really hate it when people exhibit the "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Pryor wants a black on the court even if there are better and more qualified whites to fill the office. It is utterly ridiculous to fill an office with a black just because the previous judge was black. Actually, I think it's a big insult to Judge George Howard Junior. That the only reason he was selected as a judge was because he was black.

Where's the Paddle?

People desperately need to learn how to discipline their children. The passengers of this flight must be really royally pissed at the parents.
It also makes me wonder about the parents of these kids.

Watts has had a running battle for years with neighborhood children, Fields said. They would throw rocks at his house, he said, knowing they could provoke a reaction

.
Where were the parents? It's just too bad that parents aren,t teaching their children respect for others.

Immigration, The Document Fraud

A whole new business is set to spring up if the Immigration Bill in its current form gets passed. In the bill, the documents illegal aliens are allowed to use to prove residency include bank records, utility bills, and sworn affidavits from know relatives. These documents are easily forged and these businesses are going to be up and running to provide them to illegal aliens

"It's clear that the most capable fraud document cartel in Mexico has been gearing up for comprehensive immigration reform at the same time we have been here on Capitol Hill — only they're ahead of the game," said Michael Maxwell, senior policy analyst for homeland security for Rep. John Culberson, Texas Republican. "They're already making money and will continue to do so if this bill passes."

This bill is not even passed yet and already the illegal aliens are going to committ further crimes in order to get US citizenship. The 24 hour check that the bill allows burocrats to identify these frauds is just a big joke. This is why we need to "Kill the Bill"

Ethicist

I looked this up in the dictionary. "Somebody who studies ethics or is devoted to ethical ideals."
From James Taranto

The Shmethicist
The Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman-Review has decided to discontinue Randy Cohen's "Ethicist" column from the New York Times. The decision is the result of MSNBC's report, which we noted Thursday, that Cohen had donated hundreds of dollars to MoveOn.org despite his employer's prohibition on such contributions.

In the comments section of the SSR's blog, features editor Ken Paulman imagines Cohen offering ethical advice to himself:

Q: My employer has a clear policy against campaign contributions. I think I should be exempt from this policy and allowed to make donations, because I don't see any difference between this and other forms of civic involvement. What should I do?

A: By all means, ignore the policy, quietly make your contribution, and hope that no one finds out. If you get caught, agree to abide by the policy in the future, but don't acknowledge any wrongdoing--you'll be able to rationalize it after the fact.

Where the Heck Is It?

I sure would like to know where is the sign around my house that says "Free Trip to the Pound"! Today is the 3rd time this month that I've dropped off an animal at the shelter. I couldn't believe the dog last night. I was cleaning up the kitchen after coming home from a meeting when I heard this scratching at the front door. I went to look and there she was, looking in the window. She went back to the door and insistingly scratched at the door. She demanded to be let in! These animals are starting to get pushy. Of course she had no tag or collar. Sheesh People! Put some ID on your dogs! I hope her owners get her back. She was a nice, sweet little dog too. I wouldn't have mind keeping her if I didn't have a full house already.

Sounds of Silence

This morning at the lab, sounds of cussing were in the air. People were at their computers trying to get their streaming radio music. They went to their favorite web site and there was no music. A number of these web sites were observing a "day of silence". The problem?

A swath of the Internet is set to go silent tomorrow, as online music broadcasters shut down to protest a plan that will sharply increase the royalties they pay to recording companies and musicians.

It seems that the Copyright Royalty Board wants to change the way it raises royalties. Currently royalties are collected from a per-song rate and the new increase will be a per-listener rate. Radio sites would be charged per performance of a song. They are defining a "performance" as the streaming of one song to one listener. So if you are a really big site like Live365 with 10,000 radio channels you are looking at a really big increase.
The industry is hoping a couple of bills currently in Congress will reverse the changes.

I Loved CATS!

Friday night I saw CATS. Whew! It was great! I always get worried seeing a Broadway show because I might get disappointed. The dancing was fantastic! A lot of the dancing was gymnastic in nature. I held my breath when Angie Smith (Grizabella) sang "Memory". She did very well, but not the best I've heard. My favorite song is "Mr Mistoffelees". I've had that song running through my head for the last couple of days. The Walton Art Center was celebrating its 15th year, so after the show they handed out free champagne.

Just Keep on Insulting Us

The White House continues to insult the American people. I really don't think this is conducive to their arguments.

FACT: Mass deportation is not a workable solution. Deporting the millions of illegal immigrants who are already in the country would be impractical, harmful to our economy, and potentially devastating to families with deep roots in their communities.

I haven't heard of any one objecting to the immigration bill say that we need to deport all the illegal aliens. The continuing chant has been protect the border and enforce existing immigration laws.

FACT: Keeping our Nation secure requires bringing the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already here out of the shadows and into a regulated system. This will allow law enforcement officials to know who is in the country and allow immigration enforcement officers to focus their resources on finding and apprehending violent criminals and terrorists who want to stay hidden from the law.

The big problem there is not all of those 12 million will come out of the closet. Those that may are going to criminals and potential terrorists who will use the instant immunity to their benefit.

FACT: To help meet the needs of our growing economy, there must be a lawful and orderly channel for foreign workers to fill jobs that Americans are not doing.

Oh yeah, pull that one out of the hat again. We know that's not true. Big business just wants to pay the poor illegals a subpar salary.
It'll be interesting this week. The NRO has been keeping count of the Senators who won't vote for cloture and have been listing the other Senator's numbers.

Warm, Muggy Days

The days are getting warm and muggy. The humidity just saps the energy out of you. Tigger and Eli have found the best solution is just to sleep out on the cool porch.

Casey and Trixie found that laying by the World Peace fountain next to the Fayetteville Square is a lovely way to cool off.

Drop by Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats

The Embryonic Stem Cell Veto

President Bush's veto of the stem cell bill didn't make anyone on either side of the issue very happy. I do like his solution which allows research to continue on embryonic stem cells, but still respects the people who object to it on moral and ethical grounds. I found Hillary Clinton's remarks very disturbing though.

"This is just one example of how the president puts ideology before science, politics before the needs of our families, just one more example of how out of touch with reality he and his party have become," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., told the Take Back America conference of liberal activists Wednesday.

Putting ideology before science. Do you realize how dangerous that is? To make science the almighty god and to hell with the moral and ethical questions that arise. What would happen in hospitals and research centers if ethics does not control science? Does Hillary think that it's OK to nod to science for the good of the people not matter what? Then we should start doing medical experiments on death row inmates. Man, we could really have a lot of medical advances if we could test all of our drugs and surgical techniques on real people. But that would make us no better than the Nazis who did terrible experiments on people. There are many things we can do with science. However capable we are of doing something with science doesn't make it right, ethically or morally.

Senator James Inhofe, Secure Borders Now

The Captain has invited Senator James Inhofe to quest blog about his petition drive effort to oppose the immigration bill.

Before long, the U.S. Senate will engage in yet another round of debate and backroom deal making on the comprehensive immigration reform bill. And once again, the overwhelming majority of Americans who are deeply concerned about this bill will stand up in opposition. It’s the American people that have prevented its passage so far, and only the American people can stop it a second time. My fellow Senators, under tremendous pressure from party leaders, need to be reminded now more than ever that American citizens have strong opinions on immigration reform and border security.

Hurrah for Senator Inhofe! It's so good to have a Senator actually representing the will of the people.

In preparation for the upcoming debate, I’ve started the Secure Borders Now online petition at www.SecureBordersNow.com. It gives American citizens a direct voice into the Senate debate.....Now, more than ever, we need signatures from every part of the country. I’ll be sending each Senator the petition signatures from the citizens of his or her state as well as a summary of the tremendous response nationwide. We must remind them how passionately the American people feel about this issue.

Thank you so much Senator Inhofe! I've signed the Petition and I hope a ton of other readers do likewise.

Jimmy Carter and Hamas

Considered to be one of American's worst Presidents Jimmy Carter is getting a new title, Father of the Iranian Revolution. So says Michael Evans

The truth is the entire nightmare [Iraq and war on terrorism] can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini.

Carter continues to earn that title by making another irrelevant statement advocating that the US and EU need to support Hamas. As Hamas torches the Gaza Strip and the West Bank slides into another civil war, Carter is scolding us for refusing to bankroll Hamas terrorists. Carter has just sunk to a new low in coddling terrorists.
Man, Carter is just going off the deep end. He's rooting for terrorists who started a horrible new war in the region and destroyed what little democracy the Palestinians had. Of course, in the delusional world of Jimmy Carter, the United States is the tyrannical nation that destroys civil liberties, tortures prisoners and oppresses Palestinians. But the Iran-controlled terrorists of Hamas? No problem.

Welcome Back Daisy

From the Morning News

Daisy BB guns are going to be made once again in Rogers. An incentive package was put together to entice the company to return to Rogers. While it won't be one of Roger's biggest employers, it's always nice to have an old friend back.

The historic significance, and the pride in bringing back the company, was evident as more than a 100 people showed up, many of whom formerly worked for Daisy or had parents, friends or family that worked for Daisy.

As Mayor Steve Womack said "This is not a red letter day in Rogers, this is a Red Ryder day."

Ethanol, Cars or Food?

Thank you environmental politics for taking food from the table of the poor. Higher fuel prices adds to the cost of food. However an even bigger part of the cost is the hundred of millions of bushels of corn that used to feed people and livestock is now being converted to ethanol. Farmers are switching acreage from soybean, rice and wheat to cash in on the corn frenzy so the price of those crops have risen. The rising food prices have concerned the food industry such that they have sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

We are concerned that the aggressive increase in biofuels mandates contained in the Senate legislation raises fundamental concerns and questions about the impact that an increased federal government mandate for corn-based ethanol will have on the livestock and food industry’s ability to produce competitively available, affordable food.

The availability of affordable food. Curiously absent in many of the reports I've seen is the effect these higher food prices will have on low-income families, especially those with younger children. These are the families that really rely on milk, cereal and corn and wheat products. Are the low-income people going to be sacrificed on the altar of global warming. In a world where people are starving does it make sense to run cars on food?

Nifong and the Duke 88

So, Mike Nifong has been disbarred and the Duke University has reached a settlement with the former lacrosse and wrongfully accused players. One would hope that Duke University is really serious about

to work to protect others from similar injustices in the criminal justice system in the future.

But Mike Nifong and the University aren't the only villains in this whole sad affair. What about those faculty members who went on a social vigilante rampage? The Duke 88, which publically praised demonstrators that branded the players as "rapists". They have never demonstrated any remorse or made any attempt to say they were sorry. These people created a mob mentality. They took an incident of a supposed rape and turned it into tales of racial, sexual and class discrimination.
I sure would like to see these faculty members held accountable. I know it's too much to ask that they have their teaching licenses taken away. But could they not be officially reprimanded by the University and the community of Durham publically rebuke them? I think it will be difficult for the community to

bring the Duke family back together again.. and prevent similar injustices and ensure that the lessons of the last year are never forgotten.

Especially since a large part of that "family" refuses to admit that they were wrong.

Fayetteville, Wedington Drive, 4 or 5 Lanes?

I was at the Fayetteville Street Committee meeting tonight where one of the items was the issue of widening Wedington Drive to only 4 lanes or 4 lanes with a center turn lane. To add that turn lane the possibility that a planned bike lane might have to be sacrificed.
Lioneld Jordan, chairman of the street committee, started the meeting off with a compromised proposal. A 4 lane highway with a center turn lane and a 10' asphalt multi-use sidewalk.
Public comments fell within several groups. Those that live near or on Wedington wanted the 5 lanes. Most were concerned about trying to make those left hand turns with no protection. A few people wanted the 4 lanes, mostly concerned about the issue of that center turn lane causing more accidents. I don't know which is particularly right. I've seen statistics which support both. Interestingly, Sen. Sue Madison was there to let us know that the state got federal money if we made road changes if it's for safety purposes. There were some bicyclists there pressing for the bike lane. There was some snickering in the audience when they cited the need for the lane because of "global warming" and "climate change". I was extremely amused by the guy who looking for the "wind in his hair" and concerned about the "wounded soldiers who would be disenfranchised" if there wasn't a bike lane. Say What?
I'm of the opinion that we should go with the center turn lane. There is a lot of development on Wedington, both residential and commercial, and I fully expect it to continue all the way down to Double Springs Road. The 4 lane highway is only going to have 5 or 6 left turn lanes. It's not going to be possible to add more as Wedington develops. A center turn lane will help development along Wedington and if there are sections that become safety issues, then a grass median can be put in place. A grass median is easier to put in than a left turn lane on a 4 lane highway.
Anyway, the Street Committee voted to accept Lioneld's proposal. The State's representative were there so it would appear that things will work out so that Wedington will be a 4 lane highway with a center turn lane.

Feeling Pooped This Weekend

I don't know why, but I was not feeling all that well this weekend. I couldn't get the energy up to do anything and I had plenty to do. Maybe it was the weather. All I wanted to do was sleep. I had 3 naps on Sunday and I was in bed early that evening too. Oh Well, I guess all that sleep doesn't hurt and maybe I really needed it.

Bows, Still Fighting an Infection

Do you know how hard it is to get a urine sample from a cat? I was up until 1 AM the other day trying to get Bows to pee. I finally rigged the litter box so she thought she was going in that instead of the collection tray. When I presented the container of urine to the vet office, I was informed that it might not be enough. I told them it had better otherwise I was going to drop her off with them and they can collect the urine. They called me later and informed me that Bows still had an infection. The good new was that her urine pH was dropping and the crystals were dissolving. Another round of antibiotics and she should be OK. Oh yeah, in 2 weeks I'm to collect another sample. Won't that be fun!

More cats at Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats

Litterbug!

This is a hoot! An Al Gore supporting environmentalist gets caught.

Bentonville Restricts Smoking

Welcome to the Bentonville, who's challenging Fayetteville as a totalitarian city. It's City Council decided to infringe on the smoker's civil liberties.

The Bentonville City Council approved Tuesday a resolution restricting smoking to parking lots in parks, including all walking and bike trails, the downtown square, lakes and the old train station.

Now, I'm not a smoker and I really don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, but really, banning smoking when people are outdoors is absolutely ridiculous. Just how far will Bentonville go? Will they decide to restrict the rights of smokers to light up in their own houses?

Immigration, Another Round

It looks like the immigration bill is going to come back up soon. President Bush is trying to sweet talk GOP Senators to pass the bill. It might be more difficult to try to get it to pass. Senators have been hearing from their base and are starting to change their mind about the bill. Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) sent President Bush a letter asking for an emergency supplemental spending bill to fund border security.

They believe emergency supplemental funds to secure the border will go a long way towards restoring the confidence of the American people in the federal government’s commitment to border security.

It'll help some but there is still the really big problem of granting immediate amnesty to 12 million people.
That instant amnesty for the 12 million should just be dropped. It would make passage of an immigration bill easier. Instead of giving blanket amnesty to everyone the bill should do two things. First, we need to emphasize legal immigration. We should welcome those who abide by immigration laws and are willing to work hard, learn English, and embrace the civic duties of an American. Second, for those who are just looking for work, create flexible legal opportunities to work in the United States. A well-constructed temporary-worker program would lessen the incentives for illegal immigration. These are already in place in our current immigration policy. We just need to fix the problems in the current system. The biggest problem is the government's refusal to enforce the current laws.
We definitely need to get rid of those illegals who have no desire to become Americans or participate in a worker program. They are here for the free health care and social services.

"I am sad because I have brothers and other family members who don't have the legal residency, but I would like to see them have access to health services if the immigration reform is approved by the Congress," said Benjamin Miranda, 54, of Springdale.

Guess what's going to happen to our social services when these illegals get "legal". Our social service system is already swamped nationwide. Our hospital and medical facilities, welfare and all the other freebies are already being drained by these illegal immigrants demanding and receiving them. I don't think it's right to push them ahead of many others who went through proper channels and are entitled to be here. To give these people benefits and rights that even those of us who are lifelong American citizens can't get is morally wrong and can't be allowed to happen. I'm already paying way too much money to the government and I have no desire to contribute more to people who break our laws.

Maybe We Shouldn't Be Bragging

In Saturday's Editorial piece there was some bragging going on.

The Southern Regional Education Board has issued a report showing 26 percent of the kids in Southern schools took at least one Advanced Placement exam last year.
Only 26 percent. That bad, huh ? Actually, it’s two percentage points higher than the national average.

We are all so happy that Arkansas is doing so well. Hey, our kids here in Arkansas are smart!

To quote a darn-near giddy Ken James, the state’s education commissioner / czar / can-do guy: "I am thrilled with this news because it means that when students reach the state’s expectations for proficiency... they are in a prime position to compete with students from anywhere in the United States for college placement and well-paying jobs."

However, in the same newspaper edition we have another educational story. It's about 9.5 millions students in China taking a 2-day test and the efforts and sacrifices parents and students make to score high on that test.

Education is unrivaled in importance in China, and the two-day test that ended Friday is one of the few events that can bring the country to a standstill. Cities ordered drivers not to blow their horns, construction sites were shut down, streets near test sites were closed, and flight paths were altered — lest the noise disturb test-takers.

When you compare the two educational systems Arkansas has nothing to brag about. The American students are woefully behind their counterparts in China. Chinese students know how to work hard and sacrifice to get that quality education.

Li Yukun gripped a bouquet of pink roses, a gift for her 18-year-old daughter who has been tutored every weekend since middle school. "These 12 years have been so hard. These roses are to show her that I care. It’s been so hard for her, not one day of rest," the mother said.

Instead of getting Arkansas students ready to compete with students from anywhere in the United States, we need to be getting American students ready to compete with the Chinese students. However, I fear that parents, teachers, school administrators and legislators are content with how things stand now and are not willing to make the sacrifices needed to make our students capable of competing globally.

They Should Know Better

Well, now we know that Newsweek probably does not employee Christians for their On Faith page.

What's more important from a faith perspective? Being saved? Or doing good works?

They should realize that for Christians it's not an either/or question. These two are connected by an "AND". Because of our faith and love of God we do good works. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of youselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." Eph. 2:8,9
However, the question they asked may not have been phrased correctly. They might have wanted the question to be: "From your religious perspective, which is more important to obtaining 'salvation' faith or good works?" In which case the answer is still Eph 2:8,9.

Getting Better

Bows is recovering from a nasty urinary tract infection brought on from a change of her diet. That change of diet occurred because the food she was on was recalled. Sheesh! She just finished her anti-biotics and is recovering nicely. Now I just have to get her to eat that prescription food the vet gave me. She doesn't particularly like it.

More cats at Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats

Senate Immigration Bill

I am totally disgusted with this horrible immigration bill. I'm even more disgusted with President Bush and the members of the Senate who met in the secret corners of Washington to put this bill together. I'm totally pissed that the Senate despite overwhelming opposition by real Americans are trying to shove this down our throat. If you object to the bill than you’re a "racist" and "you don't know what's best for the country".
As of now the immigration bill only guarantees amnesty to the 12 million people in this country illegally. Even criminals are going to be able to get the Z visa. Thank you, Kennedy! Border security is not guaranteed only promised. Yeah, like we are going to trust the promises of the government to secure the border.
I'm not going to rely on any new promises made by President Bush and Congress concerning immigration. The government has not kept its word in the past and I don't expect it to do it in the future. They've been lax in enforcing existing law. They sure aren't going to be enforcing any new ones.
Look, we want to have our laws upheld. There are numerous immigration laws on the books today which are not enforced and are our borders are still unsecured. Any immigration reform must first begin with securing the borders and enforcing the laws that we currently have. Guess what, the Senate rejected such an amendment by Sen. Coburn.
This bill is not the way to solve our immigration woes. This bill provides sweeping amnesty which cripples law enforcement and undermines the rule of law. President Bush and Congress should stop wasting taxpayers money arguing with the American people and just do what we asked them to do. Secure the border and enforce our laws.

Olympic Logo 2012, Revolting

This is the Olympic logo for 2012 in London. Really sucks big time, doesn't it. A lot of money was wasted to come up with such an awful and utterly ugly logo. Thousands apparently thinks so too.

As the campaign dubbed 'No Go to the Logo' gathered momentum, bookies were offering odds on the image being ditched. Olympic organisers, who have hailed the logo as "dynamic" and "vibrant", have insisted that it will not be ditched and that people will "get used to it". By last night, nearly 30,000 people had signed an online petition to scrap the logo.

People have started submitting their own design of the logo. The Olympic organisers really need to dump this logo and choose one of the submitted designs. They're a whole lot better.

Floyd Landis, Lessons for Reporters

I found a fascinating article on how Floyd Landis is defending himself against charges that he was doping himself. Finding it hard to get past the media headlines screaming "Doping Scandal", Floyd went to an unique route to get the message out that he was innocent.

... unprecedented Internet strategy known as the “Wiki Defense” that is forcing journalists to question the global antidoping operation that they too often treated as foolproof.
The change is largely the result of his Wiki Defense, in which he posted 370 pages of his test documents online in the hope of unearthing experts and explanations for the suspicious result. “Wiki” refers to the open editing systems best embodied by Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that relies on a wisdom-of-crowds approach to verifying the accuracy of its entries. Landis is the first athlete to use the Internet in this way,

His paper dump brought in experts who showed that the laboratory processes specimens in such a way as to compromise and invalid the test.

... seemed very basic procedural errors that could cast doubt on the ability of the lab that did the tests. For instance, the lab appears to have covered up changes to entries in its documents–a contravention of basic scientific protocol where mistakes are crossed out but left visible for record-keeping purposes.

What Floyd managed to do is to show reporters they can't just assume a laboratory's report is always accurate. They also need to understand the tests and the science behind the tests.

It is part of the job of journalists to be skeptical, but in this case the risk appears to be that we applied our skepticism unevenly, giving the science (about which we know little) a pass and dismissing the protestations of innocence from a source backed into the proverbial corner (something reporters deal with all the time).

Floyd provides a good lesson to reporters. It's time they stop pursuing the sensational headline and get to the real facts of a story.

Rep Jeffererson Facing Charges

Well! It's about time Rep. William Jefferson gets indicted. I think Scooter Libby got railroaded faster on a non-existent crime than getting Jefferson indicted.

The indictment in federal court in Alexandria, Va., lists 16 alleged violations of federal law with prison terms totaling as much as 235 years. Jefferson is charged with racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money-laundering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. He is the first sitting congressman to face charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits corporate bribery overseas.

I have little faith that he will be found guilty of any of it. He holds the magic "Get Out Jail Free" card. He's a black, Democrat politician. Can't touch that!
House Minority Leader John Boehner can certainly try to force the expulsion of Rep. Jefferson from Congress but I really doubt the Democratic controlled House will actually do it. The Democrats can't be seen having one of their members forced out. But if they don't expel Jefferson, they'll be seen as the "Party of Corruption."

Fayetteville, The Divinity Project

I guess I must have missed something here. It would appear that the Northwest Arkansas Times believes that the sole function of Fayetteville should be to entice a really big business (RBB) to build in the city so they can collect a bunch of taxes. As if the city will die if RBB doesn't get built here. Tadaaa! The RBB is here to save the day! Come on, there is more to a city tax base than just the RBBs. A city is really poorly managed if it has to solely rely on RBBs for it tax base.
While the Times is blaming the citizens of Fayetteville for wanting to save the character of a neighborhood, I'm thinking that the Barber Group should have realized from the beginning that their project was not appropriate for Dickson Street. I think they thought they could just ram it through and the citizenship be damned. People weren't against the project. Many people like the hotel, just not on that particular street corner. Dickson Street just wouldn't be able to handle the extra traffic and parking problems. I hope that the Barber Group doesn't scrap Divinity, they just need to move it to another area, the whole 15 floors. They can also built a hotel/condo, retail shop mix in that spot, just on a smaller scale.

The Wild Bird Center, Closed

Waaah! One of my favorite stores has closed! The Wild Bird Center in Fayetteville was the absolute best place to get bird seed. Now I have to find some place else to get good quality bird seed. It can't be that cheap crap that Wal-Mart sells. Most of it gets wasted because the birds won't eat it. Bird seed is getting expensive too. Corn, of course, because of the increased use for ethanol. But, farmers, seeing that corn is paying more are not growing seed for birds. So, less bird seed on the market, which really is going to start hurting the birds. People are going to stop buying bird seed, so those birds will have to find food somewhere else. Hmmmm, maybe the title should be "Global Warming Fad Hurts Birds".

National Cancer Survivor's Day

Yahoo! My second year as a cancer survivor! I celebrated with other survivors at the annual Narti Celebration of Life. I collected my 2nd Narti T-shirt. That's what people here do. Each T-shirt represents another year surviving cancer. I sat with Howard, who has every single shirt Narti has given away. That's 19 T-shirts. Howard is 90 years old.

We had a motivational speaker, Bobbie Staten , who very humorous and I enjoyed her very much. I stopped by for today's Day by Day cartoon and saw that Chris was also celebrating. Cool!