PAT LYNCH, FRIEND of the working man, has this morning's news round-up. Couple of interesting NWA stories, highlighted below. We like the fake driver's license story...now, we want to know who received those licenses, and if they drive delivery trucks or trucks for some of the large companies. We've seen this before in Illinois (kind of.) Also, Mark Martin of Prairie Grove joins the chorus over at the ArkFam blog in this "double-dipping" deal...

Damian Williams, the wide receiver from Springdale who has previously committed to Florida, will attend the hopelessly mediocre second tier University of Arkansas instead.

According to today’s Democrat-Gazette, Eleazar Paula Mendez of De Queen claims that her three children interrupted her as she tried to commit suicide Friday so they could tell their mother that they wanted to die with her, according to her sometimes-tearful confessions to investigators. Mendez has bee charged with three counts of capital murder in their suffocation deaths.

A Fayetteville woman pocketed $8,000 selling fake international driver's permits to illegal or undocumented workers, according to Springdale police. Florencia Franqui is charged with theft by deception, a felony.

A state lawmaker, Republican Rep. Mark Martin of Prairie Grove, asked fellow legislators Monday whether the state could manage with a part-timer as Attorney General Mike Beebe's chief of staff. Ruth Whitney, is working part-time on his election campaign.

A Washington County justice of the peace filed an ethics complaint alleging state Sen. Jim Holt accepted an airplane right to a Republican dinner without reporting the expense. Holt, a Republican, is running for lieutenant governor.

Petitions for the initiative to raise the minimum wage will hit the streets any day and supporters anticipate collecting around 120,000 signatures by July 1, according to Rev. Steve Copley of North Little Rock who leads the coalition seeking passage. He made those comments in an interview with Pat Lynch on WAI Radio.

A federal jury begins deliberating today on whether two state troopers and a Phillips County sheriff’s deputy violated the rights of 14 people by seizing their trucks 8 years ago despite never filing criminal charges.

Heifer International’s new offices are now open for about 200 employees in downtown Little Rock.

By Memorial Day weekend, Mississippi drivers will risk a ticket if they or some of their passengers are not wearing their seatbelts. Gov. Haley Barbour said Monday he will sign into law a bill making failure to wear a seatbelt a primary offense. A law enforcement officer could pull over a vehicle simply if he thinks the driver, a front-seat passenger or any child under age 8 anywhere in the vehicle is not buckled in.

The Forrest City Chamber of Commerce is considering a revival of Harvest Fest.

TALK ABOUT A SCHIZO DAY on the DemGaz editorial page today....as Girl Arkansas mentioned on one of the comment postings, George Arnold hits one out of the park. I say that, because George essentially says the same thing I did a few weeks ago about the entire wiretap story...why not use the FISA court if you have 72 hours...he also throws cold water on the entire argument from the President...

Apologists for this latest presidential power grab often assert historical parallels. Abe Lincoln suspended the habeas corpus law. Franklin Roosevelt put Japanese-Americans into camps. True in both cases. But habeas corpus was a specific law that had been suspended and Abe Lincoln agonized deeply over it. President Bush makes a broader claim of authority to do what he believes is necessary to conduct the war on terror. Presumably, that would include ignoring other laws besides the wiretap law. When the Civil War ended, the Supreme Court restored habeas corpus. It will be much harder to roll back the powers that George W. Bush is claiming. That's assuming that there will some kind of discernible end to this war on terror. Everybody agrees it's going to continue for a long time. Nobody seems to know how or when it's supposed to end. If it's more or less permanent, so's the shift to this latest imperial presidency. FDR's action in imprisoning innocent Japanese-Americans is widely viewed today as unconstitutional and a blot on his record. Other than as a he-did-it-too argument, FDR's actions and history's verdict on them are really a warning to any president who would flout the law. It's nonsense to destroy the Constitution in order to save it.

However, the larger editorial board disagrees, and supports the domestic spying initiative. Surprised?

Yes, technology does tend to develop so much faster than the laws regulating it. Not to mention the politicians trying to control it. Which reminds us : You know all those nerds running these sophisticated programs 24 / 7 at NSA while the rest of us sleep soundly through the night? We picture them as rank on rank of white-shirted, crew-cutted techs with one each pocket protector and utility CD. Well, they all deserve our heartfelt thanks. They ought to be saluted, not undermined. The president's critics wrap themselves in the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, but what could be more reasonable than such searches in such wartime circumstances ? Our rights deserve more respect; they shouldn't be used as just political fodder. Instead, the president is pronounced guilty in the august chambers of the New York Times editorial offices, where the law is "that simple." Not to say simplistic. There is no evidence of the president's using this program to snoop on political enemies at home - as in the Filegate scandal during the last administration. This is strictly an intelligence program directed against a foreign enemy, and a rather sophisticated and carefully monitored program at that. We're impressed. And assured.

A couple of quick points on some assertions in this piece. The entire argument about technology and tech-growth is a red herring. Arnold makes it evaporate like so much fog in the morning. High tech or not, the warrants are 72 hours retroactive, making reaction to suspicion instantaneous...unless something else is going on, like an illegal fishing trip through the phone calls of anyone in America.

Also, no one smacked NSA across the head on this -- if so, where did that happen? The finger of blame points squarely at the White House on this one...again, misdirection at work. Also, let's get our history straight -- Congress has issued no declaration of war. The "war" we're talking about is the same as the "war" on drugs. No declaration, no infringement of rights...let's get our legal facts straight. If you can't agree on that, you can't buy the basis for the argument in the column.

As to "no evidence" perhaps the DemGaz needs to spend more time reading the reports in said New York Times -- they'd know about the huge amount of data collected on Americans that has piled up with both the FBI and NSA.

Political enemies? No evidence? How do you know it hasn't happened? With DoD and FBI spying on "vegans," liberal religions and anyone else considered threatening (very loose definition of "threat" here) why would we expect him not to use this tool to keep tabs on those who might oppose him? After all, he is the "unitary" executive, and if you don't like him or his policies, you MUST be a threat. As for what the program entails, it seems (like Governor Huckabee's expertise on foreign policy and the situation on the ground in Iraq) the paper has some great inside (and unsourced) information on the parameters of this surveillance program.

Perhaps they should do Congress the honor of placing a phone call and revealing what they know to the intelligence committees. Oh, yes, one final very nice touch -- why bring up an unrelated and unfounded case from the Clinton Administration? We're not arguing about him, are we? Seems like when this first became a public issue, some people tried (again, unfounded) to say Clinton and Carter had done the same. The history books, and the Presidents themselves nixed that idea...both Clinton and Carter say they used the courts. Is "Filegate" really relevant, and if so -- tell me why.

If not, it seems this is a piece of crafted excuse-making.

I'M TAKING THE DAY OFF...recharging my batteries till mid-week. In the meantime, Lynch-O has the morning news update from all the papers...

A De Queen mother suffocated her three young children before trying to kill herself Saturday morning, she told police. Paula Eleazar Mendez is being treated for ingesting what police believe was insecticide.

Burn bans in both Washington and Benton County were lifted over the weekend after the rain came.

The board of governors of the St. Francis County Hospital System and quorum court have approved a pair of measures authorizing the execution of a lease between the county and Community Health Systems. The transaction must be completed by February 28, when Baptist Memorial Health System will terminate operation of the Forrest City hospital.

A Johnson County jury on Friday night convicted Lloyd Lee Holt of negligent homicide and second-degree false imprisonment in the November 2003 death of his 10-year-old daughter. The jury recommended a sentence of a year in jail and fines.

More than 200 people gathered at the state Capitol on Sunday in support of a Searcy County couple that has been pressing the state to re-investigate the Sept. 9, 1989, death of their teenage daughter, Janie Ward. Her father, Ron, has given several exclusive interviews to Pat Lynch and can be heard in the WAI Radio.com archives. Mike Masterson has written over 90 columns in the Democrat-Gazette on this matter.

The Democrat-Gazette reports that Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey is seeking North Little Rock's cooperation to help sell his plan to ban tobacco smoking in bars, restaurants and most workplaces. Most North Little Rock aldermen, however, said last week that they wouldn't favor telling restaurant owners what to do.

No one was injured when a set of tires from an 18-wheeler eastbound on Interstate 40 flew into Conway's Outback Steak House Friday night.

Roby Brock, in his business report in the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas has kudos for a pair of Arkansas companies. Arkansas Best Corp., the Fort Smith-based trucking operator, increased its profits by nearly 24 percent over the last quarter of 2004 and 38.5 percent for all of 2005. Acxiom Corp. announced its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2006, which ended Dec. 31. The embattled database giant set new quarterly records for revenue, earnings, and cash flow.

The Jonesboro Sun has a story about the newest way to violate our privacy rights. In the future, drug detection may be as easy as taking a swipe of someone's sweat, according to an associate professor at Arkansas State University. Robyn Hannigan and her company, Hyphenated Solutions Inc., have begun pursuing Federal Drug Administration tests to approve just such a technique.

Dyess townfolks are making plans to celebrate the life of Johnny Cash, who was born there.

St. Francis and Lee counties will be known by another name, at least for tourism purposes, after a new brand name for the area is introduced. The area will be promoted as "The Gladlands Region of Eastern Arkansas." The logo will include the slogan, "Down home fun in the Delta sun."

SUPPORT WIRETAPS? Support the war? Don't think it's "patriotic" to criticize the President? You need to try this - suggested by Molly Ivins. I think may have more popular appeal to the more biblically oriented among you by saying it's called "the golden rule." Read this, then answer those questions...

I genuinely appreciate the response by real conservatives on this issue -- the libertarians, the true heirs of Barry Goldwater, the all-government-is-bad grumps. It's called principle. But I am confounded by the authoritarian streak in the Republican Party backing Bush on this. To me it seems so simple: Would you think this was a good idea if Hillary Clinton were president? Would you be defending the clear and unnecessary violation of the law? Do you have complete confidence that she would never misuse this "inherent power" for any partisan reason?

It's a good question for those of you who wholly support the current administration. Why? because the shoe will be on the other foot, soon. That's the way politics works, and it'll be the result of a Congress, White House and Judiciary branch under single party control that has messed things up enough that a majority of Amerians polled Friday say they'll vote for anyone BUT the current majority party -- you will have to actually ask yourself that question, in the real-world.

Be careful, Karma can be a pretty difficult thing to deal with, especially when you've been knocking it since 2000. Payback is a ....well, you know.

THE NEWSPAPERS TODAY WERE GENERALLY AWASH IN some very interesting, and very questionable commentary on the editorial pages. Here are a few of the bon mots that had us scratching our collective heads...let us know what you think... first up, the Northwest Arkansas Times delivered its take on recent comments by Democratic Party Chief Jason Willet on the importance to the party of the state's Northwest region...

Still, we doubt Democrats overtake Republicans in Northwest Arkansas anytime soon. Folks here aren’t so much conservative — although they are that — as they are independent of thought. And, for a long time, the GOP has been the party doing the best job of selling ideas agreeable to people’s values. Once Democrats begin fielding candidates whose ideas and policies are identifiable to their potential constituents, things might change.

Just don’t bet the bank on that happening soon.

Of course, those constituences might change first. Witness the recent growth in Springdale and the exploding hispanic population, although to say that population has traditionally voted for Democrats outside this state might be to put too fine a point on things. Mr. Willet may have another point missed by this -- the Democratic Party of Arkansas has traditionally ignored this corner of the state because of stronger support in the Delta and elsewhere. To assume that party couldn't change the calculus by changing its emphasis and attention ignores the party's successes elsewhere. Remember, Bill Clinton ran and lost here, but he was also on his first race, and ran as a veritable unknown. And, it seems that Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln are both Democrats who also manage to sell those "ideas agreeable to people's values" statewide. Sure, don't bet the bank -- on either outcome.

We move on to something interesting from today's main editorial in the Democrat-Gazette. The board there bloviated about Judge Wendell Griffin, making comparisons between him and well-known racial panderer Jim Johnson.

Just when some of us foolish optimists had started to think that the bad old days were behind us in Arkansas, the Race Issue is staging a comeback. Much like Jim Johnson, Wendell Griffen hasn’t been noticeably inhibited by the state’s judicial code of conduct. And his campaign for the Supreme Court this year may not be any prettier than Jim Johnson’s was in ’ 58. The colors may be reversed, but politically these two are just mirror images of each other.

Mirror images of each other? Does that imply one would be correct and one would be incorrect on the issue of race? If so (remember, "mirror images") which would that be? And, is it right to slam a guy who wants justice? After all, he is "in the business" as they say. In all, the editors just don't like Mr. Griffen expressing his thoughts on hot-button issues. But, as we just witnessed, an entire nation wanted to hear exactly the same thing from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Every cable channel on earth watched closely. Would the editors rather Griffen continue on as a "stealth candidate?" Perhaps it's a good thing he speaks up -- maybe it was good Mr. Johnson could speak up so people of conscience could get a firm grip on the character of the man and cast an effective vote. To assume other judges candidates won't follow through on an "agenda" is simply naive. Or, waS this just an attempt at revisionist history, and another tar-and-feather attempt to link the opinions of a man with whom they agree to a man most people would dismiss as a racist?

Finally, from the same page, the always delightful Dana Kelley of Jonesboro doing his best to sound like the newest member of the Nation of Islam...explaining why he so much enjoyed a book on "biblically sound dieting."

As one of the victims of our modern, generally unhealthy eating habits, today I’m a much more astute student of diet and digestion. “The Maker’s Diet” is doubly inspiring because it applies science to the dietary commandments found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The “unclean” animals forbidden for consumption were either scavengers (nature’s vacuum cleaners, or garbage containers, if you will ) or had digestive systems that did not properly purify their food intake. Swine, for example, are indiscriminate eaters whose food races through simple, single-stomach digestive systems and into flesh in as little as four hours. Biblically “clean” animals—those with cloven or split hooves that also chew the cud, such as cows— have complex, multistomach systems that refine their purer, vegetation-based food over periods of 24 hours or more. Nobody wants to return to a diet of twigs, leaves and berries. But now that you know you have a brain in your gut, use it. God only knows how many diseases would be vanquished if we could vastly improve our diets to healthier, albeit more primitive, standards.

Ah, again, we encounter the problem of drawing the line between faith and science. If one listens to the Vaticans recent rumblings, the two don't often mix well. If you listen to a federal judge ruling on the "intelligent design" debate in Pennsylvania, you'll find the same argument. Any doctors care to comment on the assumption that removing pork from one's diet will make one healthier, wealthier and closer (my God) to thee? We don't often take the work of naturopaths as "science." Mr. Kelley seems more inclined to do so. So, when does faith mutate into superstition?

Again, don't believe everything you read (thank you Mr. Lincoln.)

THERE...SOMEONE ACTUALLY SAID IT. "Linkage" as some say -- the President has officially become "baggage" for his party. Ah, it's about accountability, honesty and so on -- family values! Get ready for November...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A majority of Americans are more likely to vote for a candidate in November's congressional elections who opposes President Bush, and 58 percent consider his second term a failure so far, according to a poll released Thursday.

Fewer people consider Bush to be honest and trustworthy now than did a year ago, and 53 percent said they believe his administration deliberately misled the public about Iraq's purported weapons program before the U.S. invasion in 2003, the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found.

And they just hired Bill Bennett and Glen Beck! Again, you shouldn't be suprised if you agree with the majority party in D.C. Politics remains cyclical. You've had your ride, time to switch sides...you'll have good times durin the upcoming administration of President Hillary.

EVERYONE'S FAVORITE LITTLE ROCK PUNDIT has your morning news briefing...here's today's stories on Pat Lynch's radar screen...(we've added emphasis where we have some interest in the NWA region)

The Stephens Media Group reports on the travels of Governor Mike Huckabee, who departed on a surprise visit to Iraq on Sunday, left Kuwait on Thursday and flew to Pakistan, where he visited U.S. troops and toured the devastation from the October earthquake that killed more than 80,000 people. The damage near the epicenter was impossible to describe, he said.

A former Razorback basketball star who was part of the Hogs' Final Four team in 1990 will be spending a year in prison for fleeing from police at more than 100 mph. Ron Lee Huery, 38, of Fayetteville pleaded guilty to felony fleeing by a vehicle in Crawford County Circuit Court.

Little Rock has recorded homicide number 8 for the new year.

Pulaski County sheriff's deputies arrested a 26-year-old man on a manslaughter charge after they said he was found intoxicated and asleep in a recliner on top of a 3-month-old child who died. According to the Democrat-Gazette, Chris Johnson, was arrested at in northern Pulaski County after deputies were sent to the mobile home to investigate a report of a child who was discovered not breathing.

The Russellville Courier reports that the trial of Larry Lee Holt, accused of contributing to his daughter's 2003 fire-related death by chaining her to a bed, is scheduled to begin in Johnson County Circuit Court in Clarksville.

The wife of professional golfer John Daly has reported to federal prison to begin serving a five-month sentence for money laundering in a case also involving her parents.The Arkansas Times blog has an item about the Golf Channel's new reality show which follows the life of John Daily.

Jonesboro Mayor Doug Formon expects a 1-cent city sales tax proposal to go before the Jonesboro City Council in a couple of weeks for the construction of a proposed convention center, which would be located adjacent to a John Q. Hammons Courtyard by Marriott hotel on Fair Park Boulevard at Race Street.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is urging Congress to close a regulatory provision that lets companies own a certain breed of banks, including a bank Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wants to operate in Utah.

From the Democrat-Gazette. Whatever breached security at Pine Bluff Arsenal late Tuesday night wasn't human, officials said Thursday.

FORMER CNN ANCHOR Aaron Brown has some unpleasant, but mostly true things to say about the current state of discourse in America. Take for instance what he says here, about criticism of the President (who deserves no end of criticism for his ineptitude)...

Those on the opposite side of the political spectrum are no more tolerant, Brown said. "Any criticism of the administration is regarded as hatred of the president and hatred of the country itself," he said.

Important issues, such as the prosecution of the war in Iraq at home and abroad, are being clouded over by "mud-wrestling" that skirts substance, he said. Consider what he called "the swift-boating of John Murtha," the Democratic congressman whose war record was smeared when he called for an exit strategy in Iraq. "Cable didn't search for the truth, but engaged in mock debates pitting those making the charges against Murtha's defenders," he said.

Many Americans on the left and the right aren't interested in the truth, but simply want news that confirms their viewpoints, he said. "You'd think that it's no more complex than good vs. evil," he said.

Journalists have fallen short in presenting important news in ways that allow viewers to see how it matters in their lives. But viewers must take up the battle as well, he said. "It's not enough to say you want serious news. You have to watch it. It isn't enough to say you want serious debate. You have to engage in it."

THESE ARE DANGEROUS TIMES IN WHICH WE LIVE..the vegan threat has never been more grave. More examples of how our government doesn't trust anyone. Since when did we start taking surveillance shots of freakin' vegans? Here's the story...

For example, more than two dozen government surveillance photographs show 22-year-old Caitlin Childs of Atlanta, a strict vegetarian, and other vegans picketing against meat eating, in December 2003. They staged their protest outside a HoneyBaked Ham store on Buford Highway in DeKalb County.

An undercover DeKalb County Homeland Security detective was assigned to conduct surveillance of the protest and the protestors, and take the photographs. The detective arrested Childs and another protester after he saw Childs approach him and write down, on a piece of paper, the license plate number of his unmarked government car.

"They told me if I didn't give over the piece of paper I would go to jail and I refused and I went to jail, and the piece of paper was taken away from me at the jail and the officer who transferred me said that was why I was arrested," Childs said on Wednesday.

The government file lists anti-war protesters in Atlanta as threats, the ACLU said. The ACLU of Georgia accuses the Bush administration of labeling those who disagree with its policy as disloyal Americans.

So much for the First Amendment...welcome to the police state, baby!

BIG TALKER


ROLL CALL HAS THIS tidbit today (courtesy of rawstory.com) about prospective House Majority Leader Roy Blunt. Again, we see problems with money in Congress...

Seeing as he's an outspoken social conservative, some folks were surprised to find out that one of the largest contributors to Rep. Roy Blunt's (R-Mo.) political action committee last year was a businessman who made his fortune in the 1990s off the phone-sex business.

Hmmmmmm. Would he give any back? Did he check on this? Do politicians really care about who donates money? Calling Jack Abramoff, calling Mr. Abramoff -- pick up the nearest white phone...

MORNING NEWS BRIEFING

TIME FOR YOUR PAT LYNCH news upate for the morning...here's what's on Pat's radar screen this morning. Want more? Visit Pat's website.

Three West Memphis police officers whose reckless homicide charges were ordered set aside by a judge still may not be in the clear. The Tennessee Attorney General's Office in Nashville will appeal the ruling by Criminal Court Judge W. Fred Axley, which said state prosecutors did not properly consider all the relevant legal factors when they denied pre-trial diversion for the officers.

Gov. Mike Huckabee tells the Democrat-Gazette that his surprise visit to Iraq has quieted his concerns over how long U.S. forces will be required in the country, that a lengthy stay remains in store and that putting a deadline on withdrawal would be “a huge, and frankly, costly mistake.

Three individuals are at large after breaching security at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, where chemical weapons are stored.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Halter is complaining about the Beebe camp’s videotaping of his speeches calling it a Carl Rove-like tactic. Also, Halter will be wed this weekend in California.

Faulkner County Sheriff Marty Montgomery says he will pursue legal action against Justice of the Peace Catherin Blankenship over what he called malicious and slanderous comments over concerns about his department’s spending practices. During the same Quorum Court meeting, justices voted to reduce the sheriff department budget to a quarterly appropriation.

A showdown is brewing over a local anti-smoking law after Alligator Ray’s in Fayetteville has begun calling itself a bar. Restaurants must be smoke free, bars are exempt.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the drunken-driving conviction of a Washington County man who turned on his car's engine using a remote device. By statute, the keys must be in the ignition.

The pedestrian and bicycle bridge under construction atop Murray Lock and Dam won an additional $796,000 Wednesday that Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines said the project needs to fulfill its financial commitments. Several hundred beds in the Pulaski County jail remain closed.

Pulaski County topped $1 billion in residential sales, a 14 percent increase over 2004,

School districts across Arkansas are preparing to submit a 10-year facilities master plan by Feb. 1 that includes an outline of specific needs for the next 10-year period.

You can also listen to Pat online at WAIradio.com

A BARNBURNER from Big John Brummett this morning. Johnny B says he made a mistake ever calling Governor Huckabee a moderate. Seems the Gov. will speak at a "dominionist" organization meeting in Florida...here's a taste...

Then there is this "Reclaiming America for Christ," which is something else altogether, something sort of American Talibanish.

This outfit, the one to whom our governor will speak, says there is no separation of church and state provided in our Constitution, that all political issues are matters of religious belief, that America was founded as a Christian nation and must return to that or surrender to enemies and suffer the wrath of God, that American History textbooks should be rewritten to say that the country's founders intended a Christian nation, that abortion and gay sex should be felonies and that anyone saying otherwise will destroy America and, of course, burn in hell.

He goes on to write...

The only presidential candidate invited by the group to speak in 2000 was Gary Bauer, the most ardent Christian conservative in the Christian conservative field. George W. Bush was entirely too secular, apparently.

Other political speakers at the conferences over the years - those preceding Our Boy Mike - have included John Ashcroft, Dan Quayle, Dick Armey and Katherine Harris.

In 1999, the group had put Cal Thomas, the columnist, on its program as a speaker. Then a book that Thomas co-authored came out. It asserted that Christian evangelists had become too consumed with political activism and ought instead to place a greater emphasis on building individual faith to evangelize the culture from the bottom up.

Ol' Brother Cal, the moderate rascal, got himself disinvited over letting Satan get between his brain and his typing fingers like that.

According to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a speaker out of a Houston Lutheran church declared at this group's conference in '99 that Hitler's Germany failed because it separated church and state, and that, for that matter, American abortion "makes Hitler look like a humanitarian by comparison."

Some call these extremists "theocrats," meaning they want their government and their religion to be one and the same. Others say they are "dominionists," who may not want a formal theocracy, but clearly want their religion to dominate the political system in practice if not by fiat.

Ah, a good whipping for the Governor.

(No pic courtesy of freakin' Castpost!)

HOLY SHADES OF NIXON, BATMAN! It would seem that Tricky D isn't dead, after all. He has had plastic surgery, bought a new set of clothes and has again, returned to his old ways. He travels under a pseudonym now, calling himself "George." This is courtesy of the outstanding blog the world knows as "Crooksandliars.com." Visit them and buy a coffee mug. This snippet comes from the News Hour back in the late 1970s, and sounds eerily like the voice of the man who wrote the tactical playbook for those with their hands on the levers of power. Unfortunately for the Joker, the courts and Congress have rarely felt compelled to agree with this. However, that was then, this is now as they say.

One other thing...been following David Sanders' ongoing series of columns about Fayetteville's Dr. William Harrison. Interesting piece. I talked with the good Doctor today, he feels that David has been overwhelmingly fair to him in print. Not certain I agree with that assessment, but I've enjoyed the writing, and I've asked Doc Harrison to join me on the program in the very near future...I'll let you know when we finalize arrangements. Ought to be a very good program that night.

UH-OH...seems an openly gay student at JBU (isn't that a contradictory statement?) got the boot because of his sexual orientation. Heres's some from the NWA Times about the story...

John Brown University, a private Christian liberal arts university, requires students to agree to behavioral codes, including a promise not to smoke, drink, have sex outside of marriage or gamble while attending the school. Guinn said the administration asked him to adhere to additional behavioral codes not required of other students because he said he is gay and that he ultimately was dismissed from the university on the grounds that he violated that agreement.

John Brown University media relations and student development officials declined to comment on specifics of the school's agreement with Guinn or its interactions with him.

Again, attend JBU, and you pretty much know what you've got coming to you. Don't know that they're too covert about any of this stuff. Doesn't make it right, though. Pretty discriminatory sounding stuff, but we don't know all the details.

And, I don't usually shill for KNWA here, but we will have a story about this tonight at 5 p.m. and 6 and probably 10 p.m. Interesting to hear what this student and his parents have to say about the issue.

WE CONTINUE TO BE less than up-to-date on these, but we'll get better.

Here is Doug Krile's 5:30 report segment on the blogs for the day.

Hey! That's our blog at the top of the segment!

Pats on backs, all around! Thanks Doug!

Enjoyed watching your station up here last Friday...we'll keep watching.

(cartoon from "Majority Report" Radio)

AMAZING HOW QUICKLY we forget the idea of "accountability" and what that idea did during the elections. It could be the administration's new catch phrase. This is about the investigation of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. This has nothing to do with party, it has nothing to do with politics -- it has everything to do with voters getting that for which they voted. How about a little accountability from those on The Hill?

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is crippling a Senate inquiry into the government's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina by barring administration officials from answering questions and failing to hand over documents, senators leading the investigation said Tuesday.

In some cases, staff at the White House and other federal agencies have refused to be interviewed by congressional investigators, said the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In addition, agency officials won't answer seemingly innocuous questions about times and dates of meetings and telephone calls with the White House, the senators said.

Hide it, cover it up, deny it exists, create your own reality -- the real policy we've seen take shape over the years in D.C. The law is fine, it just doesn't apply to some, right? One of the things we as bloggers can do, we as journalists can do -- hold to account those who've taken on the responsibility of the public trust. If you don't like that, if you think that's "partisan" you don't understand accountability.

OUR HERO, PAT LYNCH, VERY BUSY this morning on the news summary beat. Here's Pat's rundown of the headlines. Thanks again, Pat!

Gov. Mike Huckabee is in Iraq visiting with Arkansas troops and meeting with military leaders, Meanwhile, Senator Blanche Lincoln will be getting a White House briefing on military affairs this morning.

A federal appeals panel Tuesday ordered a hearing to determine whether requiring an Arkansas prison inmate to recite a prayer using the word "God" as part of a sex offender program violated his First Amendment rights.

The Springdale School District received about $8.3 million -- almost 10 percent of the money awarded statewide -- for construction of three elementary schools to open in the next two years. The Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation Commission granted about $2.75 million for each of the schools.

The Van Buren City Council is committing up to $250,000 for infrastructure improvements to support the location of an as yet unnamed Fortune 500 company in the city, which would employ at least 500 people.

The Jonesboro Sun has a major story about how the local TIF district, which subsidizes real estate developers and the Turtle Creek shopping mall, is squeezing out the city's ability to purchase police cars and fire trucks.

A Washington County circuit judge will decide how much property tax will go for a multimillion-dollar hotel project that will fill a downtown Fayetteville block.

A prominent Collierville, Tennessee real estate developer has filed a $10 million defamation suit against a woman who wrote a letter to the editor in the Memphis Commercial Appeal opposing his proposed subdivision.

Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Fred Axley denied a district attorney’s appeal Tuesday in granting pre-trial diversions for three West Memphis police officers who had been charged with reckless homicide.

A Russellville day care worker, Charles Wayne Meyers, is being held in the Pope County jail on first degree battery charges in connection with allegations of shaking a five month old baby. An examination at Arkansas Children’s Hospital confirmed the infant had several fractured ribs that appeared to be several weeks old and swelling of the brain.

Tyson Foods Inc. will roll out new lines of so-called natural beef in the United States and across the globe in February, just as concern mounts over cases of mad-cow disease.

Trucking magnate J.B. Hunt is backing a $27 million cold storage and transportation facility in Rogers.

Marines had a big year helping children at Christmastime. Across Arkansas in 2005, the Toys for Tots campaign brought in 190,000 toys.

The Mississippi Legislature is thinking about a feasibility study for a monorail from the Memphis airport to the casinos at Tunica.

I MUST SAY -- OUTSTANDING BOOK! Again, I am a Stephen King fanatic, and yes, a fan of the Ramones. They just seem to go together. I've read just about everything King has written, including his online novel and Bag Of Bones. Love his stuff. So, last night, after getting out of the television universe at about 10:40 p.m., I jumped in the minivan and managed to get into the local Hastings before closing time to grab my newly minted copy of "The Cell."

You got it -- no sleep for me last night. Spent most of the night up reading this fantastic book, until I had to roll into the radio station. This might be his best story idea since "The Stand." Creepy political edge to it, although I'm only half way through it by this morning. Sounds like Al Qaeda used the ol' cell phone to rip the West to pieces. Real shades of 9-11 in this book. Fantastic book, I highly recommend it for some escapist fun.

THIS PHOTO comes from the AP. Al Gonzalez visited Georgetown today, and encountered this. Link to the CNN article here.

GOVERNOR HUCKABEE JUST APPEARED ON CNN FOR an interview with Blitzer. The Gov. dipped his toe into the foreign policy waters with this one. He travelled to Iraq to visit Arkansas Troops. Blitzer asked him for his take on the war, the Gov. expressed support for a continued presence in Iraq. When asked if the war has stretched thin the state's supply of guardsmen and reservists, Huck said "no, we aren't stretched." Of course, the final question had to be "are you running for the presidency?" -- Huck again hasn't made up his mind, and says he doesn't know when or if he will (yes, he is) he just said the only thing he knows for sure is that he'll run a particular marathon soon.

What's going on with that picture? Perhaps a strange selection of topics to discuss.

I CAN'T VOUCH FOR THIS, but it sounds on-the-money. It would make sense that the administration would prepare for this contingency. Doesn't mean it'll happen, but some see preps as a bad sign. This is the complete article...

The Bush administration is bracing for impeachment hearings in Congress.

"A coalition in Congress is being formed to support impeachment," an administration source said.

Sources said a prelude to the impeachment process could begin with hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February. They said the hearings would focus on the secret electronic surveillance program and whether Mr. Bush violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Administration sources said the charges are expected to include false reports to Congress as well as Mr. Bush's authorization of the National Security Agency to engage in electronic surveillance inside the United States without a court warrant. This included the monitoring of overseas telephone calls and e-mail traffic to and from people living in the United States without requisite permission from a secret court.

Sources said the probe to determine whether the president violated the law will include Republicans, but that they may not be aware they could be helping to lay the groundwork for a Democratic impeachment campaign against Mr. Bush.

All this makes the 2006 elections all that more important.

ADDENDUM: Listening to radio this afternoon -- this piece comes from the Washington Times, and the talk host (Ms. Rhoades) says this is garbage, no impeachment can happen because of the current Republican majority. She points out that this is nothing more than agitprop stuff, used to fire up the troops.

WE LOVE LYNCH-O...Pat checks in with his regular rundown of the state papers and wires...we do love him so!

The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas has this one. Two parents sued the Springdale School District, alleging school officials did not protect their disabled child from bullies.

Attorney General Mike Beebe approved a ballot title and popular name for a proposed constitutional amendment to raise Arkansas' minimum wage to $6.15 an hour and require that the minimum be adjusted annually to changes in the cost of living.

According to the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas, the bailout of a new Medicare prescription drug plan has reached $2.7 million, with pharmacists and seniors statewide still hurting from the program.

The Pine Bluff Commercial reports that Elvin W. Moon, founder and chief executive officer of E.W. Moon Inc. Infrastructure Group, a construction management firm at Los Angeles, is hoping to convince a large group of forward-thinking investors to have a little faith in his hometown - Pine Bluff.

The Russellville Courier has a story about plans to develop nearly 70 acres near I-40 into shopping and restaurants.

Arkansas Baptist College has named Fitz Hill of Little Rock its new president. He is the former head football coach of the San Jose State Spartans and served as assistant head football coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

A Bentonville woman pleaded not guilty Monday to raping a 13-year-old boy and exposing him to the human immunodeficiency virus. Donna Sue Mars was arrested Dec. 18 and is accused of performing oral sex on the boy.

Arkansas State forward Kitus Witherspoon was arrested and taken into custody for disorderly conduct early Sunday morning.

Arkansas Times blog reports that UAMS is going to implode its old dormitory at 9 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 19. A large area will be blocked off for the controlled explosive demolition, so it's unclear at the moment what viewing spots will be available.

Again, check out Pat at his website, and today listen on WAIradio.com.

Arkies to conquer blogosphere!

THE AMAZING EXPLOSION OF Arkansas blogs continues, unabated. Seems like everyday I come across more of them. In this case, any friend of Girl Arkansas is a friend of mine. MSB00 has a new blog, "Diary of a Sane Man" -- known herein foreverafter as "Sane Man" and a new addition to our "Morning Read In" on the left column near the bottom. He's got some great posts for your read...and he fills in for GA on her website now and again. We also think he has something to do with spate of publicity shots for hair-bands that have appeared on the ArkMedia website lately...ah, we love history! Good blog, my friend!

SURE BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT THE "GESTAPO" LATELY...here is one the provides a transcript on Harry Belafonte's "Gestapo" comment on CNN. Bit of a wingnut site, but read the transcript. But, for a truly scary story -- this comes to us from Doug Krile's blog -- you'll want to read about this interesting clause to the Patriotic Act...orginally from "Talkleft" --

"A permanent police force, to be known as the 'United States Secret Service Uniformed Division,'" empowered to "make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence" ... "or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony."

A "national police force" authorized to make arrests without warrant? What does that mean exactly? Will they wear black uniforms? Kllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnkkkkkkk!

THIS COMES TO US FROM ARKANSAS NEWS BUREAU, courtesy of reporte Aaron Sadler. The Medicare mess has truly become out-of-hand, and the Govt. hasn't done anything to make it better. If you read the entire article, which we recommend, you'll notice that Governor Huckabee didn't manage to get many specifics on how Sec'y. Mike Leavitt thinks the bail-out will happen. That means we'll get caught holding the bag...and of course, this...

Mark Riley of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association said he worried that rural pharmacists could be going out of business as a result of flaws with the program.

Many pharmacists provided medicine to senior citizens for free and now await reimbursement, causing a cash flow nightmare, Riley said. Even when there are no troubles with the benefit, he said, pharmacists accustomed to receiving cash for prescriptions now must wait for payment from the private companies that administer the benefit.

Riley said one Jonesboro pharmacist is already $400,000 in the red.

He estimated that about 40 percent of Arkansas pharmacies may go out of business as a result of the Medicare Part D problem.

Pathetic doesn't due this justice. Mr. Huckabee should stick to his guns and raise holy hell to fix this problem, or at least as much hell as he tried to raise to pass bonds to fix the freakin' highways. What the hell are the members of Congress doing about this? This issue is affecting both business and real people right now, and it'll start smacking the taxpayers who will have to foot the bill in the end - oh, wait just a minute, we've already paid for this! Is this what Medicare has become? An unfunded mandate? In that case perhaps we should put together Mr. Huckabee's blue-ribbon panel of teachers to tell us how to fix things, because they've suffered unfunded mandates for years...

THE PRESIDENT TALKED YESTERDAY about his domestic spying program. He didn't say much to clarify things. In fact, some of the things he said, and more said by the guy who started the expanded spying program raise more question than they answer.

However, in a question-and-answer session, the media asked a couple of interesting things...one has to do with the movie "Brokeback Mountain" which became a topic of conversation on the radio program this weekend.

Here's a little on what Mr. Bush had to say about his movie viewing habits. We think...

WE FOUND THIS INTERESTING...of course, we've enjoyed both of Barbara Ebhrenreich's books (she has more that that, but we've read "Nickel and Dimed" and her more recent book "Bait and Switched") and found this post on her blog interesting. A new book cites her as a prime feminist "destroyer" of American society...she responded, and also talked about working conditions in America, a topic on which she has spent years writing...

If anyone is "ruining" the American family, it's all the employers who refuse to recognize that their employees have family responsibilities as well as jobs. I'm thinking of two categories of employers, which often overlap: (1) Those who don't pay enough for their employees to live on, thus forcing them to work second jobs, and (2) those who abuse their salaried employees with expectations of ten or more hours of work per day. Apparently there are more and more such anti-family employers, because, as economist Juliet Schor showed in her book, The Overworked American, our hours of work have risen sharply since the seventies, and now surpass even the famously workaholic Japanese.

There was a telling moment when I was working on Bait and Switch. I met a laid-off finance guy who complained to me that his last boss hadn't given him any "work-life balance," even though he had specifically requested it. I was baffled: "Work-life balance" is something you have to ask for -- a kind of "special need"?

All kinds of things suffer when work expands to fill evenings and weekends -- health, for example, and citizenly participation. How can you frame an opinion on the issues if you never get a chance to read or have long discussions with friends? But family -- and especially children -- take the worst hit. It's just not possible to be a responsible and responsive parent or spouse if your job(s) leave you with barely enough time to shower.

That should be a bottom line when we talk about wage increases and consideration for working Americans. Know anyone like this? Well put.

SOME SAY THAT THE MEDICARE mess will become the "hot button" issue during this fall's election. We saw Mike Leavitt visit Mike Huckabee over the weekend -- the ArkTimes blog actually (we didn't!) got a chance to visit and take some pics and listen to Mike L. talk about how everything is OK. My column last week in the NWA Times was about this...now, this outstanding column from the Palm Beach Post puts a finer point on it. This is part of it from columnist Randy Schultz...

Perhaps Medicare's drug benefit isn't working very well because those who conceived it don't like Medicare.

Nothing else explains why Part D isn't really Medicare. It has the Medicare label because Republicans couldn't have sold it in December 2003 under any other name. Part D, which began this month, looks more and more like a campaign by private-sector evangelists to convert Medicare.

If expanding Medicare had been the priority, Congress would have made Part D, well, part of Medicare, just as Part A covers hospitalization and Part B covers visits to the doctor. There would be one simple choice for coverage, not four dozen. There would be no coverage-gap "doughnut hole." Medicare would have kept the costs down by using its bulk-buying power, as the Veterans Administration does.

One could even say the same about public education in America. Just go ask Manhattan Institute Fellow and now head of the "Department of Education Reform" at the U of A Mr. Jay Greene (sp?) -- the way the administration destroys the social safety net is to put that net into so much stress it can't help but fail, hoping that failure will do away with the benefits. Instead, what's likely to happen is a large number of unhappy customers will hold Congress to account for the mess.

OK, I KNOW THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN...I'm going crazy. There's this woman voicing a radio ad that I've heard on ABC Radio News. She's doing this for some casino or hotel, she introduces herself as either "Toni Roberts" or "Tanya Roberts" -- if she is Tanya Roberts, I'm having a hard time believing it, because she sounds like she drinks a fifth of scotch each night, and tops it off with a half-carton of Camels. I'd kill for an .mp3 or .wav of this woman's voice on "That 70s Show" or whevever you can find it. I'll post it, we'll make fun of it, I'll play it on the radio. It drive me crazy, I just can't track this woman down...and her ad is annoying.

ASK YOUR MEMBER of Congress to fire Halliburton, then lock up the company's board of directors (we're looking at you, Dick.) Here's why...

WASHINGTON Halliburton employees say they told the defense contractor that contaminated water was being used by U-S troops and civilians at a U-S military base in Iraq.

But the employees say they couldn't get Halliburton to inform camp residents of the problem.

The contaminated water came to light in internal company documents The Associated Press obtained from Senate Democrats who are holding a public inquiry tomorrow.

One of the memos was written by the official for Halliburton's K-B-R subsidiary, which was in charge of water quality in Iraq and Kuwait. He writes -- quote -- "we exposed a base camp population to a water source that was not treated."

Bottled water was used for drinking, but a water expert says the tainted water was used for everything else, including making coffee. Someone who worked at the base in Ramadi says he was among many people who got sick.

A Halliburton spokeswoman says the company did not find any contaminated water nor medical evidence of illnesses.

Can we find any other way to disrespect those who serve in our nation's uniform?

PAT LYNCH HAS THE MORNING news roundup statewide. Funny, now he's doing news for us it seems. Pat has a fantastic morning roundup here...

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Halter began his campaign over the weekend by, among other things, calling for a statewide lottery to support education.

Arkansas Times blog attended a press conference at which U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said that the federal government will encourage private drug companies to pay the expenses of poor people who have had trouble getting their medicine.

By this summer, 45 more officers should join the ranks of Little Rock's police force, according to Chief Stuart Thomas.

The Juvenile Intake Office at the St. Francis County Courthouse is back in operation after being closed for more than two months because of financial problems.

According to the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas, Alderman Ray Dotson claims a Rotary Club conspiracy is keeping him from a residential development project. Dotson has a contract on 2.25 acres adjacent to Rotary Family Park. The Springdale City Council recently rejected Dotson's request to rezone the acreage from agricultural to multifamily residential.

Eudora Mosby of Little Rock, Miss Conway 2004 and Miss Arkansas 2005, made it to the final 10 in the Miss America Pageant Saturday in Las Vegas.