Lincoln Votes Against Public Option....

....in Senate Committee. Democrat Max Baucus, author of the plan, also voted against the attempt to add a public option to his bill. Sen. Jay Rockefeller gave some crazy talk about how affordable such an option would be.

Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

The much-ballyhooed Tom Cotton will not run for public office in 2010. IMHO he is a young man and needs to start a little lower on the totem pole than the US Senate or House seat he was rumored to be seeking.

I guess all the DC Republicans told young Cotton that Gil Baker was their guy in the Senate and Tim Griffin was their guy in the House.

All this means Republicans will have to find a good candidate out of the other 20 guys seeking the office!

Oklahoma Bombing Tapes Missing Minutes

Excerpt:"Four cameras in four different locations going blank at basically the same time on the morning of April 19, 1995. There ain't no such thing as a coincidence," Trentadue said.

These four tapes were all in the possession of the FBI prior to their being turned over to Trentadue. What in the world is going on here? Read the full story, with snippits of the tape, here.

Payback Coming for Baker Backing Dem

How does one best describe payback?
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Benton County Judge Dave Bisbee was once a state senator, and in line to be President Pro Tem. Senator Gilbert Baker, also the Republican Party State Chairman at the time, made a deal with a Democrat faction. Four central Arkansas Republican Senators, led by Baker, split with the four from NWA to put in the Democrat over Bisbee 18-17.

Now Baker is running for U.S. Senate in the Republican primary, and there are a lot of votes up here in NWA. Bisbee has announced that he will work to defeat Baker.

Your thoughts?

Double Dipping Swept Under the Carpet

State Representative Allen Kerr, who has taken the lead on investigating illegal double-dipping by employees of state government, said in his newsletter that the matter is being swept under the rug.

Says Kerr, "According to the newspaper, the ATRS is no longer even going to ask for the repayment of the millions of dollars the system estimated had been improperly paid. And of course that means they won't go the next step and look at fines and penalties for those who violated the law. The system director, George Hopkins, stated that he had received calls from retirees as well as some legislators who called the request for repayment of money "not fair" and that the ATRS had not properly provided guidance to help these retirees in preparing and filing their paperwork. "

"Not fair"? To whom? The taxpayers? Ordinary shmucks like us who have to obey the law? People who are in arrears on taxes and have to pay them back?

It Doesn't Work Too Well In Forward Either

Chimps at a typewriter typing out Hamlet. Did random mutations bounce against the environment to turn slime into slimy politicians?
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Readers of this space know that one non-Arkansas specific matter I cover is the creation-evolution debate. Global warming is only the 2nd biggest scientific hoax of our time. The idea that all living things evolved from a common ancestor through natural descent is the biggest. It is also more intractable, because we can notice year after year that the earth is not heating up, but the time scales involved for macro evolution are so great that the lack of real supporting evidence is less obvious.

Here is a report about a study evolutionists did which says "evolution does not work in reverse". They didn't try to reverse-engineer a whole creature, say bird to dinosaur. That was far too hard. They took a single protein and tried to make it go back to what they believed its ancestor protein was.

Turns out (from an evolutionary perspective) there were five other "mutations" that served as road blocks. They locked the protein out of assuming its old shape and its old form even if the functional changes were restored. From that, the scientists concluded that evolution cannot work in reverse. Once a protein changes form, other mutations occur that prevent it from re-gaining its old function unless all those mutations are also reversed at the same time- an event so likely as to qualify as a miracle.

While the title on the article says that "evolution only works going forward", it is important to note that the scientists did not actually test to see if it could work going forward, the only assumed that it could.

My hunch is that the same problem will exist in many if not most cases of protein evolution going forward. That is, if you tried a step-by-step evolution of one protein into an alleged descendant protein then you would find that "you can't get their from here". Each step would likely need other mutations to hold usable function and those mutations would have to appear and disappear at just the right time and in just the right order for the protein to go through its full transition. In my view the odds of that, absent intelligent guidance, will be nil.

Obama Declared War on Israel in UN Speech

Obama had this to say earlier: "The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam." "I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." Barack Obama http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/barack_obama.html

However, in essence Obama has now declared war on Israel in his speech today, Sept 23, 09, to the United Nations General Assembly. Obama, being a son of a Muslim father, has to know that Palestinians and all the Muslim countries have declared that the only way there will be peace is when they have totally annihilated Israel. Therefore, there can be no peace until the Palestinians take the initiative to change that view. Not one of Israel's concessions, like giving up land, has appeased the Palestinians and Muslim world in the slightest. They just become more aggressive and want more.

Yet, Obama calls Israel's territory "occupation" and basically calls upon them to give up their land gained and occupied since 1967 when they were attacked by the Muslim world and won the battle. That would be like calling upon the United States to give Texas back to Mexico. Obama, in his speech today, sent a signal to the whole Muslim world – as well as to Israel, that he is on the Muslim world's side. See paragraphs at end of this email for these quotes from Muslim newspapers about their intention to annihilate Israel.

Following are two quotes taken from Obama's his speech yesterday to illustrate my point.

"We continue to call on Palestinians to end incitement against Israel, and we continue to emphasize that America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. (Applause.) " [In other words, Obama does not think Israel has any legitimate right to their settlements and will pressure Israel on that view. That will only incite the Palestinians to push harder for more concessions.]

"The time has come -- the time has come to re-launch negotiations without preconditions that address the permanent status issues: security for Israelis and Palestinians, borders, refugees, and Jerusalem. And the goal is clear: Two states living side by side in peace and security -- a Jewish state of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967, and realizes the potential of the Palestinian people. (Applause.)" [Obama basically calls upon Israel to give back the land gained in 1967. Obama's stand will again only make the Palestinians push harder in the hopes of reaching their goal to annihilate Israel. Palestine gains everything. What does Israel get out of it – loss of land and power and more vulnerability to the Muslim world which intends to annihilate them. Again, Obama has to know this with his Muslim background.]

Many Americans are not familiar with the Muslim philosophy, but Obama has to be because of his Muslim family background. He can say these things and send messages to the Muslim world without many Americans understanding. But many Americans do fully understand.

Full text of Obama's speech found at this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/us/politics/24prexy.text.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

Iranian Daily Papers: The Palestinians Must Not Accept Anything Less Than Israel's Annihilation - August 25, 09

"Three recent editorials in Iran's major conservative dailies Kayhan and Jomhouri-e Eslami gave a detailed account of Iran's position vis-à-vis the U.S. peace plan…." [1] In another editorial, The paper reiterated that "a solution [in the Middle East] can be achieved only by completely annihilating the Zionist regime, which is the source of all insecurity in the region[2] "
Link to this article: http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/08/iranian-daily-papers-palestinians-must-accept-nothing-less-than-israels-annihilation.php There are numerous other links on the web to this information.

Note some scriptures in the Bible on Israel: Isaiah 60 details the final victory of Israel and the rewards of supporting them or opposing them: 60:11, 12 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually…For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted….They shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel" There are numerous other similar scriptures as well. The entire 60th chapter expounds on this principle.

I am reading a book now by a Muslim converted to Christianity. He details how many Muslims have come to Christ when they read the Bible and saw that the Bible has predicted the very things that the Muslims are planning to do to Israel (annihilate them) , realizing that this prediction could be made only supernaturally and realizing they are on the wrong side of the issue. The name of that book is Islam, Prophecy and the Bible by Walid Shoebat.

ATF Tennessee Gun Dispute Heats Up

Music to my ears- Tennessee stands tall against Federal end-runs on the 2nd amendment.
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Our neighbors to the east have joined Montana in passing a law asserting the constitutional rights of their citizens to possess guns and ammo without federal registration or licensing fees so long as the items are manufactured and kept within the state. The myriad of Federal gun laws get around the 2nd amendment's prohibition of such laws by passing themselves off under the right of Congress to "regulate interstate commerce."

Tennessee sent a letter to its firearms dealers telling them that they can ignore federal laws on guns and ammo made within the state. The ATF sent letters telling them they must obey those laws anyway. The article is a bit unclear because it takes at face value the fed's claim that the courts have already ruled on this issue. Tennessee and Montana are actually using the same constitutional reasoning that Arkansan Hollis Wayne Fincher attempted to use to show that federal gun laws should not apply to intrastate transactions. Click here for the half-dozen articles about the shameful transactions that occurred in the Wayne Fincher Case, Judge Hendren presiding.

The 1861 attempt to "settle out of court" did not go very well for Tennessee, but this time they appear to have at least the moral high ground. It is difficult for a fair minded person to say that the Founders intended the power to regulate interstate commerce as an end-run on the 2nd amendment for in-state transactions.

The Ranks of the Legion Swell Again

RELEASE

Buddy Rogers, a financial adviser from Rogers, will officially announce his candidacy, tomorrow, Tuesday September, 22nd for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate seat currently held by Blanche Lincoln. The conference will be held at *Café Baristo *(*5411
Pinnacle Point Drive Rogers, AR. 72758*) and will begin at 11:00 a.m. when he will be introduced by Benton County Judge David Bisbee. After delivering a short, prepared statement, Mr. Rogers will entertain questions from media representatives.

Please respond to this email indicating whether your organization will be represented and by whom.

New campaign website will be launched tomorrow.

Barack Obama's Birth Records Have Been Amended

A Hillary supporter in Hawaii used Hawaiian law to inquire about the existence (not necessarily the content) of any amendments to Barack Obama's birth certificate. The state could have given an official answer that no such amendments exist. Instead, they gave the other official answer- the documents you have requested are under a protected status.

So what were the amendments? Anything to do with Barry Soetoro's adoption of young OB, thus making him an Indonesian citizen? We may get to find out. There is another law which says that anytime a public official makes a public statement based on looking at records, those records can be made public. There are always loopholes, but this could get interesting.

Huckabee Says Boozman Not a True Conservative

Mike Huckabee won the Value Votes straw poll this past week. During his time at that conference he said that the bailouts of the banks were a "ridiculous absurdity" and that true conservatives did not support them.

Well, Congressman John Boozman supported them, and still does. Both men can't be right.

Stupid People Running the Financial System of the United States

So after railing against stupid people in France in the previous article, I'd like to spend some time on seriously-stupid people right here at home. It's helicopter Ben Bernanke and associates, the folks who run the mis-named Federal Reserve Banking system. It is mis-named because these are private banks with the power to create dollars out of thin air. Unfortunately, despite their role in precipitating the financial crisis and their 100% track record of getting it wrong every time, these are the individuals that Congress has put in charge of our financial system. This takes stupid to a whole 'nother level!

See the problem is that the big banks know that if they buy bad assets, their buddies in the Fed will rescue them using the guarantee of taxpayer protection. They are deemed "too big to fail" aka "too well connected to prosecute". This means that the big banks are more incentivized than ever to purchase risky assets with high potential returns. After all, if the asset makes money, the big banks keep the high returns. If an asset blows up, they take it to the Fed discount window and get close to book value for it anyway.

Bernanke and company have decided the solution is to have a federal program which decides how much bank executives can get paid. The thinking is that if they can't get huge bucks for making huge returns on investments then they won't take such risks. That thinking is correct so far as it goes, but there are some bad side effects. The risky bad investments don't get funded, but the risky good ones won't either. This will retard innovation in our economy. All that assumes the bankers won't find a way around the restrictions to keep doing what they are doing.

So how do you balance risk with return? You don't want banks to gamble too big, nor do you want them to be so averse to high-risk investment that they leave good ideas unfunded. What is the answer? Well, until retard Bernanke decided that some banks were too big to fail, the answer was to let the market do that. A bank who chooses the right investments makes obscene amounts of money and a bank that chooses the wrong ones goes bust. The risk/reward was borne by the banks. Bernanke thinks the solution is a plan for Fed micromanagement which eliminates both risk (by using the taxpayer to insure these banks can't fail no matter how badly they mismanage their portfolio)and the reward (by strictly limiting compensation to bankers no matter how good they are at funding the right projects).

Stupid People the World Over

As I read the Dem-Gaz yesterday it was once again hammered home to me just how many stupid people there are on this planet. Clueless. Without understanding.

Take France for example. Hey, I know, the usual shtick on France is to joke about how poorly they perform in wars. I am not going to go for the cheap laughs. After all, most of their wars have been against Germany and England. They are in a tough conference.

No, I want to talk about the story that describes how French dairy farmers dumped almost a million gallons of their product on a monastery that is a popular tourist destination in order to "denounce the slumping price of milk", along with an EU plan to end production quotas.

Does anyone else see the supreme idiocy of protesting slumping prices of a product? The market is trying to send the farmers a message. Not enough people want enough of their product at a price the sellers of that product want to charge. The result is a lower price. In America, we recognize that as a market problem, but so dependent on government are the French dairy farmers that they see it as a political problem. That somehow protesting against market forces will change economic reality.

The insane thing is, idiocy may pay off. Authorities in France and other countries have largely supported the farmers. The French Minister of Agriculture said, "To be forced to spill milk and waste it in the fields is a sign of great desperation". Forced to waste it? Who forced them? They chose to waste their already-gathered product defacing the private property of others.

This is where we are headed if our own countrymen don't start facing reality. Everyone will look to the government to change the price of what they are selling to a figure more to their liking. Or, as in the case of health care, buyers will try to force the price down to a price more to their liking. The latter will produce shortages every time, the former will produce a glut every time. Both are wasteful and ultimately destructive of prosperity for the whole nation.

The only way to avoid shortages and gluts is to have government subsidies. That is to say, the price will not really be changed, but only the apparent price to the end user. This results in over-consumption every time, as in if you are paying half the bill I will have the steak and lobster. So we will all order steak and lobster expecting the other guys to get much of the tab, and the only possible outcome is that we will over-consume for dinner after dinner until we are broke.

Fayetteville Gets Green Stimulus Grant

The city of Fayetteville, a democrat-voting oasis in a Republican area of the state, got $700,000 in green stimulus grants to do things like bolt solar cells onto the roofs of downtown buildings. Someone asked me what I thought of the matter.

There are about 70,000 souls in Fayetteville, so that is $10 per resident spent on stuff that is for (some of) them, but maybe not spent in a way they would want if they could do anything with the ten dollars. What did it cost them? Well, if there was 700 billion spent on the stimulus, then divided among 300 million Americans it means that the amount put on the nation's credit card for each citizen is $2,333. It does not seem like the stimulus plan has cost that much, because the money at this point has simply been borrowed against your future earnings, not subtracted from your paycheck. What do I think of the green grant? Where is the rest of it?

Ten dollars spent on something that is not my first choice to buy is very little return on the government's commitment of $2,333 of my future earnings. I hope you see it that way too, but it seems like the country is full of short-sighted suckers. There are plenty of people who look at the "benefits" and ignore the costs. They are thrilled that their government threw them a few crumbs while it buys everything in Panera and gives it to its friends using the sucker's credit card.

Perpetual Bailout for Banks

I meant to comment on a fact from the September 8th edition of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. It reported that 86 percent of all new mortgages are guaranteed by the government, and that this was up from only 30 percent just four years ago.

The bottom line is that the government has put the bailout of banks on autopilot as long as numbers like this go on. The mortgage crisis developed because banks were making irresponsible loans- often under pressure from the government. This will only make the problem worse. If the government is backing the loan, why worry about whether or not the customer can pay? During the crisis, banks made bad loans and then sold them to other banks. They did not have to worry about MAKING bad loans, just HOLDING bad loans. Now I guess they don't have to worry about holding bad loans either.

It seems that the government is not going to permit credit markets to function according to free market principles. They are going to do whatever they have to for the money to keep flowing. The certain result: Banks, even stupid ones, will get richer and taxpayers, even smart ones, will get poorer.

Evolutionists Admit that Intelligent Design is Science

Evolutionists have maintained for years that the theory of intelligent design was not science because it could not be tested. They were wrong of course, but for a long while they kept up the charade in an effort to squash competing ideas. It did not work. The theory of intelligent design has gained adherents.

In a turn around, scientists are now conducting experiments with results which they believe argues against the theory of intelligent design. Too much of their prior evidence for evolution consisted of data which could equally be interpreted as evidence for intelligent design. Now they are conducting experiments which try to confirm one and disprove another.

One class of evidence for Intelligent Design is a concept called "irreducible complexity". The idea is that many of the thousands of molecular machines operating in each of our cells could not perform their assigned function if they were any less complex than they are. This argues against the idea that those machines built up by a series of evolutionary steps. IF the whole machine is not in place from the start, the function does not get performed.

The actual data found by the scientists concerns a single complex machine in our cells mitochondria. Scientists believe that these mitochondria were once a type of tiny cell that merged with larger cells. They examined the tiny cells that they believe became mitochondria and found many molecules similar to the "parts" in the complex molecular machine in the mitochondria. To them, this indicates that the complex machine evolved, since they found the parts for the machine in what they believe to be the mitochondrial ancestor.

As an adherent of Intelligent Design, I am more excited that those hard-heads finally admit that Intelligent Design is science, that it can be tested for to at least the same extent macro-evolution can be tested for. I am not disturbed by their results. For one thing, there are thousands of molecular machines in every cell, a large slice of which appear to be irreducibly complex. Knocking one off that list is hardly a death blow to the theory. In addition, they have not even done what they think they have. The concept of irreducible complexity requires that there be no simpler way for the machine to perform ITS CURRENT FUNCTION. Just because parts of the machine can be used for other functions does not mean that it is any easier for them to evolve into their current function by a series of small steps. The whole point of IR is that the NEW FUNCTION can't be done by anything less than the whole new machine. That all the evolving of the machine is useless until the machine is complete.

The evos discovery on this one is akin to saying that a car engine was not produced by intelligent design, and the proof they have is that a bolt used hold on a head gasket has also been found to secure a mirror on a wall in the house.

Fayetteville Millage Increase Goes Down in Defeat

# Complete but uncertified results in the Fayetteville millage election are - 4085 FOR and 5954 AGAINST about 7 minutes ago from TinyTwitter

Congratulations to Laurie Masterson, Arkansas Unite, and the Tea Party Coalition for working to defeat an enormous millage increase in the midst of a recession. The district wanted to spend twice as much for the proposed new high school as was spent on Springdale's palatial "Har-Ber" High School. People from across the political spectrum linked up to send this dog down to defeat.

Alex Jones Calls Out Glenn Beck

I believe that Glenn Beck in an example what is called "controlled opposition". That is, he is the establishment's designated choice to lead opposition to the establishment. Under controlled opposition, one side designates someone to pretend to be on the other side. That person gets a big build up and is portrayed as the "leader" or "voice" of the opposition. That way, when people opposed to what rulers are doing go outside the lines, their "leader" can steer them back the way the rulers want them to go.

Example: Beck was for the bailouts. How can anyone seriously entertain the idea that the national voice of the Tea Party is someone who was for the bailouts? In this well-worded letter, infowars guy Alex Jones calls Beck out.

Contrasting Liberty with Soft Tyranny

Streaming Liberty has a great chart which compares and contrast Liberty from Soft Tyranny. Example: Fundamental rights are life, liberty, and property (absence of coercion) in Liberty versus Fundamental rights are food, housing, and healthcare (absence of necessity)in Soft Tyranny. Check 'em all out.

An ACORN is a Nut, and Possibly a Pimp

Biggovernment.com has done a shocking expouse' on ACORN. Undercover audio and video files from several cities show ACORN workers attempting to help people they believe are trying to operate a brothel for underage girls get a house from which to conduct this business.

ACORN has, if you will pardon the expression, Arkansas roots. There was a lot of talk a few years back about some money vanishing. Nothing much came of it. This time, they are caught red-handed, and not just in one location but in several locations, indicating a pattern of vile behavior rather than a bad apple in the ACORN barrel, if I may be permitted to use so many agricultural analogies.

The Census bureau has quietly terminated their relationship with ACORN, and Senate just voted to deny them the Community Housing grants that they were operating under when attempting to help those they thought were exploiting underage girls by using them as prostitutes. Still, ACORN is a grant-getting machine. This outfit of "community organizers" still gets millions of taxpayer dollars.

Fayetteville Millage Protest Set For Monday

The protest is going to be held at Joyce and 71B from 4-6pm tomorrow.

What I Said at the Camp Meeting

I was tapped to give a short speech for the Benton County Tea Party at an "Old Tyme Camp Meeting" which took place Saturday on the Campus of "Christ Ambassadors" Private School in Bella Vista. About 300 were in attendance.

What follows are the text of my remarks.
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Thank you. It is wonderful to be here in on a campus where young people receive a private Christian education, and surrounded by people who love God and country. While the Benton County Tea Party does not have an official religious confession, it is my personal confession that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and the rightful Lord and Savior of all Mankind.

This approach is similar to that of the Founders when they drafted the Constitution. The Founders did not write into the text that this was to be a Christian nation, but they DID write into the text that we were founded as a nation of Christians. They did that on page four of the document, just above where they affixed their own signatures. There they testify that it was signed "In the year of our Lord one-thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven". So they did not write into the text that this was to be a Christian nation, but they did write into the text what their own confession was. They document in the Constitution that this country was founded as a nation of Christians.

I suspect that this was because they were better acquainted with the scriptures than even the average Pastor is today. They knew that Christianity is not just a religion, it’s a relationship. An institution, such as a government, can’t be Christian, only the human beings who make it up can be.

So again, in this context, it is great to be among those who love God and country. Really, if you think about it, loving your country is the logical extension of loving your neighbor, for what is the country but all of us neighbors together? And the practical way for love of country to be manifested is to show concern for the integrity of its government. You cannot love the country while remaining indifferent to its government, just as you cannot love a brother or sister in need while you remain indifferent to their affairs.

So if we love our neighbor, and even our own children, then it follows we will have love of country. Now an important distinction must be made here. It is possible, even typical, to have a strong love of country while maintaining a deep suspicion and even disapproval, of the actions of its government. The reason is simple. The government is not the country- we are. We do not exist in order to fund its programs. We do not exist to glorify its officials. Rather, they exist to protect the God-given rights of We the People. At least, that is the way it was intended.

Both scripture and history teach us that when fallen men are in charge of government, it tends to go corrupt over time. Fallen men left in office unchecked produce fallen government. Fallen government does the exact opposite of what government was ordained by God to do. Instead of protecting the rights of the people, the corrupted government becomes the biggest violator of those rights. Instead of protecting the weak from plunderers, the government itself seeks out the most defenseless among us and leads in the plundering. All such plundering is evil, but the most cowardly form of this evil is the use of debt to pay for their outlandish promises. This plunders the most defenseless of all, the unborn and children who will be stuck with the tab, but who cannot vote to defend themselves.

Today, we have fallen government. For too long we have entrusted to organizations whose headquarters are in a distant capitol the sacred job of protecting our liberties. To a large extent, the plunderers actually have better access to the levers of influence in these organizations that we do. It is time to learn the lesson. If we trust some organization headquartered in Washington D.C. to protect our liberties, we will lose them, and deservedly so.

CONTINUED ON THE JUMP.

The Audacity

Artistic Genius at work, your input is not needed or appreciated.
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President* Obama has chosen three words to most closely associate with himself. Two are "hope" and "change". The third is "audacity". That was what was on display at his recent speech before Congress.

"It is time for the bickering to stop." he told Congress. But did that mean that there had been a final health care bill put on the table? No. Did that mean that We the People have had a chance to look over what our future under his new health care plan will look like? No again.

Remember Senator Blanche Lincoln was in the state only a few days ago saying that "there was no one bill" as a way to get out of answering some tough questions. Of course, she alternated that by answering the easy questions by telling folks what "the bill" would do for them. Whether there was a bill or not depended on the difficulty of the question Sen. Lincoln was confronted with! In Bella Vista she answered back to back questions with 1) a detailed answer about what "the bill" would do for a businessman in a certain scenario and 2) a claim that "their is no bill". The Democrat audience did not seem to catch the obvious contradiction, but I digress.

My main point here is that Obama demands we stop "bickering" before he has even made clear what exactly it is that he wishes to impose on us without our "bickering" about it. Now that's audacity! To a simple-minded peasant like myself, that "bickering" is simply the democratic process having its way according to the separation of powers under a constitutional republic. Mr. Audacity now demands that we all shut up and accept what he offers behind curtain #2.

It sort of reminds me of the time where he said he did not mind the other side helping him, but he did not want to hear a lot of talk from them. He just wants to make three speeches a week on national television and to captive school children. He wants a monologue, not a dialogue, with himself as the monologuer. The other 300 million of us, whether as individuals or through our elected representatives, do not have any role in the national conversation except as this man's audience. Now that's audacity.

And while I am on it, he was all but calling Sarah Palin a liar, and making claims that those who said illegal aliens would be covered by the bill were liars, but his minions bristled when someone called out that he was lying. Again, your job is to sit there passively or even applaud wildly, as Obama accuses you and people who represent you of being liars.

I think we have finally found the man who makes Bill Clinton look humble. Clinton seemed to think that he was essential to the country, but this guy seems to think that the country exists in order to serve as his audience. Not an audience to evaluate or debate his ideas mind you, but only to uplift him and support him.
____________________________________________

* status unconfirmed

Senate Candidate??? Cotton in Rogers Tomorrow

UPDATE ***** UPDATE ******* UPDATE

NO SHOW
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Do we dare believe the hype? He is supposed to be at Mad Pizza (Pleasant Grove Road) in Rogers from 3-5 tomorrow for a meet and greet. Can someone show up and ask him is he is one of the Oath Keepers?

Green Candidate for U.S. Senate Making Sense

The Mayor of Greenland, John Gray, announced that he will seek the Green Party nomination for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Blanche Lincoln.

He acknowledges he has little chance, but I have to admit I like what I have heard of him so far. He wants the United States to withdraw from the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement. He says that artificial persons, corporations, are getting too powerful and should not have the same rights as real people. I can't find anything in that to disagree with. More from the Morning News.

Expect the defenders of the Old Left, the Max Brantley's and John Brummetts, to ignore or even attack him in an effort to herd lefty voters back on THEIR corporate reservation (the Democratic Party) even as the Rush Limbaughs and Gary Barton's do the same thing on the right.

The Oath Keepers

Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, peace officers, fire-fighters, and veterans who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic … and meant it. We won’t “just follow orders.”

Below is our declaration of orders we will NOT obey because we will consider them unconstitutional (and thus unlawful) and immoral violations of the natural rights of the people. Such orders would be acts of war against the American people by their own government, and thus acts of treason. We will not make war against our own people. We will not commit treason. We will defend the Republic.

Here are the first five "orders they will not obey"....

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.

2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people

3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.

4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.

5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.

See complete list here.

Ross Now Says "NO" to Public Option

He says the town hall meetings changed his mind. Way to go, Tea Party associates!

Sincere change of heart or an attempt to get the same main ideas through under a different label? That new label could be a "non-profit health co-op" started by the government. Do not be fooled by this talk of health co-ops or "non-profit corporations" given start-up funds by the government. That sounds just like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They were private corporations started by the government to provide affordable housing. Whatever they call this monstrosity will be started to provide affordable health care. We just bailed out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to the tune of 1.5 trillion, that is trillion with a "T" as in $15,000 for every man woman and child in this country.

Florida GOP Expels Ron Paul Supporters

...five pro-Paul members, some holding elective office, are out. And since the Florida Chairman (Greer) is on the national rules committee, one wonders if heavy-handed tactics will be coming to a state near you.

Where Benton County Tea Party Will Be on 9/12

Benton County has a very large and active Tea Party organization. If you are interested in connecting with them then this Saturday, September 12th should be an excellent opportunity to do so. I plan to be there myself towards evening, and am on tap to give a short speech to the folks present. The Benton County Tea Party will be the special guests at an Old Time Camp meeting hosted by the Bella Vista Patriots. The event will be from 5-8PM on the campus of Ambassador’s for Christ Academy on County Road 40 in Bella Vista. They will serve hamburgers, hot dogs, and all the fixings. Bring your own lawn chairs. Admission is five dollars for adults and three dollars for children.

Here is part of an announcement about the event from Benton County Tea Party Chairman Kirk Hartness: “The Benton County Tea Party has been invited to participate in an old American tradition known as the Camp Meeting. These historically have been week long or longer celebrations attended by folks coming from hundreds of miles around. People would literally camp out and enjoy an extended period of preaching, singing, eating, political speeches, and enjoying fellowship. The Camp Meeting on the enclosed flier is not a week long but only three hours or so. However, it should be a great opportunity to gain a hint of the flavor of these meetings from times past.

The Benton County Tea Party has been asked to participate by adding to the religious/political flavor that characterized camp meetings of the past. Because of heavy bias in the media and contemporary education, many today are not aware of the vital role Christianity played in the formation of our country. The heavy emphasis on separation of church and state ignores the fact that the revolutionary war was literally fought in the pulpits of America’s churches. Much of the structure of our government was actually based on the teachings of the Bible as well as the works of great Christians such as John Calvin, John Locke, and Sir William Blackstone, the great English jurist.

While Americans have historically been diverse in terms of denominational affiliations, we have usually been united by a common faith in God and His benevolent grace in allowing our founding Fathers to form what has become the greatest nation the world has ever seen. G.K. Chesterton said that America is the only nation founded on a creed.” He also referred to America as “a nation with the soul of a church.” John Adams said, “Our form of government was established for a religious people. It will suffice for no other.”

We of the Benton County Tea Party Committee hope you will add this Camp meeting to the list of events you are considering attending. People of diverse religious backgrounds can still come together to learn and to appreciate the role that Christianity played in giving all of us the right to worship freely. We look forward to participating and to meeting many of you there as well. Please bring your family and friends for a few hours of celebrating our rich religious heritage on September 12 in Bella Vista.”

Using OPC to get OPM

Fayetteville School District uses the band, choir, and pep squad as props at a rally to get a 25% increase in the school millage rate passed. The election will be held September 15th. The funds will be used for a high school that will be at least twice as expensive as the palatial Har-Ber High School in Springdale.

Many have made a fuss over President* Barack Obama's proposed address to all of the nation's school children on Sept. the 8th. The original study guide for the event required the student's to ask themselves what they could do to help President Obama.

It seems that statists are very big on using Other People's Children (OPC) to get access to Other People's Money (OPM). The band, choir, pep squad, and all other student groups should not be used as props for one political position. They're not their kids.
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* status unconfirmed.

Sounds Familiar

I read something in "Black Voices" that sounded kind of familiar.

"Gabon was once a wealthy African nation due to the oil boom in the 1980s and the country's relatively low population (nearly 1.5 million people). But like many African nations, it succumbed to the temptation of foreign loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Nowadays, Gabon has joined a long list of African nations experiencing foreign exploitation because of financial misappropriation and dependency on foreign aid."

Taking loans leads to poverty, especially when the money is not appropriated justly (misappropriated). Hmmmm. Sounds kind of like what they are doing here. Looting the population with all of this public debt and bailouts of banks. The insiders loot the country by running up the nation's credit card and then leave us to pay the tab.

Parsing Lincoln on Health Reform

“She has consistently promised to support health insurance reform that is deficit neutral, requires insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, and that lowers health care costs to consumers. When she states that a totally-government funded public option cannot accomplish all of these goals, she is staying true to her word.” From Senator Blanche Lincoln's press release today.
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There is no way government can both force insurance companies to cover prexisting conditions and lower health care costs to consumers- unless they shift health care costs onto non-consumers. That's you, healthy people. Government cannot reduce any costs. It is very good however, at shifting and concealing costs. That's how it instigates over-consumption of its services. It convinces people that someone else is paying for the service that they will use.

Covering pre-existing conditions is not really insurance anyway. Insurance has to do with spreading risks. If the condition already exists, that is not a risk. It is a sure thing. There is more the state can and should do as far as a person who is insured getting their coverage dropped when they change jobs. But that is for people who are not sick when they start paying on a plan and get sick later. They should be covered rather than dropped on a pretext because protection against risk was what they paid for.

Covering pre-existing conditions is shifting costs, not sharing risk. It is sick people using the government to force healthy people to pay their bills for them. To help a virtuous poor person who got cancer, we might not mind. For a guy who had illicit sex with 200 other guys and got AIDS, some of us might. For an elderly grandmother who needs cataract surgery, we might not object to being sent the bill. For an alcoholic who destroyed their liver, we might object. But it won't be our choice anymore.

The cost of private coverage will go through the roof if this happens, and that may be what they WANT to happen so that people will cry out for a public option.

She states that "a totally-government funded public option cannot accomplish all of these goals". Specifically, it would not be "deficit neutral". Remember she prefaced that claim by saying she is against not a public option, but a TOTALLY-GOVERNMENT FUNDED pubic option. I assure you she is for an option that she desperately wants to call something else besides a public option even though that is what it will be. It will be as subsidized as much as she thinks she can get away with by public funds. It will not be a TOTALLY government funded option, just as Medicare Part D is not totally government funded. About 25% of it comes from premiums. It is helping to bankrupt us just the same.

Do not be fooled by this talk of health co-ops or "non-profit corporations" given start-up funds by the government. That sounds just like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They were private corporations started by the government to provide affordable housing. Whatever they call this monstrosity will be started to provide affordable health care. We just bailed out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to the tune of 1.5 trillion, that is trillion with a "T" as in $15,000 for every man woman and child in this country.

My concern is that Lincoln is going to claim this plan is deficit neutral because it pays for itself by 1) slashing Medicare 2) forcing young healthy people to purchase coverage at a higher rate than they could previously get it because they will be subsidizing everyone else and 3) making completely unrealistic assumptions, contradicted by all historical evidence of government budgeting, about what this "Fannie Mae for Health Care" non-profit corporation can do with X amount of start-up dollars.

The ultimate issue is trust. For good reason, the average voter does not trust this Congress or Senate. Congress has run into the ground about everything it has tried. Taking on a major new task is not a credible position. We don't trust you to make it better, and there is no reason we should at this point.

Health Bill to Fund Government Home Visits For Vaccinations

In the Elian Gonzales case, government agents are shown here making a "home visit". Now Elian has free government health care!
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CNS news service reports that the Senate's main health care bill, The Affordable Health Choices Act, has provisions for a pilot program that would send government agents to the homes of people whose children have not had as many vaccinations as the drug companies/government thinks that they should have.

It seems that American citizens are not purchasing as many vaccines as the makers of those vaccines would like. Perhaps this has something to do with the known health risks of injecting these foreign agents into one's body. But no matter. The drug companies have simply decided to bribe your Senators into using the government to pressure you into using their product. Who needs marketing when you can simply get the legislature to pass laws saying that government agents will be used to go to the homes of people who choose not to use the product and ask them to "choose again".

Arkansas Fire Chief Shot by Cops in Court over Fines

This is one of the most bizarre stories on local government I have ever heard. The police of tiny Jericho Arkansas apparently ignored regular law enforcement duties in favor of raising money by issuing traffic citations. Now the Judge has quit, the police (all of them) have been put on leave, and, well, just read the crazy thing.

Lincoln Does About Face on Public Option

She has been saying this for over a week now, but Roll Call points out that she was saying something different as recently as July. Could Tea Party demonstrators have anything to do with the switch? As another female politician would say, "You bet'cha".

Dodd "Now We Can Act Like Senators"

What does it mean to act like a Senator?

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Senator Chris Dodd, (D) Connecticut, was recently quoted as saying that now that the August heat is behind us, they "could act like Senators again". Just what does Dodd mean by that? As near as I can tell it means that he thinks they should behave like arrogant jackasses and saddle the American people with a socialized medicine program that we don't want and can't afford. It means that they should vote against the wishes of the common citizen and in the interests of their insider buddies, just like with the bailout. It means that they can get away from those nasty voters back "home" and go to their real home- the beltway where their egos can be stroked from lobbiests seeking favors from the public treasury.

My take is that Dodd thinks acting "like a Senator" means betraying the people you were elected to represent and doing whatever you and your "friends" want to do even if We the People oppose it.

Acting like a senator should mean acting with wisdom, temperance, and dignity. For Dodd, it just means acting like an arrogant jerk who is no longer willing to listen to anybody.

Baker Jumps in For Senate Race

As David Sanders predicted, State Senator and former GOP state Chairman Gilbert Baker has announced that he is in the race for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Blanche Lincoln. Previously, Baker had indicated that he would not run if two other candidates were running. That was then, this is now. They are both running, and now so is Gilbert Baker.

In the interest of fairness I should mention the other candidates for the Republican nomination, but to tell you the truth, there are so many that I can't do it from memory and I am feeling too lazy today to look it up. Will Baker jump out from the pack? Is he the right one? He has a strong network among state Democrats- some of them held a fundraiser for him. Does he know something about Blanche's possible exit from the race? Stay tuned.

Duggar #19 on the Way

Video of the announcement on the Today Show is here.

We don't know yet if it is a boy or girl. Michelle is three months along.

Medical Professionals to Refuse Swine Flu Vaccine

Don't expect to hear much about it from our state/corporate controlled media, but even many in the medical profession say they will refuse to take the swine flu vaccine. Even scientists who developed other vaccines say they will skip it.

Since major drug corporations have a cozy relationship with our corporate media we have to turn to the "Russia Today" news channel to get coverage on the issue.