Kids Say...."Let My Generation Pay!"

Saw that commercial today with all the little kids suggesting that THEY would vote for politicians who will save Social Security, keep promises, and "fix" health care. That all sounds good I guess as platitudes. But is this a commercial put together by some kid's group?

Ummm, no. It's put together by the AARP. The American Association for the Advancement of Retired People.

It's sort of ironic that an advocacy group for the elderly puts forward kids rather than....well....elderly to argue for keeping their benefits going. That IS what the commercial is really about....voting for people to keep benefits going to the elderly and the little kids who will pay that debt in generations to come are being used as shills to push for it.

I am sure these kids have such well-developed political views that they have studied the issue themselves and come to the conclusion that they need to get on television and push to have their future payroll taxes garnished by law to pay for my generation's elderly care.

Now I am not so much opposed to taking care of the elderly....but I do question trotting out little kids who don't know any better as spokespersons for it. It seems rather crass and manipulative.

Alabama Has Something Important To Say To Arkansas

Usually when you beat a team you want to pump them up so it seems like you beat somebody important. Somebody in Alabama though saw something so irritating to their sensibilities that they just had to speak the truth instead of the usual kudos to the loser. Every Arkansas football fan ought to read it. It's good to hear what a sports writer has to say, who does not have to hold his tongue out of fear of losing his access to the team.

Here is the embarrassing truth Arkansas..

What It Takes To Notice Illegal Immigration

What does it take for Arkansas politicians to notice illegal immigration? Cash draining out of their fun money sack, thats what.

The growth rate of immigration in Arkansas is fairly astounding. It grew 196 percent in the 1990's. We have about 150,000 immigrants, about half of those illegal according to statistics. Most living in Northwest Arkansas where the chicken manufacturers love them.

A recent report presented to the Legislature shows that we spend about $170 million on them. About $154 million of that on education. We spend about $1.8 million to house convicted criminals who are illegal.

Complaints by citizens have not sparked officials to act.....but $175 million out of the tax kitty apparently does. Oh well, whatever it takes.

With that being said, I think LEGAL immigration is a great thing for our state. Immigrants from Mexico are generally very family-oriented, generally religious, and without doubt hard workers. They save some of our manufacturers about $95 million a year in additional labor cost. I certainly do not mind Mexican citizens applying to come to the United States and choosing Arkansas to live and work in.

But if you are an ILLEGAL immigrant I do not want you here. Your presence signifies that you do not respect the laws created by the people of my country. I don't care how hard working you are or how much your family in Mexico needs the money. I would prefer that you be deported and that you be replaced by a Mexican national who followed the legal procedure.

The general response to such a view is to call the wielder of it a racist. I am not. I am actually in favor of increasing the legal quota of Mexican nationals admitted to the United States. They are hard workers, and they provide benefits to the economy. To those who fill out the paperwork and ask to come here....welcome. To those who sneak in...please go home.

The reasonable approach of raising the legal quota while deporting the illegals is not going to happen. Liberals see political benefit in creating another dependent minority and Conservatives will never allow a raising of the legal quota. So we will end up with all manner of criminals and ne'er do wells sneaking in alongside those who cannot gain entry legally because there are too few slots.

To those Americans who support ILLEGAL immigration and stand in the way of every attempt to enforce the law....please stop. If you want unfettered immigration then by all means have the law changed to make unfettered immigration legal through our democratic system. But help enforce the law until you do. That is if you believe in democratic government and the rule of law.

For Conservatives, you might want to consider that you cannot have controlled legal immigration with a quota of zero. Human nature does not work like that. You are going to have to fix the legal immigration system to reflect reality in order to stop illegal immigration. Increasing the quota is NOT amnesty. I deplore the idea of an amnesty, but encourage the raising of the quota.

As for the Arkansas Legislature......take a look at the trend line on immigration to Arkansas.....take a look at the budget of state number 49 in everything.....and then figure out if you will still have money for "Grabfest", whiskey and cigars, and Hawgball. Doesn't look like it to me.

I Must Warn You......Your Water Is....Ohmigod.....Filtered

I'm afraid I can't thank the environmental movement for informing me that my Aquafina water comes from municipal taps. Thats because I already knew it. When I started drinking Aquafina I wondered what made it taste so good and I went to their website and watched their little flash movie about how they take tap water and filter it, purify it, filter it, purify it, and filter it about a dozen times to the point of absurdity. It tastes darn good cold. In fact it tastes better than the other bottled waters I tried because it has no taste other than very cold and very wet.

I am guessing that the people who are shocked....utterly shocked.....are those that just assumed Aquafina came out of some Colorado mountain spring just because it comes in a bottle. I suggest those people switch to whiskey and lithium.

The point of this warning is not to clue you in....its to make you not trust bottled water at all. So you won't drink it at all no matter what brand it is. Environmentalists have chosen bottled water as the next evil they must erase to save the world.

I plan to continue to drink Aquafina not because it's hip, or because it was squeezed out of a glacier in Nepal, but because it tastes very good and is filtered and purified.

I also want to warn you, that some of the water you drink, even spring water and tap water.....may have been inside a dog or deer, or even had a fish pee in at some point in the last 10,000 years. Yuk....whiskey and lithium is your best bet.

Arkansas History

I have given Mike Beebe credit where I think he deserves it. I promised to give him the benefit of the doubt and to not attack him just because of his party affiliation. I have done so, and now I have my first cause for complaint.

Arkansas students have traditionally been taught state history in the seventh and eighth grades. New guidelines now call for diluting the state history curriculum in favor of world history instead. This watering down comes despite the rather specific mandate of the legislature for the teaching of Arkansas History. These new standards were put forward by the state Board of Education. Teachers, historians, history professors, former Senator David Pryor, and others interested in Arkansas history have complained bitterly.

Governor Beebe supported the bureaucratic change to the standards at first. But then when the mini-firestorm erupted he backed off and gave lip-service to those opposed and promised to review the new standards.

That review is complete and the result is.......Governor Beebe supports the old standard, but it is too late to not implement the new standards for the upcoming year.

That is a weasel result. How can it be too late not to do something? Just revert to what was taught last year. It's like saying it's too late not to kill myself. This is a typical politicians answer.....I support you 100% but I have to screw you over anyway.

I will give credit to Governor Beebe for getting this far into his term before becoming a regular politician.

The truth is that we complain about our best kids leaving this state after graduation. That could be partially because our children do not have a strong and deep sense of being part of something. The money is better in Dallas so they go there because there is no difference of the heart between here or there. The feeling is that we are 49th in everything so its better to leave....not that we are 49th in everything and its necessary to stay.

But studying Arkansas History students can learn the sad history of our state, of its tragedies, and how it has struggled to overcome them. Our kids need to have a sense of what it is to be an Arkansan, to have a sense of responsibility to make the next 100 years be better, and to feel like they have the ability to have an impact. They cannot get that sense unless they are given a very good understanding of where they come from and who they are.

And even if they do leave us....we at least send them away with the understanding that they come from someplace unique and perhaps plant a seed for their return. Come on Governor Beebe....the legislature mandated the teaching of Arkansas History for this reason.....you should no faithfully execute that law. And to the Board of Education......listen to the historians on history, or be doomed to repeat it.

Why We Need A Democratic President

In recent days I have talked to various people who are of the opinion that George W. Bush is an evil genius doofus who has never done anything right in his life and is everything that is wrong with the United States. The view is that all we need for everything to be perfect again is a Democratic President and Congress. I am in favor of giving these people what they want and seeing how it turns out.

The folks I am talking about are adamantly against the war and just want it over. No matter what that means or what it portends for the future. It doesn't matter if we have enemies who want to kill us all no matter what we do.....just stop fighting. They are confident that Democrats will indeed.....just stop fighting.

It's possible that they are correct. But generally, when a Democrat gets elected President they want to shake off all the left-wing peacenik stuff and appear to be a strong American President....not a lily-livered weakling. Democrats do not want to be the next Jimmy "Handwringer" Carter. Usually that means quickly forgetting the promises made to their base and sending a cruise missile or two at someone to send a message that they are "tough".

I predict various symbolic missile launches toward tents that will irritate our enemies, but do nothing to slow them down. I predict that we will withdraw from Iraq, pretend it is September 10th, let our guard down, and be shocked that Al-Qaeda does not stop attacking us just because we stopped fighting them and pretended they would go away.

On the domestic front, the folks I've talked to believe that everything will be solved by complete government provision of health care, closing the prescription donut-hole, raising of the minimum wage, balancing the budget, and fully refunding social security and medicare. Unfortunately, the Democratic habit of promising everything is not cheap, and the money comes from our pockets.

I am anxious to see the faces of those folks so desperately talking to me about Democratic Utopia when the tax bill comes due. I must give credit to Democrats these days....they are more interested in actually paying for things than Republicans are. Republicans are now swiping the credit card.....at least Democrats will really want to pay for all the magic. But that means that some of those expecting a free Democratic lunch are going to be surprised by some mighty thin paychecks. "It'll all be better if we just get Bush out of there" is a phrase I have actually heard. I can't wait to see Hillary or Edwards, or both, in there.

Harry Truman had very low approval ratings. Right down there with Bush even. But history has shown him to have been a tough and effective leader who rearranged government and aim it in the direction that ultimately won the Cold War.

Yesterday it was announced that the economy grew quite well this quarter. Inflation is low. Interest rates good. I can't wait till some folks get exactly what they want. The end of all that and a liberal Democratic President.

Some folks either never knew, or forgot, what a Jimmy Carter is like. Some folks don't understand 20% interest rates, 10% unemployment, high taxes, high inflation, and misery indexes. I guess its time to remind them the hard way....and I guess I have no choice but to be in favor of the reminding.

Oh, and the Democrats won't do a damn thing about illegal immigration either.

Other People's Money

John Edwards wants to bribe voters. But not with his money.

Edwards has stated that the recent minimum wage hike bribe from the Democratic Congress is not enough. He wants to raise it to somewhere around $10 an hour. Edwards is trying to one-up his own party during the run up to the Presidential election.

Minimum wage hikes typically come from Democrats during an election year. Its another ingenious tool where a politician can gain votes by promising somebody else's money. With a minumum wage hike the politicians do not have to budget a dime....they just pass a law and the business owners have to actually pay the bribe to poor out of their own pockets. Pure political genius of course.

Most Republicans have philosophical problems with setting price floors and ceilings. Thats because most of them took Econ 101 in college and are aware of supply and demand curves. They are aware that arbitrary wage floors cause labor surpluses and reduces hiring, especially for unskilled workers. They know that when McDonald's is forced to raise pay they do not eat the loss....they pass it on to every consumer by raising prices on their hamburgers. This is called inflation....and higher unemployment rates for the poor. Workers essentially are paying for their own vote with higher prices on everything they buy.

Republicans do have problems with the other party buying votes with inflation and unemployment. But they go along with it because its better politically in the short run to do so. They can tag along on the bribe, or at least minimize its effect, by voting for it despite their principles. In other words they coward out....every time....because they get bad PR if they do not.

So, we may very well get $10 per hour minimum wage if Edwards is not lying and gains the Presidency. I have to wonder why he doesn't just go for $15 per hour.....because if $10 per hour is good....then $15 is better. In fact....why doesn't Senator Edwards just advocate a minimum wage of $100,0000,000 per hour. That way we could all be rich, we could afford all the health-care we want, we would not have to worry about Social Security not being there, and nobody in America would ever have to work again? Why not give everyone a free steak dinner instead of the free lunch?

The reason of course is because it doesn't work that way. If we mandate $100,000,000 per hour salaries then hamburgers will cost about $75,000,000, businesses will employ very few if any, and we will not really have gained anything except inflation and economic upheaval. There is no legislatively mandated free lunch.

Of course, economic reality works exactly the same way with an arbitrary minimum wage of $10 or $15 except that the inflation, unemployment, and economic upheaval is at a less dramatic scale. The evil is less observable, but its still evil.

Mike Beebe and Apologies for Slavery

Mike Beebe has shied away from the concept of The State of Arkansas apologizing for slavery. I must admit I was surprised by this stance since its a darn cheap and easy thing for Democrats to do to get African-American votes. A painless way to help African-Americans forget which party was in charge of Arkansas during the era of slavery and perhaps a thank-you for voting out Republican Jay Dickey despite his efforts to get justice for black farmers.

But I am not here to damn Mike Beebe with faint praise because of his party affiliation. I think Governor Beebe's decision to decline the opportunity to jump on the apology band-wagon was a good thing.....and somewhat brave. Declining to support the apology could come with a very real political cost and jumping on the band-wagon had no cost at all.

The real apology Arkansas can offer to its African-American citizens is to fix Eastern Arkansas. Look at the racial and economic statistics of that region and its obvious that state legislature needs to be doing something besides apologizing for 150 year old wrongs.

Now I admit that much of the problem in Eastern Arkansas is caused by the residents of that region failing to establish a two-party system. They have put themselves in a position where they vote 100% Democratic for 150 years and thus have zero power in either party. They are taken for granted by Democrats and dismissed as unreachable by Republicans. That is a major reason why they are unable to get any political traction. Sooner or later they have voted for one party for 150 years and are still treated as the lowest of the low.

But nonetheless, the region is part of our state and it shares the same future, and its statistics are added to those of central and northwest Arkansas dragging both down. For that reason alone those two powerful regions might want to join together and do some fixin' for purely selfish reasons.

I would propose that for one season we put aside basketball arenas, new baseball fields, funding of Presidential Libraries, and fighting over whether Arkansans can buy wine over the internet and spend that season repairing the most destitute portion of our state. Mississippi spent $100,000,000 to steal a factory site from us....Trent Lott dragged the interstate back to his side of the river.....and Marion has been second choice for Toyota how many times now? Perhaps its time to put up some money for east Arkansas.

Getting jobs and infrastructure into our poorest region no matter what it takes is a novel concept. Its more costly than just words on a piece of legislative paper....but it would be a REAL apology. Mike Beebe's decision indicates he may care about that.

There Is No Place Like September 10th, There Is No Place Like September 10th

The 3rd Infantry Division did what it was trained to do in amazing fashion. "The Rock of the Marne" crossed the border into Iraq and drove directly on the enemy capital pushing aside all resistance in the most horrendous weather conditions imaginable. Upon reaching the Iraqi capital in record time it pierced the fortified ring around the city and drove to its heart. The 3rd Infantry Division and supporting forces accomplished one of the most incredible and awe-inspiring displays of military prowess in world history. Unfortunately, that's a distant memory.

They won an astounding victory in that battle. But somehow we have managed to lose the war. Notice I said WE have managed to lose the war. The 3rd Infantry Division, and the forces that followed them, did not. No matter how WE screw up this war....the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division, the Marines of the 1st MEF, and others at least will have a page in history saying that they held up their end of the deal in grand fashion.

These days the primary focus of the Democrats is a pull-out from Iraq. There is little discussion of what this means for the overall war on terrorism.....just that we have to pull out. In recent days John Edwards has stated that the war on terror is just a bumper sticker slogan. That means it's not really real.....that it's made up. We have an imaginary war on our hands and we can end it just by no longer believing in the illusion. There is no need for Democrats to discuss that hard stuff or take any firm stand on the future........there is no need to consider anything beyond the immediate need to withdraw because the war is not real anyway.

In other words, if we withdraw from Iraq it will September 10th again.

Americans want to believe this. Casualties suck. Occupation without pre-planning sucks. IED's suck. Nation-building sucks. War sucks. That is fertile ground for wishful thinking and wishful thinking is fertile ground for Democrat's to sow.

I personally agree that we must pull out now. Not because I think the War on Terror is an illusion. Not at all. I think we must pull out because we have our armed forces fighting in a war that half of the American people are adamantly opposed to fighting. We have troops dying in a war where their deaths are becoming partisan political fodder. We have troops coming home from a war without proper medical care and support AGAIN. We have troops dying and our main concern is how The Soprano's ended or who got kicked off of American Idol. Those are reasons to bring the troops home.

Pulling the troops out will indeed strengthen the terrorist cause and encourage them. That's what happens when the people behind an army lose the will to fight, are internally divided, or fail to take a war seriously. So for now we have to think of the troops.

We can go back to September 10th for a little while. We can give our troops time with their families, we can get the wounded proper medical care, our planners can study where we went wrong, we can repair our equipment, we can develop better weapons, and we can improve our training and methods. This can go on in the background while we watch American Idol and enjoy our new iPhones. We can live in September 10th until a strengthened Al-Qaeda proves to us again that September 10th is gone, as they surely will do.

Then, maybe on the next September 11 we will be ready to take this war as seriously as General Sherman took his war. Maybe next September 11 the politicians will really mean it when they sing the national anthem together on the steps of the capitol. Maybe next September 11 we will be ready to ration our gasoline and meat like our Greatest Generation so ably did. Maybe next September 11 we will be ready to conduct our war with unity of purpose and tenacity as they did theirs. Maybe next September 11 our politicians will pay for the war and not just more pork. Maybe next September 11 we will plan for the occupation before we send in the troops. Maybe next September 11 victory will be more important than political-correctness and shared sacrifice more important than Sanjaya. Maybe next September 11 we have a national vote to decide if we fight this war all out, or just sit back and take punches. Maybe next time the American people will be ready to take the hard road and in their righteous might win through to absolute victory.

But for now, come on Americans, put on your ruby-colored glasses and say "There is no place like September 10th, there is no place like September 10th, there is no place like September 10th". John Edwards can take us there if we only believe.

Please, No Peckers

No more Cowboys and Indians games, the Indians lose and only the Cowboys remain. There will soon be no more NCAA teams with "Indians" as their mascot. Our own Arkansas State University held out to the end, but Political Correctness just can't be outlasted.

Political Correctness is not logically consistent. It's bad for Ole Miss to have an elderly ex-Confederate as a mascot because being a mascot is an honor. It's bad to have an Indian mascot because being a mascot is a dishonor. The moral rules are made up to achieve the desired outcome, not to be logically consistent. The NCAA can now take up the quest to make the University of Wyoming stop being offensive to Cowboys now.

I have never understood why Native Americans are offended by being part of the popular culture. I can understand wanting to eliminate the cartoony and stereotypical and certainly eliminate something like "Redskins". But I am not sure of the efficacy of removing even dignified references as opposed to insisting on dignified references. Mascots will end up as the exclusive territory of the Irish, ex-Confederates, Crusaders, and white corn farmers, I suppose. Nonetheless, they have the right to their own opinions about their presence in the popular culture and they have spoken and I have to respect it whether I agree or not.

Oh well, now Arkansas's 2nd university has to choose a new mascot. Based on past history of Arkansas decision-making and the ongoing discussions.....I have reason to be worried. The debate among fans is fairly loud and hundreds of mascot suggestions have been floated. These suggestions are not put forward lightly. Many fans have decided and will not be happy if their preferred moniker is not adopted. I can't say that there is much logical thought put behind most of them so I will put forward my modest criteria for selecting a new mascot.

1. The mascot should not be regional. Arkansas State University is THE state university of Arkansas. The university does not belong just to Jonesboro, or Northeast Arkansas, or the Delta. It is representative of our entire state even if many wish it were not so.
   
2. The mascot should be dignified. It should not bring embarassment to the university or our state. Just as we should not have cartoonish Indians with scalps, we should not have cartoonish representations of Arkansas stereotypes.
3. The mascot should not be boring for the sake of compromise.

That's it. That's my criteria. I think my points are reasonable. So now I will look at some of the more adamantly supported nicknames in light of these criteria.

Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers (a.k.a PECKERS)
Brought on by the excitement generated by a questionable sighting of this apparently extinct bird in eastern Arkansas. Primarily put forward as a marketing ploy to get non-ASU fans to purchase licensed products with the word PECKERS on it. In other words, copying the double-entendre of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks who sells products with the word COCKS on it for laughs and cash. Presumably Jonesboro would host a Peckerfest to compete with USC's Cockfest.

This mascot fails my dignity test. It certainly is not boring. It would certainly create a lot of laughs and pull in some cash from non-ASU fans who want to wear a rude hat. If the goal is to sell your dignity for some license-fee cash then this is the one.

Fightin' Farmers
Of course, who can complain about having simple farmers, people of the land, the common clay of the new west as your mascot? I can I guess. The problem with this one is that it represents fine people, and the history of Arkansas as a primarily agricultural state.....but that's a view of the University that we have been trying to expand on. Arkansas is already known for agriculture. Selecting agriculture as a mascot is nothing new and fairly uninteresting.


Ricebirds
Ricebirds is not a bad name actually. I sort of like it. But there are no Ricebirds in Texarkana, or Washington County, or Yellville. It's an east Arkansas phenomenon and is not representative of the state. It is based on an agricultural product of the region for which there is no guarantee of permanency. In 25 years rice production may have moved elsewhere and a different crop may be the primary product of east Arkansas.


Ridgerunners
This one is a direct reference to Crowley's Ridge. What percentage of the population of our state resides on Crowley's Ridge? Ridgerunners is not even representative of Bay, Waldenburg, or Marked Tree much less the whole state.

So what is my answer? I don't know. There are very few things really that represent our state. We are the "Diamond State" and ASU already incorporates the diamond in its non-sports logo. Arkansas was "The Bear State" so a bear would be good. The ASU Diamond Bears appeal to me. Unfortunately UCA already has dibs on the bear logo. Arkansas is "The Natural State" and that would be worth considering but its been snatched up by a minor-league baseball team in Springdale. Arkansas was "The Wonder State" but that has been (fortunately) taken by Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys. So what does that leave? I don't know and that's part of the reason I am worried.

In Your Bidness

The State of Arkansas is not my kids mama. Unfortunately, she thinks she is.

My daughter walked in from her first day of school and presented us with the traditional stack of paperwork. Among the assorted permission slips and acknowledgments was a new one. We were supposed to inform the school district what out of school physical fitness program our child was enrolled in. The document was quite stern and referenced Arkansas law. I threw it away.

For some reason, the State of Arkansas thinks it needs to worry about how much exercise my daughter is getting outside of school hours. I've got news for the State of Arkansas, its none of their business and none of their concern.

I looked up the law that was so sternly referenced. The text of the law was for the establishment of some sort of board to advise school districts on nutrition and exercise and recommend standards. The law said nothing about requiring parents to report private enrollment (or non-enrollment) in out of school activities. As far as I know, the State of Arkansas has no right whatsoever to demand information of this sort from me.

In fact, they don't. The school district is simply using the name of the law, to scare people into reporting when, in fact, the law is just another meaningless law creating a board seat for some political appointees to make a few bucks like the ten thousand other meaningless commissions and boards authorized by our joke of a General Assembly.

We here in Arkansas know why this sudden fascination with fat kids on the part of our state. It comes from our formerly fat governor. Our governor is running for President, or Vice President, or something. When he is a candidate for something, he loses a lot of weight and makes a big deal of it.

This time is different though, he is preaching the fat thing and making laws. I didn't mind him writing the book about it, doing the tv interviews about it, or doing all those marathons and talking about it all the time. But I do mind him going on a crusade with the attitude that since he was fat, and isn't anymore, he knows how to raise our kids better than we do and must make it law.

So we had the crusade to get soda machines out of schools. You know, I had soda machines in my school and I never got as fat as the Governor was. I did not need that law, the Governor did. Neither of my kids were as fat as the Governor was when soda machines were still allowed. They did not need that law.

The Governor, an alleged conservative Republican, got a burr under his saddle about smoking in restaurants and got a law passed to put a stop to smoking just about everywhere. Now I don't mind passing a law preventing smoking in public buildings, but us conservative Republicans believe that a private property owner ought to be able to allow smoking, or not. It is his property and his place of business. If someone wants to open "The Cancer Bar" and cater to chain-smokers, that ought to be his right. Anyone who doesn't want that atmosphere can stay away. They can even open their own "No Smoking Pool Hall" if they want. Unfortunately, we have a "conservative Republican" governor who thinks its up to him and the General Assembly to decide.

A bar or restaraunt does not have to please everyone. Some people do not like meat-eating and consider it unhealthy. Should we pass a law to prohibit meat-eating at restaurants? No, people who don't eat meat can just stay away.....just like I stay away from the health food place. I do not go into health food places insisting they carry Cheez Whiz. But its okay for the governor to go into a bar and insist they stop allowing their customers to smoke.

I can tell you that our Governor has gotten his last vote from this conservative Republican. I know a conservative Republican when I see one, and there isn't one in Little Rock. I think I am going to go out and buy my kids some Hostess Twinkies in honor of our governor. I believe that I will go buy a jar of Cheez-Whiz and devour it in his name and share some of it with my kids. There is not a bleeding thing he can do about it.

Patrick Henry warned us to guard our liberties and trust no one who approached "that jewel". Be suspicious of any government body that tries to get in your business, even those who claim they are doing it for your own good.

Winthrop Paul Rockefeller

Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, the Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, died last week and I am heartbroken. It probably sounds strange since I only met the man once for two minutes and am a poor Arkansan while he was the 283rd richest man in the nation. But its true.

When people hear the name Rockefeller, they think of wealth, oil, and power. When I hear it, I think of public service, humility, dignity, and most importantly, honor.

Winthrop Paul Rockefeller was the son of Winthrop Rockefeller. The elder Winthrop came to a mountain-top in Arkansas to get away. But poor, sad old Arkansas, got into his heart. Something called him down from his mountain-top into the pig-sty that was Arkansas politics. He ran for governor as a liberal Republican in a state that knew neither liberals, nor Republicans. He towered above the pettiness, and he won, and Arkansas won.

Winthrop Rockefeller dragged our state into the 20th century kicking and screaming. The election-stealing, scandal-ridden, political machine that had ruled Arkansas for 125 years struck back with whispering campaigns, class warfare, legislative obstruction, and the race card. They blindly attacked this good and decent man until the Democrats of Arkansas themselves could no longer stand it and replaced their goons with reformers of their own.

And then, like Winston Churchill after World War II, the people rejected him. To them, the war was "over". They wanted no new dynasty, even a benevolent one. They said "thank you very much sir, but you can go now". He had accomplished much, but not the things he had dreamed of accomplishing. The rejection crushed him, and too soon the giant man was buried on his mountain.

And so it was, the people forgot and moved on. But on the mountain there was still a Rockefeller. The people were curious, but didn't pay much mind of the enigmatic figure. These Rockefeller's were still sort of "other".

Winthrop Paul Rockefeller was the son's name. He graduated from a school in Texas with a degree in ranching and he tended to the mountain. He was quiet. But then, at some point, Arkansas got into his heart, maybe it was there all along. Something drew him down from the mountain. He followed his father's footsteps.

He started travelling the world and opening doors that only open to Rockefellers. When he got behind those doors he didn't talk about oil, or stocks, or a corporate takeover. He talked about Arkansas, and jobs, and industry, and opportunity. He didn't publicize his efforts, he just did them. Tirelessly.

He began to serve in other ways. Leading his beloved Boy Scouts. Serving the nation as a spokesman for rural affairs. Serving as head of the State Police Commission. He never said much about it. His fellow Arkansans were paying attention though and they slowly got to know him, and found that there was not much to dislike about this "other". Finally it came, he drew a deep breath, and threw his hat into the political arena. Lieutenant Governor.

They often say that the Vice Presidency is not worth a bucket of warm spit. The second spot in the smallest state west of the Mississippi doesn't even come close. A powerless position in a powerless state. Why in the world would the 283rd richest man in America want such a worthless job? Well, sometimes its not so much the value of the position as it is the value of the man. Lt. Governor Rockefeller took that smallest of soapboxes and made it his, and made it ours. The fact that he had been elected and had the voice of the people behind him seemed to embolden him. He didn't use his position to advance himself, he used it as leverage to reach into the lives of individuals and make a difference.

There are thousands of places the 283rd richest man can be, and most of them don't involve Arkansas, or pickup trucks, or duck blinds, or kids in wheelchairs, or Boy Scouts.

I followed his career, I admired it, and I wrapped a lot of my hopes for my beloved state up in him. It is so very rare when you see a politician who you KNOW will try to do the right thing. I might not have agreed with him on every issue, but I KNEW that his position had come from thought, and consideration, and a sense of duty and right and not from self-interest or self-promotion. Not since his father had I felt that. When he announced that he was running for Governor I said to myself..."FINALLY!".

Now he is gone, and I am heartbroken.

Many in our state saw the new reports and were sad for a moment. But most of them are not political animals. He had not fully come into bloom in their conciousness. He did not get to run his campaign, he did not get to complete his father's legacy, he did not get to show us what a real Governor is. He didn't get to try to help us be the people he wanted us to be with the government we deserve. Many Arkansans do not realize the loss they have experienced. They do not realize that they have lost that rarest of rare birds, a selfless politician who cares about them and identifies with them.

But some of us do realize, and we won't forget.

He was a quiet man, with a deep voice, a brilliant smile, and a dignified quiet way. He didn't respond to insults, and he remained humble and positive until his last day. He was an Arkansan.

The Rockefeller family is not "other", they are a beloved part of us. They are part of our history, part of our immediate past, and who knows, maybe part of our future.

My condolences go to his family, he will be truly, truly, missed.

Is the Northeast Happy?

The 1st Congressional District in Arkansas should be called "Fortress Democrat". Its one of the most fiercely loyal Democratic Party strongholds in the United States. I can't figure out why.

The 1st District encompasses northeast Arkansas and much of the Delta region. It has high unemployment rates, high poverty, low development, and a high minority population. It has been a development backwater for at least a century or more, if not always.

So I must admit that I am stumped. After 150 years of one party dominance, are these people satisfied with the improvements that their voting patterns have produced? Are they satisfied with their position relative to other districts within their state and their position within the nation? They must be, because they continue to vote for the status quo. One definition of insanity is "continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results". By this definition, the 1st Congressional District is insane.

Democratic control is maintained by a combination of promises. Free prescription drugs, farm subsidies, and Social Security. In other words, the promise that the smooth flow of government checks will continue, and perhaps increase.

The fastest growing and most dynamic region of Arkansas is the Northwest. The only part of the state where the Republican Party has had input. That region was also a poverty stricken area. It was geographically isolated with notoriously poor transportation links to anyplace important. Yet it has seen a burst of economic activity and wealth generation.

The 1st District has a lot more going for it. It has easy access to the aorta of the nation, the Mississippi River. It has some of the best farmland in the United States. It is situated right next to a decent-sized urban area that has established itself as a major American transportation hub. Yet with these geographical advantages it has fallen farther and farther behind Central and Northwest Arkansas.

The people there are not that different from the people in Central and Northwest Arkansas. The tax rates are the same. They share the same set of laws and regulations. Yet they are vastly different. The obvious explanation is the lack of a two-party system and a desire to remain dependent on the industry of poverty.

I have no solution. All I can do is ask, how many more centuries will the people of the 1st Congressional District give one party the steering wheel? If after another 150 years the region is still mired in poverty will you try something else? Maybe the 1st District should draw a line in the sand and tell the Democratic Party that they have only 100 more years to get us from 49th the 48th. All we ask is a little progress every century or so in exchange for our votes. It might be worth a try.

Southern Dumplings

We have an argument going on in my house. It's over dumplings. As in Chicken and Dumplings. When my wife and I got married I was surprised to find that her dumplings were thick and round and bread-like in the center. The dumplings I had known were as flat as a nickel, cut into squares, and sort of slippery.

I lived with this with only moderate complaining. But I missed the dumplings I was used to. So recently my wife relented and made a batch and I made a shocking discovery. She has ruined my children.

My children thought that the flat-style of dumpling was disgusting and refused to eat them. I tried an appeal to family heritage. It did not work. I tried equating the flat dumpling with the doughy strips on a cobbler, knowing that they like the gooey-ness of those. The chicken/peach comparison did not meet with success either. I appealed to Southern patriotism. My wife objected to this.

My irritated wife insisted that the thick bready dumplings were the true Southern dumplings and that my flat ones were a yankee concoction. I retorted that the flat dumpling was the true Southern dumpling and that hers were some sort of mutated German dumpling. This did not sit well since she has no Germanic limbs on her family tree and I do. She attempted to turn the argument using my German heritage as a weapon.

This was a specious argument however since the flat dumpling was descended through my mother's side of the family. A family that dwelled farther back in the Southern woods than any other. My mother's side of the family had only been out of the woods twice in the last 200 years. Once to send sons to fight for General Marmaduke when the yankees invaded and once to avenge Pearl Harbor.

A quick look at Google also showed that its top results for "Southern dumplings" were also of the flat variety. But I admittedly did not look very closely and questionable results. Unfortunately, neither my wife, or my children, were impressed with my high-tech evidence either.

I'm afraid that it's too late to save the flat dumpling for posterity in my family. Hundreds of years of flat dumpling history will end with my generation. A chain, hundreds of years long, leading deep into the backwoods of history, has been broken. A pretender will take the place of the true Southern dumpling in the heart of the generations to come.

Maybe the grandchildren can still be saved.

New Year, Old Blog

I have not been a good boy. I haven't posted to this thing in a while. Thats because its been an insane year. And of course....because I am incredibly lazy. So, I have a lot of ground to make up and I am too lazy to spend a lot of time doing it. So I am going to do it all at once....in capsule stream of conciousness form. Here goes, stay with me.

• The best news of the year is that our boys of the 39th Infantry Brigade are back home from Iraq. They did a stellar job and represented our state, and it's people, magnificently. They have added a very important chapter in the Arkansas military tradition.
  
• Arkansas Razorback football sucked, their coach is a used car salesman.
• I understand Mitch Mustain has to think of himself first, but that doesn't mean I won't be mad at him if he turns traitor.
  
• I am not a great fan of boxing, but I admire Jermain Taylor. Many Arkansans who receive national success try to get out and stay out. Jermain Taylor loves his state and makes no bones about it. He has brought boxing events back home and is trying to do good in the place he is from rather than move to the bright lights. Thats admirable and worthy of emulation.
  
• ASU football was really fun and exciting for a change.
  
• ASU's opponent in the New Orleans Bowl, Southern Mississippi, was a class act. Their fans were decent folks and fun.
• UCA had a football team worth supporting this year as they get ready to move to Division I-AA and join the Southland Conference. They advanced deep into the Division II playoffs this year. Arkansas football fans had a lot of good football this year, they just didn't notice because they were so busy complaining about the Razorbacks.
  
• Our esteemed Governor is running for President, or Vice President, or something or other outside of Arkansas. He switched around on the illegal alien issue, switched around on school consolidation to court the NEA, and tried to sell us another pack of highway bonds which the voters threw back in his face. I am an unhappy Republican. The GOP in Arkansas is back to where it was a few years ago.....nowhere.
• Razorback basketball is on the rise again. Coach Stan Heath has them playing very well and it's fun to watch Razorback hoops again. I hope that he and the team do very well this year in order to get ready for a bit of a rebuilding next year. In any event, Coach Heath has shown improvement and that's all I ask.
  
• Arkansas farmers are dropping out of the business in record numbers. Many are making the determination that its just not worth the hassle of continuing in the business. The rest of us can safely ignore this.....except at the supermarket checkout.
• Some fool of a state legislator came up with an idea for a Constitutional Amendment to ban the sale or purchase of any item related to slavery. Hmmm, thats a pretty broad category. Imagine a Civil War reenactor getting busted for buying a Confederate flag for his hobby. Imagine getting arrested for buying a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Rather than flat turning the amendment down since it obviously violates the US Constitution, the attorney general, who is running for governor, turned it down because of a technical paperwork issue. Ridiculous all the way around.
• ASU might have to change its name "Indians" due to the politically correct doofuses at the NCAA trying to effect US social policy while at the same time taking advantage of student athletes for mega-millions. Get your graduation rates up or pay your athletes a wage, then get back to me about doing the politically correct thing.

I am sure there is stuff I forgot, but thats the stuff that stands out for now. I will be back for more later.

Monopoly Football

Arkansas college athletics are unique in the sense that its primary Division I-A program won't play its fellow in-state I-A brethren. The University of Arkansas believes that if it played in-state schools, it would be harming itself.

Apparently they feel that their program would fall to the level of Florida-Florida State-Miami, Texas-Texas A&M, UCLA-USC, and the like rather than keeping themselves at the pinnacle of NCAA sports like they are today.

The Razorback decision-makers apparently think that they would lose the excitement and revenue of the UA-New Mexico State or UA-ULM game. Everyone knows, especially the Arkansas taxpayer, that those games draw more fans than an Arkansas-Arkansas State or Arkansas-UCA game would.

The most exciting basketball game in my memory is the Arkansas State vs. Arkansas matchup in the NIT Tournament back in the late 80's. ASU went to Barnhill Arena and put a stomping on Nolan Richardson's Razorbacks for most of the game. In the second half the Razorbacks depth began to show and they crawled back to send the game into overtime. In the overtime period the Razorbacks had their way with ASU as the ASU players were totally exhausted and succumbing to leg cramps. The most intense game I have ever experienced, with high points for both sides, and an outcome that didn't leave anybody too mortally wounded. After all, its not like somebody lost to Texas.

Wouldn't it be great to pack Alltel Arena with a UA-UALR or UA-ASU matchup each year? Would it be that damaging to UA to face off with either of those teams in a packed arena? Would it be better than watching UA play Prairie View A&M or College of Timbuktu in front of a cupcake audience? Arkansans will have to decide for themselves.

However, the UA has gone father. So far as to let the University of Louisiana-Monroe make the game at War Memorial in Little Rock a home game to help that University maintain its Division I-A status. The taxpayers of Arkansas, should thank UA for helping this Louisiana university out, perhaps Arkansas taxpayers can fund University of Louisiana-Monroe instead of UCA or ASU. Maybe we should also spring for textbooks and beer for New Mexico State as well.

Of course, the Razorbacks don't really want to play at War Memorial in Little Rock anyway. Despite it being a wonderful place where they win most of the time. Little Rock is only good for handing out money and if they want to see a UA game, let them drive to Fayetteville.

Some UA apologists go so far as to suggest that ASU drop out of Division I-A, leaving Arkansas with only one Division I-A team. Most states want all of the Universities in their state to progress and would be pleased to have multiple successful I-A sports teams in their state.

Arkansans haven't woken up to that concept yet. But they will. Someday, when the regime changes in Fayetteville we will have some real, exciting, I-A in-state rivalries here. Just like in Texas, just like in California, just like in Florida, just like in Mississippi, just like in Georgia, etc. Someday, the State Legislature will do its job and insist that Arkansas universities cooperate to improve our STATE as a whole rather than operating only in their own (perceived) limited self-interest.

Dead Allies

Iraqis are lining up to join the Iraqi National Guard. Lining up to join the fight against terrorism, establish a peaceful Iraq, and feed their families. Unfortunately, they are lining up next to the street where suicidal maniacs can drive up next to them in cars loaded with explosives.

This has happened several times.

I can understand this happening once. What I cannot understand is why it has happened day after day. We have stated several times that it is imperative that we establish an effective Iraqi force to stabilize Iraq. This requires massive recruiting.

These incidents cannot have a positive effect on recruiting. How many Iraqis stay away from the recruiting lines because of the threat of car bombing?

It seems to me that it would be fairly simple to construct a simple holding area out of concrete barriers. The area could have several entrances that are two narrow for an automobile to enter. Such an area would not prevent a suicide bomber, but it would certainly reduce the capability of a massive car bomb taking out 70 or so recruits in a line.

Similarly, I continue to see incidents where buses full of Iraqis who work for coalition forces are attacked with great loss of life. The Iraqis on these buses are unarmed and apparently not well protected. I can't imagine a better target than a thin metal bus with a bunch of unarmed US sympathizers packed into it. These vehicles should be escorted, or alternate means of transportation should be considered.

I don't claim to have all the answers. But it sure seems like we need to adjust our tactics in order to protect our friends a little better.

Wiki, wiki, wow

About a year and a half ago I discovered Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that, theoretically, anybody can edit. People from all over add or edit articles and perform a variety of tasks to build the content. I jumped into it quite happily and started writing some articles about areas I knew something about.

Of course, when you have thousands of people working on something you are going to run into idiots. There are a lot on Wikipedia. Since my tolerance for obnoxious idiots is low, I didn't last too long. And now I must rant.

My first conflict came when I was looking over the article on Senator J. William Fulbright. Fulbright was a powerful liberal Senator from Arkansas. While I don't agree with Senator Fulbright's positions, there is a policy on Wikipedia about position neutrality. In other words, it is supposed to be an encyclopedia, not a political screed.

The latest editor of the article had inserted several paragraphs that essentially gave Senator Fulbright's position on George W. Bush and the Iraq war. This is an amazing feat since Senator Fulbright has been dead for many years. Seeing this as a bit of a violation of the overall concept I proceeded to reword the paragraphs. I created a more generic description of Senator Fulbright's positions on war and foreign relations in a neutral voice. I imagined that a thoughtful reader could apply his 1967 views to the current conflict if they chose to do so. Of course, the original author blew his stack. I fully expected that my more neutral version would naturally be supported by the "Wikipedia community". Naive aren't I? I viewed it just as I would if I went to a Theodore Roosevelt article and found his quotes being used to deride Bill Clinton. An anachronism. The "Wikipedia community" didn't exactly see that.

For a while, there was an effort by some users to insert something about George Bush and the Iraq war into a ton of articles no matter how tenuous the linkage. But as long as you keep a neutral voice, the content is neutral right?

A second conflict came in regard to a Civil War article. The article had the obligatory statement that the war was caused by slavery. I really have no problem with that since slavery was THE major cultural and moral obstacle between the two regions. However, there were an assortment of economic, cultural, religious, and geographic differences that caused friction as well on a more minor level. It was my opinion that a thorough encyclopedia article would at least make mention of these briefly and in proper context. Naive aren't I? My few sentences added to the article were viewed as a dilution of the slavery issue and removed forthwith. Avoiding an imagined dilution of the slavery issue was more important than some facts.

The final straw for me was a host of "articles" which were really political attacks disguised as articles. One of these was an article about the so-called word "Santorum". This "word" was coined by a disc jockey to refer to a substance which is the result of anal sex. It was coined specifically as an attack against Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. Now I'm not a big supporter of the Senator from Pennsylvania, but it was my opinion that the "article" was pretty much unworthy of something purporting to be an encyclopedia. Obscure morning shock jockeys do things like this every day and all of their pronouncements and giggly anal-sex references do not deserve to be referenced in encyclopedias. The "Wikipedia community" agonized over this little gem for a great length of time arguing its relative merits. Frankly, there are no merits to it. The fact that it had to be debated for an extended period of time and go through various incarnations says a lot about the "Wikipedia community".

Similarly, someone decided that there needed to be a list of derogatory nicknames for George Bush. You know, Chimpy, Shrub, Moron, Bushitler, and the like. This did raise eyebrows somewhat and a lengthy debate was entered into whether it was "encyclopedic". Some conservative wag decided to enter a list of bad nicknames for Hillary Clinton in retribution. It was not as well received of course. The fact that such entries are not quickly recognized as trash says a lot about the "Wikipedia community".

At one point a user chose the screen name "JesusIsLord". Granted, its a pitiful screen name. But to the Wikipedia community it violated their "Offensive Screen Name Policy" and the user was forced to change. The user "AllahIsGreat" had a similar experience. Its interesting that one can have a username like "DruidWitch" or "Zen-master" but "MightyLordAndKing" is deemed offensive. Frankly, anybody who pitches a fit over a username "AllahIsGreat" or "JesusIsLord" is an intolerant ass. This says something about the "Wikipedia community".

All of this led me to abandon Wikipedia a while back. But recently I got the itch again and went back to try again. This time I vowed to stay out controversial topics, not bother trying to keep political articles neutral, and stay out of the way in an obscure area. My chosen area was Arkansas historical figures. Sure enough, nobody gave a darn about that category since it really didn't exist at all anyway. I was able to edit for a few weeks before running into.......the encyclopedia police.

Yes, I got a ticket from the category police. It seems that I had put my articles into TOO MANY categories. The policeman reverted my categorizations because I had placed the articles into "redundant" categories. My intent was to place the articles in as many categories as applied. But that was too many. You see, the "community" has decided that there is no need for a broad category of "People from Arkansas" in alphabetical order. Instead, if you go to that category you will see a list of lists of types of people from Arkansas. I didn't know. Okay, thats fine I said, just create an alphabetical list then and change the categorization. But thats not how it works. Creating a new alphabetical list to replace my social faux-pas would be too much like work and not enough Barney Deputy Encyclopedia Sheriff fun...so the categorization gets changed and the alphabetical list is just not available any more.

They used to have a page titled "Why Wikipedia Sucks". It was an irreverent look at themselves that included the points I have made here and many more. It made the statement that Wikipedia did not take itself so seriously and that it could look at itself without flinching. Any frustrated user could add their complaint to the page. It said a lot about what Wikipedia was.

Recently they changed the name of the page to "Replies to Common Objections" and reworked the page to become more of an official defense of themselves. Today it reads more like something put together by a corporate lawyer. That says a lot about what Wikipedia has become and where it is heading.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some good people writing some good articles on Wikipedia. But there are many more people who spend a vast amount of time picking at others, lording it over their fiefdoms, and trying to insert propaganda into the encyclopedia under cover of a neutral voice.

The encyclopedia itself is growing quickly, has a lot of useful articles. It is still a very interesting experiment. But don't be naive, and be ready to battle various bureaucrats, little tin-gods, trolls, and masquerading partisans.

Catchup and Catchall

Well, I'm back. My excuse is laziness and politics. Lazy is self-explanatory. Politics is another matter. Frankly, I spent the last few months infuriated at my television and the people on it. I get this way every four years. It takes over my life.

Too much has been said about this election cycle already, and frankly, I am wrung out by the process. So I will just make a few brief points. I will have more to say about Arkansas politics later, but this is it for the national election.

1) They called Abraham Lincoln a baboon, a gorilla, and an imbecile. They called George W. Bush a chimp and a moron. The hyperbole of the anti-war element during both elections was over the top. That puts George Bush in good company. It also provides two proven cases where mindless name-calling of the simian variety failed to sway the electorate. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to win fewer electoral votes.

2) How many times will the Democratic party spit out a Massachusetts liberal? The evidence is mounting that this does not work. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to win fewer electoral votes.

3) In an effort to increase the bigotry against non-liberal Christians, the punditry announced within minutes that Kerry lost the election due to right-wing fundamentalist born-again Christian zealots flocking to the polls. Liberals want to believe this because they do not wish to even contemplate that 60,000,000 or so voters maintain some level of traditional conservative values. Yes, voters responding to exit polls indicated that they voted on moral issues. This does not mean that they are Christian "fundies". Liberals just don't want to accept that millions of non-churchgoing "normal" people aren't in favor of gay marriage and other extreme liberal positions. Millions of these people would have had no problem with some sort of civil unions. I personally hate it when I hear that somebody is prohibited from visiting a terminally ill "life-partner" because they don't have legal standing. It makes me sad. But liberals cannot compromise. They insist on associating the term "marriage" with their efforts. They refuse to acknowledge that in addition to secular meaning, the word "marriage" has a separate religious meaning. Rather than accept this as a semantic obstacle and going around it, they insist on banging their head into it. It cost them. But they are zealots, and will trade the legal protections they seek to be "in your face".

4) Dan Rather. Need I say more? Much of the media doesn't even try to hide their efforts to influence elections in favor of liberals any more. A comparison of the news stories about the candidates during the election cycle shows that there is a clear bias.

5) The Swift Boat Vets. All I can say is that there were a lot of them. Most of them just plain folks. Some of them were awarded Medals of Honor or were held as POWs in horrific conditions. They were dismissed by the media offhand, raked over the coals for speaking what they thought, and called all sorts of names. Bush's National Guard service was fair game and any story about it was fit to broadcast, even with forged documents. Medal of Honor winners however, were just bastards whose charges were not worth even mentioning.

Thats pretty much all that matters out of the last couple of years of politicing.

In an earlier post, I mentioned my friend in Baghdad. He is at home right now for a well-deserved 15-day leave. Its been a hard deployment, but he is proud of it. He still believes its worthwhile. He says that Iraq is a place of poverty and filth, but that it does not have to be that. His purpose there is to try and make it something other than that. No matter what you think of the war, I hope you can respect that view.

Now that the election is over my four year cycle is over. But my laziness is a different story. I hope to contribute a bit more to this than I have in the last few months. We shall see.

Cicada Update

Oh....My....God. I've just read a report that one of our northern friends has gotten himself quite ill by gorging himself on sauteed Cicadas. When I wrote my little essay last night I had no idea that things would go this far.