TEA Party, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Hundreds (possible 1,000) showed up at the Washington County Fairgrounds. It was cloudy so it wasn't hot and if you brought a chair you could sit and enjoy yourself. Unfortunately, just before noon, the clouds turned into a thunderstorm and many left, while those who stayed squeezed into a covered shed.

The focus of this rally was more towards getting involved. People were encouraged to sign-up for different organizations. Copies of the Constitution were handed out and there were volunteers on hand to register people to vote. Organizations represented were the Americans for Prosperity, Arkansas Independence Caucus,Secure Arkansas, American Majority and Arkansas Unite.


The key note speaker, Tom Ziglar, admitted that he's never done a political event before. I guess that's why the closest he got to being political was a story about "The wisdom of the Ages" which being summed up in one sentence is "There ain't no free lunch." Ultimately, who is going to be paying for all the stuff the government is going to hand out.

Lepaine Sharp McHenry gave the crowd the red meat. Passionately she spoke about the concerns we have about the programs and taxes Congress and the President are forcing us into. She warned the legislators that if they didn't start listening to the people and stop treating us like we were stupid they would soon be out of a job.

Rep. John Boozman was praised for his vote on Cap and Trade while Rep. Vic Snyder is going to face opposition. Sen. Blanche Lincoln was warned to pay attention the desires of hard working Arkansans.



Rebecca Wales, Smart Girl Politics, was great speaking about the government health care plan Congress and the Pres. has for us. She noted that the government already supplies the health care for our service men/women and veterans. Do we really want that type of health care?

Another TEA Party is being planned for Sept. 12th, to remember 9/11. Considering how fast Congress and the Pres. are sinking the nation I'm sure there will be plenty to protest.

Geocaching.com Web Site Back Up!

Hooray! Caching tomorrow! Thanks to the guys at Geocaching.com for working hard overnight to bring the site back up. The site is running on generators and it may be awhile before the Fisher building gets back power. Later today I'll write down the names of the caches I going for so that I'll use my Palm instead of my iPhone just in case the site goes down again.

UPDATE:
Jeremy explains.

TEA Party, Fayetteville, Washington County

I'll be at the TEA Party tomorrow and will be posting stuff from the event(if Blogger doesn't block me again). Tom Ziglar, I've never heard him speak so this should be interesting. There are plenty of activities planned so you do have to stand around for hours listening to speakers.

Event Information

Geocaching.com Web Site Down

I had planned to spend most of today geocaching but I was unable to get on to the server. After several hours of trying to get on I searched and found that the site had gone down because of a fire. The small fire at Fisher Plaza in Seattle disrupted services to thousands of business worldwide.

A fire at a Seattle building disrupted a server farm that provides service to multiple Web sites - including one that facilitates electronic transactions for tens of thousands of businesses and Microsoft's new search site.

Jeremy Irish has kept cachers posted and they are working hard to restore the web site.

Fortunately, no one was hurt and a whole bunch of tech guys are working to get all the web sites up and going.

So, change of plans, I spent the day looking at sofas. Mine is faded, losing it shape and the cats has shredded the ends. I wasn't very successful. They are making sofas skinner and the ones that were larger were expensive. ($$$$) Also, the colors stink! They mostly dark brown, black or red. Ewww, depressing! I think I may have my old one reupholstered. I'm seriously thinking about doing it myself. Definitely a winter project.

Arkansas, Seatbelt or Else

Today marks the first time Arkansas law enforcement can pull you over if your not wearing your seatbelt. I think Fayetteville should put on the next ballet an initiative that would make adult seatbelt offenses the lowest law enforcement priority. Then have Alderman Matthew Petty propose to create an Adult Seatbelt Policy Review Panel. The panel would oversee enforcement of the initiative (if passed) making prosecution of adult seatbelt offenses a low priority in the Fayetteville.

Obama, Supporting Dictator Hopeful Manuel Zelaya

Pres. Obama joined his buddies, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega, in condemning the Supreme Court and Congress of Honduras for ousting Pres. Manuel Zelay out of the country. Ex-Pres. Zelay was trying to set himself up as a dictator like his buddies but was stopped.

The generals move came at the unanimous--yes unanimous--behest of a congress outraged by Zelaya's not-particularly-subtle attempts to extend his hold on power indefinitely. It followed a series of clearly unconstitutional moves on Zelaya's part, including his attempt to unilaterally remove the chief of the army, which, according to Honduras's Constitution, can only be done by a congressional super-majority. And congress's request had been seconded by the nation's Supreme Court, which is sworn to uphold a constitution that explicitly makes the act of "inciting, promoting or backing the continuation in power or re-election of the President of the Republic" punishable with the loss of Honduran citizenship.

I tell you it hasn't been easy to find the real story behind Zelaya's departure. Obama's State Run Media hasn't been telling the truth about the situation in Honduras. They are either covering up Pres Obama's complete ignorance about Honduras or more likely covering up Obama's Marxism. While Pres Obama joins with his buddies in claiming that Zelaya was the victim of a military coup, the Hondurans beg to differ. Pres. Obama wants to hide the fact that the military was acting by a court order and that the Congress had asserted itself to protect the constitution.

Finally, I want to remind everyone that this was not a military coup, this was the arrest and destitution of a criminal president, with the help of the military. Proof that it is not a coup, is that as of this moment we already have the Constitutional State of Right re-established, with a new president, and new cabinet. Let us Hondurans be, we have already defenestrated what was causing us such stress, division and unrest, and we will reunite ourselves, to again perform our right of suffrage in 5 months. This is what we want. We ask the international community to take a closer look of our situation, and not allow other states such as Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Ecuador, to interfere with what we have chosen. We, the people of Honduras, have chosen: that is Democracy.

Pres. Obama, Bugger Off! Leave the people of Honduras alone!

UPDATE:
Other Good Stories on Honduras
NRO
IBD

Asa Hutchinson, National and State Issues

Asa Hutchinson received a very warm welcome from the Washington County Republican Women. Asa declared that 2010 would be a banner year for Republicans. He cited the number of Republican candidates running for Legislative offices. He also noted the formation of independent groups such as the TEA Party and the Americans for Prosperity. Asa said the Republicans need to fulfill the role of the loyal opposition. Republicans need to be a voice for our ideas and our principles. We need to contrast ourselves from the opposition and offer our solutions for the problems that face our country and state.
Asa listed 5 issues at the national level that impact our families. Health Care Reform, the Deficit and Debt, the Judiciary, National Security and Illegal Drugs.
Health care reform is necessary and important, he said. The reform needs to be continually adjusted to make sure it was responsive to the individual and meets the needs of the elderly and those struggling in life. It should not be the "one size fits all". Quoting Obama, “If private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best-quality health care, if they tell us that they're offering a good deal, then why is it that the government, which they say can’t run anything, suddenly is going to drive them out of business?” Asa asked does this sound like a president that understands the dynamics of the private sector in America? Asa said "I think not."
In regards to the deficit, Asa said the Republicans need to address it because at 1.8 Trillion dollars it was going to saddle the next generation with a massive amount of debt.
Asa expressed confidence in the Republican members on the Judiciary Committee. He said that Sen. Sessions will ask the tough questions in regards to Judge Sotomayor.
National Security is the most important function of the government. The most important thing we must remember is that it still is a dangerous world. Asa also said that we need to show some support and encouragement to the people of Iran who are risking their lives for reform.
Asa ended with expressing concern about the impact of illegal drugs. He's worried that many states will put drug legalization on the ballet because of the actions of President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

Bryce Davis Dog Park

I am so excited and happy! Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan announced at today's agenda meeting that he is adding a resolution for the City Council to accept a $30,000 donation from Procter and Gamble for a dog park at Bryce Davis Park. Representatives from Procter and Gamble were present to accept the thanks and applause from City Council and audience members.
I know that Connie Edmonston must be absolutely thrilled to finally have a place for the dog park and also have been give the money to build it. Now she's going to be hearing people ask how soon can we get it built.

Fayetteville, Biking Rules

The good thing that came from Barbara Rhoads biking accident is that many people are now aware of the rules of biking, even the police.

Meanwhile, Fayetteville police now say they wrongly wrote a "failure to yield" ticket to car driver Matsugi Cox, 77, of Fayetteville. Cox's car struck Rhoads as she rode her bicycle across Sycramore.

It's no wonder that most of the public are unaware of biking rules when the police are confused themselves. Well, at least they corrected their mistake. With the popularity of the Scull Creek Trail the City of Fayetteville really needs to get a solid Bike seminar together and present it at any venue they can. I'm sure they can team up with the Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks.
I'm not much of bicycler myself (too hard on the tushie) but I am particularly courteous around bikers. I give them plenty of room on the road. While at road crossings I may have the right of way but I am willing to give up that right to make sure a biker crosses a road safely. Unfortunately, I hear far too often people complain about all the bikes on the road. It's one of the reasons I don't bike around Fayetteville. Too many people are angry at bikers.

Arkansas' Unholy Trio

Tuesday, at the Political Animals Club meeting, Lt Gov. Bill Halter remarked that he brought forward the lottery because all his life Arkansas has been at the bottom in regards to income per capita and students graduating from college. He speculated that the lottery would generate scholarships that would lead to more students graduating and voilà, higher salaries.
I don't accept his premise. His neglects several facts into his equation. Arkansas, along with it's low income per capita, is also one of the highest in regards to citizen's tax burden. Arkansas' top rate of 7% puts itself near the top of the country in terms of maximum tax rates. The sales tax itself is above the national average which is difficult to understand in that Arkansas is a low income state.
Why is such a low income state taxed so high? For decades Arkansas has be ruled by one party, the Democrats. The Democrats keep Arkansas taxes high which leads to less money in one's pocket. How can a student afford to go to school when the Democrats keep taking it out of a student's pocket?
Arkansas will be able to achieve a bigger income per capita when people smarten up and replace the "Tax 'em up the Wahzoo" Democrats with Republicans who understand the economic concept of lower taxes leads to job growth and higher incomes.

Democrats, High Taxes and Low Incomes.

New Face, Republican Party of Arkansas

The Republican Party of Arkansas now has a new website. Boy! It is so much better looking than the old one they had up. The look is very clean without any clutter. Nice colors, easy to see icons and large letters, no need to squint! Nice touch having Doyle Webb on the video introducing the website. They are also using the social media technologies, Twitter, Facebook, flickr, YouTube and even a blog. I have to chuckle when they say they are using the new technologies. In reality they are a few years behind. It nice that they have finally caught up.

Launching a slick new website is nice but time will tell if it's going to be a great website. The biggest problem I had with the old site was that the information was not kept up-to-date. The GOP is going to have to keep on top of keeping the website current. That will mean having some one constantly in touch with the county committees, the legislators and candidates. The state icon with links to the county committees is really great and has a lot of potential. Their success also depends on keeping people connected at all times. It sure would be nice that 5 years from now this website would socially active and flourishing.

Fayetteville, 17th Annual Dogwood Walk

It didn't rain! However, Gulley Park was really soggy. Of course, Casey took every opportunity to splash through a puddle. The clouds didn't keep people away. Oh Boy! Lots and lots of dogs!
I had a number of conversations about Casey. People were interested Goldens and asked questions about his personality and how hard was he to take care of and groom.


There were quite a few vendors. There are a lot of dog boarding/sitting/day care/ places than I have ever seen in the past. They were handing out lots of goodies. Casey was in doggy heaven. I have a several bags of treats and toys. The cats weren't left out either.





I put a stop to Casey's snacking so he joined forces with a brother. "Psst! You distract her and I'll grab a couple of dog bones. It'll be a 50-50 split."




The Humane Society of the Ozarks did a great job! Everyone enjoyed themselves and I know that everyone went home with a tired-out dog.

Botanical Garden's "Greening of the Garden"

It was a beautiful night! No rain and plenty of sunshine and the temperature was perfect. It was hard to tell how many people came because everyone was spread out all over the garden. Which was nice because you weren't crowded and bumping into people.






You were able to walk around the garden, admire the flowers while sipping your drink, nibbling the hors d'oeuvres and listen to the music.





I couldn't resist getting this photo. The couple were enjoying the music while bouncing the baby along with it. A few other couples sneaked in a few dances.





The hottest action was around the silent auction tables. The items with the heaviest bidding were the mini vacation packages. I didn't do badly myself. I got a nice dog lovers package (dog food and gift certificate) and a dog grooming certificate.

It is probably safe to say that the party was a great success! Thanks to all the volunteers who gave all of us such a wonderful party. And Thank You God for the perfect weather.

National Cytotechnology Day

A lot of people might find the job of a cytotechnologist to be a bit boring, isolated and quiet. We spend most of the day glued to a microscope looking through millions of cells. For me it's a challenge, a puzzle, the thrill for the hunt of the enemy. How many lives will I potentially save today? The majority of the time I find pre-cancer cells which are easily treatable. However, once in a blue moon, I see the slide where a woman neglected to get routine pap smears. Cancer! If only, I sigh.

National Cytotechnology Day is celebrated annually on May 13th to honor Dr. Papanicolaou who gave us the Pap smear. This test has reduced the death from cervical cancer over 70% in the U.S. since it was introduced in the late 1940's. This inexpensive test is the most successful cancer screening test in history. Yet, women are still dying from this disease. Of the estimated 4,000 women projected to die in 2009, half will never have had a Pap smear and another 10% haven't had a Pap test in the past 5 years. When I see that a patient hasn't had a Pap smear in over 5 years I consider that patient at a high risk of having a pre-cancerous lesion. I take extra care because I know this patient is probably not going to have another one for years. This is my one chance to detect any pre-cancer.

Cervical cancer can be prevented, but only if you follow through with regular Pap smear examinations. So, have you made your appointment with your gynecologist? Do it today!

Democrats, Taxing Sugar

Looking for ways to pay for a national health-care system the Democrats are looking at new federal taxes on soda and other sugar drinks. I drink the diet sodas and I'm thinking that the new tax wouldn't affect me.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.

What a minute, maybe I'm wrong. When you purchase sodas, be it regular or diet, they are the same price. I willing to bet that the manufacturers will pass on the Soda tax evenly among all drinks they make. Diet soda drinks will be subsidizing some of the tax on the regular soda drinkers. I've already reduced my soda drinking because of the higher cost of corn syrup. (Thanks to the global warming nuts) If the cost of soda goes any higher I'm going to start drinking tea.

Dodging the Rain

What a weekend! I tried to get as much done outdoors in between the rain. Casey and I went to the Farmer's market. I went to the first session of making a rain barrel by the Beaver Water District. I need to make several more rain barrels. It's absolutely amazing how much rain water comes off the roof. I didn't win the free barrel. Darn! We then spent most time at the market talking with friends. I didn't buy anything but a burrito for lunch.




It still wasn't raining so I decided that we were going to do some geocaching. I had downloaded the Groundspeak’s Geocaching App and I wanted to try it out. Man, this App is sweet. I really like that it gives a list of the caches where you are located. Now I don't have to keep a list of the caches I want to find. I'm also able to log my finds on site. This App won't work for the more remote caches where there is no IPhone coverage. I'll just have to work around it.






One of the caches I found was at the weir dam over the West Fork of White River off of Pump Station Road. With all the rain we've have the water was really pouring over the dam. I got in one more cache before it started to rain. The rest of the weekend was shopping, gardening (in between the showers) and cleaning house.

Generations

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels gave one hell of a commencement speech Saturday at Butler University. Excerpt:

Which leads me to congratulate you in advance. As a generation, you are off to an excellent start. You have taken the first savvy step on the road to distinction, which is to follow a weak act. I wish I could claim otherwise, but we Baby Boomers are likely to be remembered by history for our numbers, and little else, at least little else that is admirable.
We Boomers were the children that the Second World War was fought for. Parents who had endured both war and the Great Depression devoted themselves sacrificially to ensuring us a better life than they had. We were pampered in ways no children in human history would recognize. With minor exceptions, we have lived in blissfully fortunate times. The numbers of us who perished in plagues, in famine, or in combat were tiny in comparison to previous generations of Americans, to say nothing of humanity elsewhere.
All our lives, it's been all about us. We were the "Me Generation." We wore t-shirts that said "If it feels good, do it." The year of my high school commencement, a hit song featured the immortal lyric "Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today." As a group, we have been self-centered, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, and all too often just plain selfish. Our current Baby Boomer President has written two eloquent, erudite books, both about..himself.
As a generation, we did tend to live for today. We have spent more and saved less than any previous Americans. Year after year, regardless which party we picked to lead the country, we ran up deficits that have multiplied the debt you and your children will be paying off your entire working lives. Far more burdensome to you mathematically, we voted ourselves increasing levels of Social Security pensions and Medicare health care benefits, but never summoned the political maturity to put those programs on anything resembling a sound actuarial footing.
In sum, our parents scrimped and saved to provide us a better living standard than theirs; we borrowed and splurged and will leave you a staggering pile of bills to pay. It's been a blast; good luck cleaning up after us.

The Greatest Generation gave way to the Me Generation who is dumping it on the Woe Is Me Generation. I think it's time for people to learn the principles that guided the Greatest Generation. God, Family and Country.

Arkansas' IPhone App to Search Bankrupt America Projects

Arkansas launched an IPhone app today where one can track state projects bankrolled by the "Bankrupt America" funds. I have recently purchased an IPhone so I decided "what the hell, it's free". Surprisingly it's quite good. You have the ability to look for projects by keyword, location (county) or projects near you. You are also able to mark a particular project you are interested in and track it. If you want further information on the project the app will lead you back to Bankrupt America/Arkansas website. Mmmm, looky here! We're going to spend 12.4 Million dollars on a Arkansas Welcome Center in West Memphis. Really, why couldn't Gov Beebe use this money for that trauma center he wants so badly. He could have saved all that tax revenue that walked out of Arkansas.

Intimidating Arkansas Voters

The Democrats have found another way to suppress voters. Now you don't have to go to the voting line and threaten people's kneecaps. Presto! You can do it over the Internet.

A Massachusetts homosexual rights group posted online the names, addresses and zip codes of more than 83,000 Arkansans, who signed a petition to place a proposal to bar unmarried cohabiting couples from adopting or fostering children on the November 2008 ballot, the group said Tuesday.

The group has made a really big mistake. Christians, who comprise the majority of the signatures, are used to being persecuted. Heck, this will just make them more determine to make sure that America doesn't slip further into the cesspool of immorality.
Of course, you could petition Homeland Security because these people are basically making threats against an American voter, but Janet Napolitano has already declared war on those people who signed the petition.

Sen. Gilbert Baker, A Step Closer?

Is Sen. Gilbert Baker employing a publicity stunt that could help him gain more recognition if he chooses to run against Sen. Blanche Lincoln?

A proposed constitutional amendment requiring that union elections be conducted by secret ballots was filed with the attorney general's office on Thursday in an effort chaired by a potential Republican challenger to U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
A group calling itself "Save Our Secret Ballot in Arkansas" filed the proposal with Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's office on Thursday. The group, chaired by Republican state Sen. Gilbert Baker of Conway, filed paperwork with the state Ethics Commission on Wednesday.

I suppose it's one way to collect names that could possibly be potential volunteers and donors to his campaign. It could be a strong talking point in his campaign speeches.

Baker said his work on the amendment has nothing to do with his interest in a potential Senate bid. Baker is one of several Republicans considering running against Lincoln, who is seeking a third term. Sen. Kim Hendren of Gravette is the only Republican who has announced he's running.

Gee, I just find it awfully hard to believe him. Ahhh, don't you just love it? More speculation and gossip to chew over.