Governor's Office Blasts Ballot Initiative on Illegal Aliens

Governor Beebe Opposes the Ballot Initiative to Deny Benefits to Illegal Aliens
His Office Very Condescending to Viewpoints of the Citizens

I called all the Arkansas US legislator offices yesterday and Governor Beebe's office to get them to go on record as to whether they supported Secure ARkansas's ballot initiative to deny certain public benefits to illegal aliens. The Women Action Group is also in the process of calling all the state legislators to see where they stand on the Secure Arkansas petition. We have received many responses back already. The petition can be read at this link http://www.securearkansas.com/Secure_AR_Act_Petition_Final.pdf

I had at least a 30 minute talk with Governor Beebe's office and spoke to the person, Matt DeCample, I was transferred to when I told them I wanted to know the Governor's position on the ballot initiative. He was very condescending and would not believe anything I told him about the things I have learned while collecting a couple of thousand signatures.

He was adamant in his views that illegal aliens are not receiving benefits in Arkansas.

As I tried to tell him about what all the people in the different offices tell me about how illegal aliens ARE receiving benefits, he told me at least five or six times that I was lying or was a liar. He kept saying that if anyone knows that illegal aliens are receiving benefits, that it is their responsibility to report it. I kept telling him that it was the Governor and the Attorney General's responsibility to enforce the law.

You and I know that people in the state offices would lose their jobs if they told the truth to people in charge. And we as individuals have no way of getting the proof. But we know that the Governor and the Attorney General would have the power to view the records of the various departments and determine if state benefits were going to illegal aliens, but they refuse to do the investigation and just close their eyes to the obvious and declare illegal aliens are not getting benefits. In legislative hearings on this subject, some of the department heads had to just estimate the number of illegals being served because they were not keeping records on who was illegal and who wasn't. This was reported in the newspapers. But we heard of no investigations by the Governor or Attorney General that followed such admissions.

I told DeCample that the more than 60,000 signatures we had collected on the petition was a way of the people reporting to them that we wanted the laws enforced and that we knew illegal aliens were getting benefits. I asked him why 95% of the people are signing the petition if the illegal aliens are not getting the benefits, and he said it was because the people had been lied to and because of fear mongers like me. Evidently he doesn't have much respect for Arkansans' intelligence.

I brought up Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona and how she had become a hero because she was fighting for her state. His comment was that Arizona is $4 to $5 billion in debt because of poor governance in the state and that Arkansas balances its budget. That pretty much indicates how the Arkansas Governor's office feels about Arizona's actions and about those of us who are supporting Arizona. He did not believe me when I told him that the reason they are in debt is because of all the illegal aliens they have to support.

DeCample said he did not believe me when I told him that Arkansas was number one in the increase of Hispanics and showed no interest in the credible sources that document that fact. And then he would not believe that most of that increase had to be illegal aliens since it takes a considerable length of time to become legal. Neither would he believe me when I told him of reports that only 1/3 of the illegal aliens in Arkansas even apply for citizenship, which is a much lower percentage than in the nation. In fact, he refused to believe everything I reported to him and showed no interest in all in ascertaining the facts. He told me more than once that he was telling me the truth and that I was refusing to believe him and that the things I was saying were absurdities.

He kept saying that Arkansas law already covers all the provisions in the ballot initiative petition and that all these benefits I was talking about were federal benefits - as if Arkansas has no state funded benefits. I asked him at least two or three times then why are all these states around us passing laws if they are not needed. He said he did not want to talk about other states; that he wanted to talk about Arkansas. When I asked that question the second time, he said the other states just needed those laws to catch up with the laws Arkansas has already passed. I asked him to please tell me one law that Arkansas has that these other states did not have, and he could not tell me of any and basically said we were talking about Arkansas and not other states.

As DeCample kept saying this petition would cover nothing that was already covered by Arkansas law. I specifically asked him wouldn't the initiative protect us from the state's ability to grant almost any form of welfare or benefits they desired to give to illegal aliens if the legislature passed a law to do so (as federal law gives states the right to do – something very few people realize). He didn't deny the truth of the statement but said it was absurd for us to think anyone would want to do that. I referred him back to Joyce Elliott's bill to give instate tuition and scholarships to illegal aliens that passed the House overwhelmingly in 2005 and lost only by 2 votes in the Senate and how Wilkins brought the same bill back up in 2007.

DeCample said that if I wanted to scare people into signing the petition by using that point, to just go ahead but stuck to his point that it would be absurd for anyone to think liberals would actually want to pass laws to give illegal aliens benefits (as if Obama and all those other Democrats are not wanting to give amnesty to them which would give them all the benefits.)

I told him one of my biggest concerns was we were becoming a nation of lawlessness. He said where he lived he saw no lawlessness. I told him that when he passes by a house where 50 Hispanics are working, he knows that a number of them have to be illegal aliens and yet no one does anything - that is lawlessness. His response was that he did not come to the conclusion that just because someone had brown skin they were here illegally and mentioned that he was a Christian, inferring that I was not Christian in my viewpoints – the same old argument we hear all the time from liberals.

I did tell him that if the people of Arkansas could learn that Governor Beebe was opposing this initiative that his poll ratings would drop 10 to 20 percent.

At the end of our conversation, I read him the quotes in the story below that Beebe said on the 2008 petition that we failed to get on the ballot and asked him if this was still Beebe's stand on the ballot initiative in 2010. And he agreed that the following is Beebe's position with the exception that Beebe said it would add to the expense to determine the amount of benefits illegal aliens receive by the departments as required in the petition.

May 20, 08 “Illegal-alien act faulty” by Michael Wickline
"Governor Mike Beebe announced that he will oppose the initiated act by the people that would allow citizens in Arkansas to vote in November to bar illegal aliens from receiving certain state services.
Governor Beebe said that the initiative “would duplicate state and federal laws” and that
“All of the proposal’s major provisions already are covered by federal or state laws.”

I will report back what I learned from the other offices when I finish my conversations with them. Senator Pryor's office has already said that I could report that he would not be signing the petition.

Debbie Pelley
For Women Action Group
www.wpaag.org
email: wpaagorg@gmail.com

Brummett 180 Out Again

John Brummett gets it wrong again in his usual spectacular fashion. Brummett being wrong is no longer news, but it is still spectacle. This time he claims that the GOP has everything going for it except the candidates. He is talking about the national GOP, not the state GOP.

The root of his complaint is that "extremists" (oooooohhh!) are winning primaries. Extreme right-wing nut jobs (in the Brummett lexicon that's people who question taxpayer funding of late-term abortions, think our immigration laws ought to be enforced, and don't think that every good idea ought to be a federal program and every bad idea ought to be banned by federal law) have won a number of primaries in other states. The outsiders are winning a few in other states, and this bothers Brummett, the character assassin for the establishment. If only their were more like him in every state, willing to use the power of his bully pulpit to belittle and insult anyone who dares to challenge the woefully corrupt system to which he owes so much.

If there were more like him in every state, maybe those other states would be like Arkansas. Outsiders don't win Arkansas primaries much. The print media here is too quick to attack the character of anyone who tries to buck the system. Instead of a vibrant GOP with fresh faces and fresh ideas, we have a GOP barely able to muster opposition to the Democrats on the state and local level. Oh there are some good candidates, but in a lot of races they don't even have a bad candidate.

Brummett is just so wrong. Those new candidates aren't the GOP's main drawback, but its main hope of regaining a modicrum of credibility in the eyes of the voters. Yes people are sick of the Democrats. And they were sick of the Republicans too last time they were in charge. That's because both parties pursue the same polices. Just because people hate the Democrats now does not mean that the GOP has a reservoir of trust and good will.


Too bad that's not happening here- yet.

The Problem is the False Doctrine of Judicial Supremacy

A good school is about to be closed down just because it falls under an arbitrary number of students. Should the number be changed? We can't figure out what the heck Jim Keet really thinks about it, but Gov. Beebe says no. The stated reason? He is afraid the courts would take up Lakeview again.

That's exactly the problem. The state court usurped the authority of the legislative branch with the Lakeview case. Two of the seven justices wrote that, and they were correct. But the legislature seems more worried about obtaining pork than defending the fundamental precepts of constitutional government. Part of the problem was they would have to stand up to a state print media that is determined to consolidate and centralize education, whether the parents think its a good idea or not.

Were I the Governor, and could get the legislature to buck up, I would push for a repeal of the arbitrary number and HOPE the court tried to jump back in it. I'd hate to leave the battle with the courts lying where we left off- with the courts asserting that they had the right to determine what an "adequate" level of school funding is (the power of the purse strings rightly belongs to the legislature). The legislature laid down supine for the judicial branch last time. A return to Lakeview would give them a chance to redeem themselves for the feckless spectacle we saw from them last time. The legislature should repeal the limit, and if the court tries to bench legislate, I'd tell 'em they would get no enforcement of that extra-constitutional ruling from me. Then I'd go around the state campaigning for the opponent of whichever of the usurpers was up for election next.


Too bad for the small schools I'm not the Governor, but I suspect Mayor Frank Gilbert, the Constitution Party's candidate for Governor, would do pretty much the same thing. To get him on the ballot, download the petition on this site, get some friends to sign it, then mail it in by July the 9th.

DOJ Official Resigns Over Refusal To Prosecute in Voter Intimidation Case.

Calling it "the most simple and obvious violation of Federal election law I have ever seen", a Department of Justice official has resigned over the refusal of the Obama administration to pursue the voter intimidation case against armed black panthers who showed up at a polling place in 2008. Here is the story.

Man the Life Boats

In the past I have written quite a lot about public policy. I am going to be a lot more practical today. I am not going to warn you about the gigantic policy blunders that our rulers have made. Instead, I am going to advise you on specific steps many of you can take to protect your families against the soon-coming consequences of these mad blunders.

If I could use an analogy, I am going to quit trying to rally my co-passengers on the Titanic to elect new captains who will change the ship’s course. The ice-berg is about to be hit and new captains, even if any with sufficient understanding were available, can’t steer us away in time to avoid the collision. So rather than rally my co-passengers to steer clear of the ice berg, I direct their attention to the location of the life boats so that they might escape some of the consequences of what is about to happen.

My advice is not so much to the very wealthy, who may get through the storm in any case. Nor will it work for those poor already too far in debt to have anything left to salvage. I wish all people well, but it is the middle and working class, those who have been most betrayed by these policy blunders, that can most benefit from this advice.

The key thing to understand is that the dollar is doomed. A wise response to a collapsing currency is at the heart of my counsel. From the inception of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 to today the dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power. That’s about 100 years. I roughly estimate that it will only take about 10 years for the current dollar to lose about the same amount of purchasing power- if the dollar even lasts that long. In other words, what you can buy for a nickel or a dime today will require a dollar in just ten years from now. That means gasoline at $25 or even $50 per gallon. It means electric bills ten times or even twenty times the amount on the statement you opened last month. The same thing goes for groceries and other essentials. We have already seen significant inflation in food prices over the last year. Expect that to accelerate.

As hard as that may be to accept, something very similar has happened to every other country in history which has conducted its fiscal affairs in the manner in which our rulers, Democrat or Republican, have conducted ours. Those with good sense are not in a position to alter policy, so what do we do to protect ourselves from government incompetence?

Job one is to have savings that are safe. Savers are being punished by artificially low interest rates on CDs. Saving is good, but dollars are losing their ability to store value. Convert dollars, as you can spare them, into silver or gold. They are real assets and they will hold their value even when those pieces of paper backed by the “full faith and credit of the U.S. government” lose theirs.

I feel that a modest household should own at least 50 ounces of silver. You can get it (in shops or online) in handy 1-ounce rounds, old coins from when the U.S. government issued real money, or special new coins whose face value is far below its actual value in precious metal that they issue today for “collectors.”

Next week I hope to talk about what to do about land, houses, mortgages, and credit card debt.

Fayetteville Makes National News

...for having a 10 year old child as master of ceremonies for the city's "Gay Pride Parade".

Patriots On Watch Radio

Listen to 31 minute audio here.

Jim Keet calls for "no specific action." The Southern Avenger Deconstructs Chris Matthews. The same points apply to many pundits on the left and the right.

Senior Election Clerk for Honolulu Says Obama Not Born in U.S.

Mr.. Adams is a Democrat. He was in the records office in Hawaii and was in a position to know if Obama has a long form birth certificate. He says that document does not exist, and that the form being trumpeted about on the internet as Obama's birth certificate is typically used by residents whose children were born elsewhere.

He argues, incorrectly, that it should not matter that Obama was born elsewhere. The reason for his error is that he confuses naturalized citizenship with natural born citizenship. I argue, correctly (but we live in times where difficult facts are ignored rather than addressed) that it does not matter whether he was born here. He is ineligible for the Presidency because his father was a foreign national here on business from a foreign government, and therefore he does not meet the "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" clause of the 14th amendment according to the original intent of it's author (Senator Howard Jacob).

That is, I am correct if Obama was actually born here. Mr. Adams makes a strong case that Obama was not born here, and a faulty case that it doesn't matter. The whole thing looks like an attempt to condition America to the idea that it does not matter if Obama was born here or not, and if you insist that the Constitution applies to the Great One then you must be a racist!

NRA Sells Out 1st Amendment

....as long as they get to talk. Makes me wonder how well they will really protect the 2nd.

Autism-ADHD Link

I have noted before that there is a strong statistical correlation between a rise in autism rates and government mandating of an infant vaccination when the vaccine uses viruses harvested from cells derived from aborted fetal tissue. Each time a new such vaccination has been mandated, the autism rates accelerate. I speculate that the recent slight decline in autism rates is a product of an increasing number of families refusing, for example, MMR vaccinations.

Now a larger picture may be emerging. ADHD appears to be connected to autism. Here is an article which explores that hypothesis in more depth. It has many similarities to a weaker version of the same basic dysfunctions many autistic children experience. Both disorders exploded over the last couple of decades. Indeed the rate in the rise of both conditions mirrored one another and increased more than diagnoses for any psychiatric disorder.

The Giant Sucking Sound Gets Louder

Image from "Two Decades of Greed" by Jim Quinn.

Ross Perot famously warned that if NAFTA was passed there would be a "giant sucking sound" of jobs leaving the United States. NAFTA became law in 1993. For the first few years, no such sucking sound was heard. In fact, manufacturing jobs went up somewhat. This was hailed at the time as "proof" that Perot was wrong. But he wasn't wrong. He was all too right.

It takes years for companies to complete the complicated process of closing down factories and shipping them off elsewhere. Big companies typically would do a test case, try it with one factory, and see how it works. If it does, then they shift production in earnest. The initial movement was hidden by the recovery from the 1991 recession. It looked like the numbers were getting better for a while, but now we see the truth. NAFTA and company simply gutted much of our manufacturing base. Were it really free trade, I might have less objections. But its not free trade, its managed trade with government panels picking winners and losers.

Ten Stories The Oil Spill is Overshadowing

And some of them are even more important than the oil spill. Get the list and a synopsis here.

POW NET RADIO: "Faithful are the Wounds of a Friend"

31 minute audio here.

Mark describes personality traits common among conservative activists that insiders use to bedazzle and neutralize them as a force for positive change. Also, what states and localities are doing, choosing to ignore federal law in order to protect themselves and secure the rights of their citizens, has a name and a philosophy behind it. Mark strings together several such spontaneous acts in different areas and shows how they go back to doctrines described by the Founders.

CP Candidate for Governor Coming to KURM

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UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

MEET FRANK GILBERT FRIDAY IN SPRINGDALE

Mayor Frank Gilbert will also have a lunch time event at the Pontiac Cafe in Sprindale. It's on HWY 71 where the old Pontiac dealership used to be. Come on by and have lunch with the Mayor from 11:10 to 1:00 if you would like to meet Frank Gilbert

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Release from Constitution Party of Arkansas Chairman Tom Mayfield...

Patriots, I report good news! Mayor Frank Gilbert, the Constitution Party candidate for Governor, will be interviewed this Friday on KURM radio, “The Mighty 790” on the AM dial. This station covers the entire Northwest corner of the state, and they have a repeater in the River Valley. But no matter where you live, you can listen live on their website. I urge you to both tune in yourselves and forward this message to your friends so that they will have the opportunity to listen as well. The interview begins at 10:05AM on Friday and lasts for about 30 minutes.


One of the topics Mayor Frank will be sure to talk about is our ballot petition drive. If 300 people get 40 signatures each, we can get ballot access. But we still have not filled out the ranks of the 300. Will you be one of them? If you are satisfied with the way government is going in this country, then continue as you were. If you aren’t, don’t just complain about it, do something about it! Help the Constitution Party of Arkansas get on the ballot by collecting and sending in as many voter signatures as you can collect between now and July 9th. It's time to send the system a message.


Again that’s this Friday morning from 10:05 to 10:35 on KURM AM 790.


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Americans Advised to Stay out of Arizona Border Counties

Watch this audio. Unbelievable. Instead of sending troops to secure the border, the administration sends signs warning Americans to stay out of our own counties!

Secure Arkansas Petition Station in Springdale

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Their new location will be on the 2800 block of West Walnut Street in Rogers.

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UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
I have gotten disturbing reports of harassment of the petitioners by local police. I find it disturbing that people simply exercising their constitutional rights are viewed with hostility by misguided members of law enforcement. My guess is that there is pressure from higher-ups to hassle them. Secure Arkansas has lawyers on staff. They have have been given reason to use them.

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Secure Arkansas will be operating a location to collect signatures for their petition to limit public benefits to illegal aliens from 8AM to 8PM from now through this Saturday.

The location is at the corner of Highway 412 East and Dime Street. This is across the street from the giant fiberglass Chicken and Turkey (what, you haven't seen them?) in Springdale.

It is my understanding that there will also be petitions available to get the Constitution Party of Arkansas on the ballot. You can download that petition here, have a few friends and family sign it, and send it to the address at the link.

Time is running short to complete both drives. The illegal alien petition drive ends June 30th. The CP drive closes out July 9th.

Florida County Votes to Defy Feds on Oil Spill Containment

Hindered by federal red tape no more- people around Destin got tired of waiting for permission from Washington D.C. to protect themselves.
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Okaloosa County's (Florida) legislative body has unanimously voted to give it's executive officials authority to act against the oil spill threatening their beaches, even if it means breaking federal law. They voted that county officials no longer needed to wait for permission of the state or federal government to act.

“We made the decision legislatively to break the laws if necessary. We will do whatever it takes to protect our county’s waterways and we’re prepared to go to jail to do it,” said Commission Chairman Wayne Harris.

Nullification, sometimes considered the same doctrine as interposition, is increasingly being used by states and localities against an out-of-control and ineffective federal government which seems to have lost touch with fiscal (and moral) reality. The doctrine, established by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison among other founders, says that when the Federal government acts beyond the bounds of the Constitution, that state and local governments have the right "and duty" to declare those laws null and void.

The doctrine maintains that it is a violation of the separation of powers principle to have a federal agency (the Judiciary) act as the sole determiner of the legitimate extent of the Federal government's power. The only result can be a federal government which constantly acts to expand its own reach. Those who hold to the legitimacy of nullification and interposition hold the view that there is no "neutral moderator" between the feds and the states. Because of this, the parties themselves must resolve the disputes based on the original intent of the compact which bound them together (the Constitution). The feds and the states just have to keep hammering it out with one another, a state of tension that is designed to protect the rights of the people.

Some other areas where states have successfully used the principles of interposition and nullification are; the so-called "Real ID" act, Medical Marijuana laws, and most recently and still in doubt, federal gun laws.

I expect we will see more and more of this. Arizona took matters into its own hands when the feds would not or could not protect the state from illegal aliens. This Florida county is taking things into its own hands to protect itself from the oil spill. They are frustrated at federal foot-dragging.

In Arkansas, we have too many politicians who are focused on sucking their way to the top instead of acting to protect the rights of citizens. That can only be because we let them in many ways. It's time to grow up, and get the state moving to protect its citizens from the blowback of an increasingly dysfunctional federal government.

A Call for Incivility?

My problem with incivility is that it is too easy for the forces of unreason to duplicate. Soon both sides are shouting down the other's words and there comes an end to rational dialogue. On the other hand, what should one do when you meet with your elected leaders and they stand at the podium and tell you things that you know are lies, they likely know are lies, and they likely know that you likely know are lies? What is the proper response when civility is taken advantage of, not to advance reasoned debate, but to facilitate continued dishonesty?

Excerpt from the article....

"Clearly, civility is no longer the overriding concern. What’s at stake is representative government. What was supposed to be a two-way dialogue between government officials and the people has instead turned into a series of one-way monologues by double-talking politicians. Consequently, while many of us have been bickering over partisan politics – the Democratic-Republican distinction is really nothing more than an illusion – those in power have simply pursued their own personal agendas.

Thus, if the American people really want change they can believe in, they should start by putting politics aside and reclaiming their rightful place in the dialogue. This will only be achieved by confronting their representatives and demanding that they be heard. After all, these people work for us. We pay their salaries and underwrite their lavish lifestyles and perks. We should call the shots. So when they lie or cheat or don’t do their jobs in a timely or effective manner, we have a right – and a duty – to tell them so, whether they like how we do it or not."

Senor Election Official: Obama Not Born in Honolulu

WND has this shocking report. I had thought that he probably was born in Honolulu, but that he was hiding other aspects about his citizenship by concealing his long form birth certificate. This elections official, who had access, claims that document does not exist.

Floods Show Need for Arkanasas State Guard

Articles like FOX NEWS report about the devastating floods in southwest Arkansas are a grim reminder that we still live in a dangerous world. And as the picture above indicates, often the best response to an emergency is when qualified civilians work with full-time government officials to help speed aid in disasters that would otherwise swamp the government apparatus.

That's why we need an Arkansas State guard. It's true that National Guardsmen are helping, but it is also true that more than ever before, many of them are deployed across the globe at any given time. Washington D.C., in its efforts to do everything for everybody, has proven itself incapable of adequately responding to disasters and doing what it is supposed to do. In order to provide security for the people of Arkansas, we should fill in that gap.

This is similar to when the people of Arizona realized that the Federal government would not, for whatever reason, enforce existing law against illegal aliens on a consistent basis. They took responsibility for this security issue in their own hands. That's what we should do, not just on one issue, but on every issue that matters.

Washington D.C. is bankrupt, fiscally, intellectually, and morally. Yet the reality that they can't handle even what responsibility they have now does not seem to have slowed their desire to have their fingers in every pie. It does not matter which of the two establishment parties are in power, their policies, morality, and competence are similar. These are not people you should put a lot of faith in. We need a back up plan for when Washington fails- and anyone with good sense can see they are going to fail. We need a State Guard.

Obama's Odd Social Security Number

Why does President* Obama have a social security number issued in the state of Connecticut years after he began working in Honolulu? We don't know. It's another of those issues concerning Obama's past that the White House won't talk about.


*Status undetermined

POW Radio

Mark explains why he is no Rush Limbaugh. Also, Iron Man 2 was unrealistic- not so much for the fantastical technology, but rather because of it's portrayal of our eroded rights. Lastly, "Net Neutrality" is a dishonest name for dishonest government intervention in the last free media.

30 minute audio. Listen on the archives here.

Secure Arkansas Call To Action (Petition Drive Meetups)

“Arkansans are tired of the government, at all levels, sending their hard earned tax dollars to illegal aliens,” said Jeannie Burlsworth, Chair of Secure Arkansas, “On Thursday, June 10th Arkansans will have an opportunity to sign our petition and take direct action to fix a problem most of their elected officials have chosen to ignore.” She concluded by saying, “Secure Arkansas is an all volunteer organization. It is these volunteers that are collecting signatures and because of their tireless efforts I am confident that we will collect the required number of signatures to have our Ballot Measure on the November ballot.”

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UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

This thing is exploding. They are now up to 38 locations statewide.
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Activists with Secure Arkansas will be present at a number of locations throughout the state Thursday to gather signatures for their petition to make it harder for illegal aliens to obtain access to taxpayer benefits. In some locations, they will have petitions to get the Constitution Party on the ballot for state and local offices as well. Stop by one of them if you have yet to sign the petition, or just want to offer them encouragement. Here are their locations and times....


* Bentonville Square --10:30am-2:00pm.

* Rogers: 40th and Walnut, 4-7pm.

* Huntsville: Near Wal-Mart on Hwy 412, 7am-Noon.

* Ft. Smith: On Rogers Ave. in front of Creekmore Park, 11am-1pm.

* Harrison: On the south side of the courthouse, 7-10am

* Russellville: Corner of Weir and Parkway, 9am-2pm.

* Fayetteville: 1) On Joyce St. across from McDonalds, 4-7pm

2) On Crossover Road by Harp's, 4-7pm

* Siloam Springs: Farmer's Market at Mt Olive & College by The Community Center, 10:00am to 1:00pm.

"Net Neutrality", Dishonest Name, Dangerous Doctrine

The folks who want to decide what "neutral" means for you.

The head of the FCC is pushing for something he calls "net neutrality". When he does so he is being, as so many government officials are, dishonest. Government, when stripped of all the niceties and seen in its essence, is force. Government consists of making people do things that they would not otherwise choose to do under the threat of taking their property and/or freedom if they do not. Any good that it does, it does by first using force. Any bad it does, it does through force. The very definition of government is "that institution which claims a monopoly use on force over a given geographic area."

That's why its absurd to describe government intervention in the internet as "net neutrality". There is nothing neutral about government. Government consists of forcing people to do things that they would not otherwise do. There is nothing neutral about that. It's all about picking sides. They will determine whose side to be "neutral" on. There is nothing neutral about the government overriding the combined free choices of individuals, known as "the free market" and imposing rules about how much of whose content should get what slice of the band width.

Government virtually always has a side in any dispute- its own. The last century is an almost unbroken witness of government working in its own interests to expand its own reach into our lives. Government acts in its own interests, even when it cloaks its intentions by claiming to represent the interests of some oppressed group. At the end of the day, those in poverty will still be in poverty even after the government has acted, but government will have grown and its officials will have become more numerous, powerful, and prosperous.

Public officials who support Clyburn's falsely named "net neutrality" intervention are your enemy. It's that simple. The internet is the last free media. Newspaper's are dying, and increasingly controlled by corporate interests that are aligned with the government. Broadcast media is worse. Not only are they also owned by global corporations which do a lot of business with the government, but they actually require a license from the federal government to operate. Why would you expect them to risk that by actually informing you of the really explosive issues, such as the federal reserve's discount window scam or Obama's eligibility for office? They may make some off hand references to cloud the issue, but mostly they go to 24/7 coverage of some unstable pop-tart's latest trip to re-hab. They don't inform, they distract people who otherwise might get informed.

You won't see the newspapers sounding the alarm about net neutrality. The net is killing them, and they won't shed a tear if their rival gets hobbled by government regulation. You won't find broadcast media sounding the alarm- its one of those issues so important that they will risk government sanction if they tell you the truth about it in plain words. It's their regulators, the FCC, that are pushing this. Do you think they are going to hit the alarm button for you?

It's up to We the People to defend true Net Neutrality, the free market, by defeating attempts at government intervention dishonestly named Net Neutrality. W e should do this not only by voting against any elected official who will not actively protect our net freedom to express our political views, but if necessary by civil disobedience. It's that important.

The Biggest, Saddest Ficton in Iron Man 2

I saw Iron Man 2 recently, and I give it "two thumbs up" as a feel-good fantasy action adventure. Of course, you don't go to a movie like that for realism. Lot's of things in that movie were so unlikely that you had to "suspend disbelief" to enjoy the film. But sadly, the biggest disconnect with reality in the movie had little to do with the fantastical technology and a lot to do with the eroded condition of our freedoms.

In the film Tony Stark went before a Senate Committee. A Senator took the position that his Iron Man suit was a weapon. A weapon too dangerous to be entrusted to individual citizens like Stark. The Senator wanted him to turn over his Iron Man suit to the government. "You can't have it." Stark told him. "It's my personal property." The Senator was not arguing that Stark had used the suit improperly. Indeed, up to that point in the movie Stark had used it to advance the interests of the government anyway. The Senator was arguing that you could not have that much power out there unless it was in the hands of the government.

During the course of the movie, there was some fear that the government was going to roll up in tanks and try to take the suit from Stark. What happened instead was that one of Stark's friends, a military officer, stole a second Iron Man suit from Stark and took it to his general. In the movie, that tended to end the pressure from the government to take Stark's original suit. They seemed content to let him have his as long as they got one too. When their efforts to use the technology go spectacularly wrong, Stark's friend promises to return his suit to him. There no longer seems to be any concern about the government seeking control over the technology.

I found this to be the most unrealistic part of the movie. In our current world, the views of the Senator prevail. Government does not trust us to even have a machine gun without their approval, much less a suit with laser cannons in it. In our current world, the government is extremely uneasy with any of us or all of us having any possible means to resist them.

Consider the case of Washington County resident Hollis Wayne Fincher. He was retired from the Navy and had a good record of service. While working for them, he operated powerful weapons systems. In sixty years of living, he had no criminal record. A few years ago he made a machine gun and kept it within the state of Arkansas. It was not for sale. It was his personal property.

His purpose was to test the constitutionality of the federal government's restrictions on the ownership of machine guns. Since the federal government is allegedly bound by the 2nd amendment from making laws against the possession of firearms, the feds used their power to regulate interstate commerce as a backdoor justification for their restrictions on citizen ownership of firearms. Fincher thought that he could win a case on constitutional grounds that the law would not apply to a machine gun made and kept in Arkansas. He thought that where there was no interstate commerce involved, only the states could regulate firearms not the feds.

That's what he thought, but he wasn't Tony Stark and this was not a movie. This was real life with a government run by men who have long ago turned their backs on the views of the Founders. The Judge in the case, Hendren, would not even permit Fincher to present his constitutional defense to the jury. The jury heard no defense at all, and therefore could only vote to convict. Fincher is rotting in jail to this day. He was guilty, guilty of thinking that the words of the Constitution still matter to today's ruling class. The biggest, and saddest, fiction in that movie is that we are so free that the government would actually permit citizens to possess the means to resist them.

Bisbee Acquitted on Two Counts, Hung Jury on Third

"I know nothing!"- The Sargent Schultz defense pays off for Judge Bisbee.
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Benton County Judge Dave Bisbee was acquitted on two corruption charges, but the jury deadlocked on a third charge. The charges where he beat the rap were for knowingly using his position for personal gain. The charge where the jury deadlocked was using the position for an associate's gain. Prosecutor Van Stone says he will look for a re-trial on that charge.

Bisbee argued that the law was so complicated that no one knows whether or not they are guilty. Try that with the IRS some time and see how it works for you. Besides, Bisbee was in the legislature last time they amended that law, and he voted for it in its current form! In effect, he has successfully argued that for him, ignorance of the law IS an excuse. All I can think is that Asa Hutchinson must be one heck of a defense attorney.

I did not hear everything that was told to the jury, but I find it hard to believe that the Bisbee did not at least indirectly profit from getting county work for his company, even if he was about to turn it over to his manager. Did the manager give (or give up) anything of value for that company? If so, wouldn't it be obvious that the values in the exchange would go up if the company had another job on its books?

If you read the link, there are a lot of things in there that Bisbee testified that he did not know. Like he did not know that his manager was using the same company name that he had. Oh, please don't jump to conclusions and think that this was the same company. Oh no. This was simply Dave Bisbee's long time Vice President of Valley Homes, to whom Bisbee was about to "turn over" Valley Homes, operating his own, completely independent and unrelated company- which the fellow also called "Valley Homes".

The jury had to have proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" to convict Judge Bisbee of a crime. For me as a voter, a "reasonable doubt" is plenty. If Bisbee really knew those things he claimed no knowledge of at the trial, then he is guilty of a crime and of perjury. If he didn't, he's Benton County's own SGT. Schultz and does not know enough about his own or County business to be running the place.

Historian Tom Woods on Nullification

NRA Exposed as Fraud Again

I have long maintained that the NRA has been co-opted by the Washington establishment. Another example is their endorsement of John McCain in his primary battle against Congressman J.D. Hayworth. Plenty of documentation on the link showing McCain is soft and Hayworth solid on 2nd amendment issues. That's why GOA endorsed Hayworth.

How Corruption Works on the Lower Levels of Government

This is a good read for those of you interested in city and county government. It explains how corruption works at the lower levels of government- so smoothly that officials can easily fool themselves into believing that it's not what is going on with them.

Because it Doen't Matter - No Public Choice for Congress

People have really gotten wrapped up in this run-off election for Congress. It is a symptom of our societies near obsession with Washington D.C. Hey, the candidates with a greatly different policy perspective did not make the run off. Despite the ads, there is not enough policy difference there to get worked up about. I can't see either of them advancing the kinds of things needed to restore the republic, and even if they did I can't see them succeeding. I believe that Washington D.C. is coming under judgment from God Himself. The 2x4 of reality is about to smack that place square in the forehead and any attempts we make to reform it before that happens are just getting in His way.

Because the differences are personal rather than policy, any choice I make on this race is based on personal things and not policy. I don't feel comfortable advising anyone on that basis. Add that to what I said above. A part of me realizes that no matter what they think they want now, sending them to DC is not doing them any favors.

It is time for mature political activists to realize that the change we are looking for will not be found in a federal race with two candidates who have marginal policy differences. Let's focus on state and local races, even if its not what Hannity and Beck are talking about. Let's show some maturity and fix Arkansas first. That way, even if Washington fails we will still be able to protect people here during the catharsis.

Because It Does Matter - Clinard for County Judge

I endorse Bob Clinard for Benton County Judge. We have a problem up here in Benton County government- a significant segment of the Republican party up here that seems willing to turn a blind eye to it. My eyes, and hopefully the eyes of most of the voters, are wide open on this one. I think we need a change, and Bob Clinard is the change we need. Please join me on Tuesday June 8th in voting for Bob Clinard for County Judge. I believe ending the drama will be good for everyone, including in many ways for the incumbent who needs to go.

Looking for Arkansas' "300"

While the results of the primary elections were not what we had hoped for, I want you to know that there is still hope. When what we pray for does not come to pass, it does not mean that we have lost God’s favor. Sometimes it simply means that He wants us to look in another direction. Sometimes it means that He wants us to let go of the things we have been holding onto, and by faith embark on the best sort of adventure of them all. The kind that is so unlikely, that the only way it can succeed is if God Himself is in it.

This is particularly true in the ministry of government and politics. There is a constant temptation to put faith in this or that candidate, or this or that political party. The more ascendant they seem on their own, the easier it is for God to be forgotten- or at least relegated to a mere figurehead. The stronger we seem in ourselves, the less glory for Him should our plans succeed.

This is a theme repeated throughout the Holy Scriptures. When there is faith in man and his institutions, God seldom intervenes for good. It is the Stone that the builders rejected which became the Chief Cornerstone. This is most clear in the account of Gideon, whom the Lord called to deliver His people when the young man was hiding in a wine press.

This unlikely candidate for deliverer raised up an army. God told him that the army which he raised was too many for Him to bless, lest the children of Israel come to believe that they delivered themselves by the power of their own might rather than His working in them. God kept telling Gideon to send more and more soldiers home, until at last only a tiny band of 300 was left to face the vast armies of the Midianites. Did the Midianites view this little band with contempt? Perhaps they said so in their press releases by day, but the Scripture records that in the privacy of their tents at night, the mighty Midianites feared the sword of Gideon as the Sword of the Lord. Right has its own power that cannot be measured by numerical superiority.

Right has its own power, but I have found that the good Lord generally wants us to start our doing right at home before we try to fix the world. The outsider candidates lost in their bids to go to Washington, but what good is it trying to fix a Washington which does not want fixing when we have troubles right here in our own state? Perhaps our energies would be better spent by first changing state and local government before we burn ourselves out trying to fix distant Washington D.C.

There are things that need changing right here. For example, I think that most of us would agree that Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, who most recently was seen working to get Blanche Lincoln elected in the Democratic primary, should be given an opportunity to re-enter the private sector. In fact, even the state Chairman of the Republican Party, Doyle Webb, said a third party should get on the ballot and find an opponent for Dustin McDaniel.

Well friends, it’s not too late to do that. The Constitution Party of Arkansas has a small group of patriots already working toward that goal. All it takes is 10,000 voter signatures on petitions to certify an alternate party. Let’s say 12,000 signatures just to make sure 10,000 good ones are obtained.

And what does it take to do that? Just 300 people getting 40 signatures each. Only 300 people getting only 40 signatures each could get outsider candidates on the ballot, not only for attorney general, but for a multitude of state races such as state legislative seats. I am asking you to be like one of Gideon’s 300 for this state. I am not asking for money. I am asking for action. Action that is needed in a time when government seems to have lost its way and those we have counted on to fix it have obsessed on federal races to the detriment of state government.

The action I want you to take is to download a ballot access petition and get 40 voters to sign, and then mail them in. The deadline to mail them is July the 9th. Sending in 40 valid voter signatures entitles you to membership in the Constitution Party of Arkansas if you want it. But even if you don’t want it, even if you only want Dustin McDaniel and others like him to draw an opponent in November, I urge you to download the petition and being gathering signatures.

Our position is that we need to take back state government first, and only then work with state government as our helper to encourage an out-of-control federal government to return to its constitutional limits. The CP will not be fielding candidates for Federal offices, so there is no need to fear dividing the vote in any of those races. Most state legislative races are unopposed in November, and our focus will be to find candidates and give people a choice there.

If hope is lost, it can only be because it was first misplaced. Our hope is misplaced when the whole of it is set upon any organization headquartered in the beltway. It is misplaced when it is set upon any New York celebrity talking head that we really don’t know as a person. These are baskets in which it is unwise to put all of our eggs.

Our hope can’t be found in Washington D.C. or in the false glamor of the east coast media. Properly placed hope is hope placed first in God and next in our friends, family, and neighbors. Have you suffered because of misplaced hope? So have I. And I realize now that the only solution is to quit looking to even the so-called “conservative” pundits for our answers and start looking to each other. We shouldn’t wait for their permission to begin moving outside the political establishment which has so often failed us, because they are tied into it!

Let's take our liberty into our own hands. It starts with downloading the ballot petition. We have just over a month to get this done. Will you be one of “Gideon’s 300” for this state?

We are so in trouble.

I don't know how many of you out there are graph geeks. I am, because graphs are pictures, and pictures are worth 1,000 words. Some of these graphs, particularly 11-16, are like reading 1,000 words all at once that amplify the message: we are in SOOOOO much trouble.

Mark is Looking for Leads

In my day job, I sell office furniture for a company with an excellent reputation. We do Executive desks, panel systems, conference tables, office seating, waiting room furniture. It is my hope that you the reader will find it in your heart to send me some good leads. Do you know anyone who is changing the location of their business and needs office furniture? We move it as well as sell it. If so....

(continued in comments)

Macroevolution: A Fishy Whale Story

A Whale of a Tale.

Yeah, I know my evolution commentary has little to nothing to to with Arkansas. Hey, if you are not interested go on to the next one. I have a science background and I am drawn to reporting on the biggest scientific hoax of our time, a hoax that's bigger and more pervasive than anthropogenic global warming as a threat. It also aptly demonstrates how scientists have the blinders on. Even when the results of their research clearly nullify the macro-evolutionary hypothesis, they can't seem to view the evidence any other way.


Here is the story from Science Daily. It's title is "How Whales Have Changed Over Time", but what the research actually found is that the changes are only in the details. All they knew was that modern whales are amazingly diverse. They wanted to find out how they got that way.

"One explanation for whale diversity is simply that they have been accumulating species and evolving differences in shape as a function of time. The more time that goes by, the more cetacean species one would expect, and the more variation in body size one would expect to see in them.

"Instead, what we found is that very early in their history, whales went their separate ways from the standpoint of size, and probably ecology," Alfaro said. "This pattern provides some support for the explosive radiation hypothesis. It is consistent with the idea that some key traits opened up new ways of being 'whale-like' to the earliest ancestors of modern cetaceans, and that these ancestors evolved to fill them. Once these forms became established, they remained."

Species diversification and variations in body size were established early in the evolution of whales, Alfaro and his colleagues report.

Large whales, small whales and medium-sized whales all appeared early in the history of whales, with the large whales eating mostly plankton, small whales eating fish and medium-sized whales eating squid.

"Those differences were probably in place by 25 million years ago at the latest, and for many millions of years, they have not changed very much," said the study's lead author, Graham Slater, a National Science Foundation-funded UCLA postdoctoral scholar in Alfaro's laboratory. "It's as if whales split things up at the beginning and went their separate ways. "

This is yet another example of scientists finding "explosive" change at the origin of a new type, and then basically stasis from then on. It is particularly implausible in the case of whales. Creatures with a large body size, long life, and slow reproductive rates are extremely poor candidates for "explosive" evolution. It is also bizarre to believe that creatures which undergo "explosive" evolution suddenly lock up and stay essentially unchanged for much longer periods. In other words whales specialized into their diverse types in the blink of an evolutionary eye, but not much has happened to them since. Killer whales have gotten bigger, that's about it.

So they conclude that the diversification of modern whales occurred rapidly. Do they have any fossil evidence for how that might have occurred? Nope.

Alfaro and Slater do not find evidence for rapid whale diversification, but extinctions may have made it difficult to detect early rapid diversification.

Whales are about 55 million years old, but the first group of whales to take to water is extinct, Alfaro said. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the rapid appearance and diversification of modern whales, which coincided with the extinction of the primitive whales.

I have a hypothesis to explain it: an intelligent Designer introduced new types. If I tested for evidence to establish that hypothesis what I would look for is the sudden appearance of specialized new types even in creatures whose long life spans and low reproductive cycles would make such change vanishingly unlikely. In other words, just what we find with whales.