As I've griped about several times over the past couple of months, I got dog sick and was unable to get a lot of things done.

I've pretty much kept up with my job, my primary blog -- The Natural State Hawg -- and have, sadly, not done much at all with The All Arkie Army. I put that one together a few months ago for the purpose of providing a place for Arkansas bloggers to promote their content. Of course, we've got some people on there with Arkansas ties, too.

I'm finally healthy again and find myself in the mood to pay some attention to the little blog that I've unfortunately neglected. To that end, we've got a few changes in store.

First of all, we're moving from simply posting links here and there to reproducing entire articles that have something to do with the Natural State or are just ones that participants happen to like. Some of that content will be original, whereas some will not be. Of course, people will still come in and link to their articles and that's just fine.

I'm not limiting what people can post at all. I suspect people will still simply use the All Arkie Army as a way to link to their blogs. That's just fine. I simply believe some Arkansas-specific content that's reproduced in full will be useful to all who visit.

Also, I had hoped to get the All Arkie Army listed on Entrecard, but the blog was rejected for want of original content. More original content should help us get around that problem and, thus, drive some more traffic to the blog. We'll just see how it works out over the next month or so.

Now, most of the great ideas I've come up with over the years have been stolen and I can't claim credit for this one. No, my friend Theresa Komor over at Eyebald and A Bumpy Path came up with the idea of having more original content on the All Arkie Army in hopes of having more of a magazine format. That was a great idea and I've shamelessly stolen it. That's pretty much par for the course.

Second, I have been inspired by the very kind ladies over at Margie and Edna's Basement. Not long ago, those nice ladies presented me with the Special Tea Award. That award was special because there were absolutely no strings attached. That's right -- I didn't have to pass it around or anything like that. It was a simple token of appreciation and I love that idea.

When you combine that concept with my desire to be a Kentucky Colonel, what do you get? That's right -- an award through which people will be named Captains in the All Arkie Army. The award is not meant to be passed on and will be awarded to bloggers out there that we just like. How cool is that? I hope it works out like that, at least.

So, there are big changes in store at the All Arkie Army -- some things I've been meaning to implement for some time but just haven't felt up to it. So, if you are an Arkansan or have ties to this wonderful state, please pay us a visit and think about applying for membership. Instructions on how to join can be found right here.

More Arkie nonsense at The Natural State Hawg.

According to this story, the Arkansas Supreme Court has decided that we humble voters can decide whether to allow a statewide lottery.

Good for them, and phooey on the Arkansas Family Council for bringing a lawsuit and trying to keep the issue off the November ballot. It's typically a leftist move to run to the courts and try to keep people from voting on issues. The Arkansas Family Council -- a conservative group based in Little Rock -- ought to be ashamed of using leftie tactics to keep an issue from appearing before the voters.

Now, don't get me wrong. I hate the idea of an Arkansas lottery, but I'd rather have that issue presented to voters than letting the state Supreme Court take an active role in the legislative process. I'm a conservative and, as such, I have more faith in my fellow Arkansans than in the state's various institutions.

Why do I hate lotteries? More often than not, they are dreamed up by cowardly lawmakers who are afraid to push for tax increases. Also, the funds are fungible, meaning that the money that was once used to pay for the programs now financed by lotteries are moved to other things.

Arkansas Lieutenant Gov. Bill "Clintonista" Halter has claimed a lottery could raise $100 million for education. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, meanwhile, estimates the lottery could raise $55 million. Whichever estimate is right, it's pretty clear that there would be a substantial sum to award in the form of academic scholarships in Arkansas.

But what of the money that's going toward scholarships now? Yes, that will quietly be tucked away in the general fund with absolutely no subsequent tax break for the tax-paying public. In other words, the state government that already has plenty of cash will just get more -- a fact that is not being disclosed at all by proponents of the lottery amendment.

Such trickery annoys me. Not long ago, for example, the sales tax on food was cut in Arkansas. That was wildly popular, of course, but the state government simply made up for the loss by taxing other things. It wasn't a tax cut at all.

Also, what happens to programs financed by the lottery should revenue come in at far less than expected? Hell, we've got Clintonista Halter saying this measure will bring in $100 million while the Department of Finance and Revenue estimates the program will net $55 million. That's a pretty big gulf, of course, leading one to suspect it's hard to project just how much revenue will be brought in by a lottery.

That's a major problem when it comes to budgeting. Let's say the lottery is wildly popular and routinely brings in $100 million. So, programs are put in place that are dependent on the lottery for revenue. What happens to that program when revenue drops to, say, $70 million? Are programs simply cut? Remember, we can't go back to the cash that is now paying for scholarships and grants -- that will be applied elsewhere.

One might argue that such uncertainty is typical as you get drops in tax revenue when the economy goes bad. However, bear in mind that this state is well financed and its budget surpluses aren't uncommon. In other words, programs that are paid for by honest-to-goodness taxes are based on a solid foundation as far as funding is concerned.

Finally, I have a major problem with all the hubbub over a statewide lottery because it takes the focus off the real problem in this state when it comes to college education. Namely, we're 49th in the country in terms of how many citizens hold at least a bachelor's degree. We're sending plenty of Arkansans to Arkansas, so what's happening to them?

A lot of them aren't staying here. My brother, for example, graduated first in his class with a bachelor's in chemical engineering that he earned at the University of Arkansas. He graduated second in his class with an optometry degree from Chicago. Where is he now? He's in North Carolina. Why? Because he couldn't find a job that paid well in Arkansas.

Most of my brother's friends who received degrees in engineering are out of states because they can't find jobs in Arkansas. Those backing the state lottery claim that offering more scholarships will ultimately result in a more educated workforce and that will boost the economy of the state.

History has shown, however, that plenty of Arkansas kids are earning degrees, but they're heading elsewhere. A lottery, then, is a terrible investment -- what we're asking Arkansas citizens to do is finance the educations of people who will wind up in California, North Carolina, Texas and elsewhere.

We can throw all the money at education we want, but until we figure out how to bring more jobs to this state it will be all for naught.

More Arkie nonsense right here.

Yes, indeed, I've been away for awhile. I spent quite some time being sick and didn't deal with the work I had to put in to smack this blog into shape. I'm now ready to go ahead and do that.

So, I'll start by reminding everyone of the rules. Please -- for God's sake -- please stick with simply identifying your blog in the "labels" section so we get a nifty little list of who all is participating and what they've turned in. For example, you'll notice the only label attached to this tag is "TheNaturalStateHawg." Why? Because the Blogs/Categories section looks like crap and is completely useless, what with a bunch of damned labels stuck there and all.

I'll clean that all up, cursing as I go.

Second, Theresa Komar -- a proud Arkie and member of this board -- has suggested something that I think is a great idea. Why not turn this into kind of a magazine focusing on Arkansas-centric stories? I'm going to follow that guideline (hence the story I've attached here), but y'all submit whatever you want.

I just like Theresa's idea as I think it's a good one and hope others agree.

Finally, I do apologize for being away for so long. I won't promise it won't happen again as my health, job, my increasing number of freelance projects and family will always come before anything else.

The Posse Comitatus Act was passed in 1878 and has been an important law. Read an educated review by a military career veteran, Dr. Bill Smith, who addresses the recent official assignment of a U.S Army brigade to "the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or man made emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks." He covers several historical points and the potentials. His conclusion as to why "the year 2008 may become identified in history as the year that the doctrine of Posse Comitatus ceased to have authority" may surprise you. [Is doctrine of Posse Comitatus coming to an end? ]
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William (Bill) Smith, Ph.D. is editor of the ARRA News Service and National Political Director of Let's Get This Right. He is a conservative political activists working for limited government, traditional family values, individual freedom and responsibility. He is a retired Air Force officer who served as Director of the $2 billion European F-16 co-production program. In his career, he also taught military political science and spent a 3 year tour with the U.S. Army. After retiring, he was a graduate professor and held varied administrative and faculty positions. He has authored professional journal articles on varied topics. He also blogs as Ozark Guru.

ARRA News Service - H/T the Mouth Piece: This video is an informative look at the factors that are causing our current financial and economic crisis. It discusses policy changes 13 years ago that unleashed the sub-prime mortgage-backed securities market, which accelerated prices erratically, inviting speculation and loose lending practices which were both condoned and encouraged by existing regulation and carried out by risk-blind executives and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The following is an excerpt from a rewrite of “The Crackerhead Chronicles.” You can start reading the old version [here].

My mother was physically born into this world on October 22, 1926. The place of her birth was in a log cabin near [Mountain Home, AR] (around 140 miles north of [Little Rock, AR]), and what may remain of it now rests at the bottom of [Norfork Lake], which was formed by damming the North Fork River in 1944.

Sadly, I know even less about her lineage than I do about my father’s. For she did know all that much about it herself, and all of our efforts to find relatives proved unsuccessful.

Oh yes, we went looking on several occasions, and I have many fond memories of those trips—even though we never got a whiff of her family’s trail. For it was as if they had vanished without a trace, but roaming all over that rugged area was quite an adventure to me.

Perhaps it was all for the best. For her maiden name was Honeycutt, and her father was a full-blooded [Cherokee].

Oh no, it was not because of him being a Cherokee that it might have been for the best that we never uncovered a clue of where they may have gone. In fact, I considered being a quarter Cherokee as being something really special, and I delighted in hearing all about what my mother could remember being told when she was a little girl.

Most of these things came from her great-grandmother on her father’s side, and one involved her being forcibly removed, along with the rest of her family, from her home in [northeastern Georgia] when she was a little girl. She was then marched towards [Oklahoma] on what came to be known as the [Trail of Tears], and she was the only one of her family to survive the trip.

After her folks died, friends of the family took her in, but she did not stay on the reservation in Oklahoma long. For her new family, along with some others, decided that they would much rather fend for themselves in an area that they had passed through along the way.

That area was in the vicinity of the [Buffalo River] in north-central Arkansas, and since it had more than its share of rough terrain (to say the least), the wayward Cherokees were left in relative peace. For there was still plenty of much easier land to settle elsewhere, and that is the way it stayed until the War Against Northern Aggression broke out.

It is not known whether they volunteered or were conscripted, but my mother had several relatives who served on the Confederate side of the [American Civil War]. One of them supposedly helped to hide a cache of gold bars in a cave that has an opening under a 15-20 foot overhang near the top of a 100 foot tall rock-bluff on the Buffalo River not too far from where my mother was born. In true Confederate gold legend fashion, a huge hornets nest hung from the top of that opening, and the more accessible one was filled-in.

Oh yes, I would certainly like for the story to be true, and since my mother’s six uncles spent years looking for it, one would think that there must be something to it. They did not have much to go on, however. For the rest of the story is that their relative was led blindfolded to where the wagonload of gold bars was, and was led blindfolded back to his cabin after all of the gold was carried into the cave.

On the other hand, I have my doubts. For those men knew every inch of that area, and they would have surely found at least the opening to the cave above the Buffalo River if there was one to be found. Nonetheless, I am not opposed to entertaining thoughts to the contrary on occasion.

Contrary would be a nice way to describe the Honeycutt boys, who comprised my mother’s six uncles and her father. For they had several ways of generating an income, and most were of dubious legality—at best.

Yes, living was not at all easy in that area during those days. In fact, [the great depression of the 1930’s] had virtually no impact on most there because of it already being so bad.

Therefore, it could be argued that they were just doing whatever it took to survive, and some might even go so far as to applaud their ingenuity. For one of their means for generating income involved being one of the first to conduct float trips down the Buffalo River, which certainly sounds quite enterprising.

It was, however, to the extent that they took this enterprise that all who know better should take exception. For their clients were almost all quite wealthy, who usually brought a lot of very expensive hunting and fishing equipment with them, which was carried down the river in canoes. Invariably, those canoes would flip in rough water, and all of their contents would be dumped in the river. Most of those contents would be carried downstream in the strong current, get caught in the nets that the brothers had set-up beforehand, and then sold to anyone who did not insist upon asking too many questions.

No, not everyone in the area during those days condemned such practices. For the law of the jungle was certainly practiced, and anyone who would be willing to pay good money for a float trip was considered fair game by quite a few outside of church.

One who did not cotton to playing by such rules was supposedly a county sheriff, or deputy sheriff, and what is said to have happened to him may have something to do with why nary a trace of my mother’s father’s family can be found now. For he was gunned down by one of my mother’s uncles, and his family would have had to be honor-bound to avenge his untimely death if they had any love at all for the old ways since no arrests were made for his murder.

Since no name for alleged murder victim was provided, there may not be any way of confirming the story. Nonetheless, it certainly appears to be in character for the Honeycutt boys.

Yes, they were definitely a rough bunch, and the worst of the lot seems to be my mother’s father. For he was supposedly some sort of a gangster—like [Clyde Barrow (of “Bonnie and Clyde” fame)], [Pretty Boy Floyd] and [Machine Gun Kelly].

No, there is apparently not any evidence of my mother’s mother being involved in any previous illegal activities, but the supposed details of her death leads one to wonder. For it is said that she smuggled battery acid into my mother’s father’s jail cell in [Searcy, AR] during a visit in 1933 or 34, and that is where they both died of apparent suicides after drinking the acid.

Yes, I know of much better ways to commit suicide. So, I have my doubts about what really happened, but there is no doubting that it was still a great tragedy of monumental proportions to my mother—regardless of the circumstances involved. For she found herself an orphan at the tender age of seven during a great depression in an area where only the strong were meant to survive (naturally-speaking, of course).

Needless to say, my mother did survive, but it was touch and go for a while. For there were apparently no relatives on her mother’s side around, and she was bounced from one relative to another on her father’s side.

Her summers were mostly spent picking cotton on great uncle’s place near [Stuttgart, AR], which is around 100 miles to the south of the Buffalo River region. I’m not sure if it qualified as a plantation or not, but it had space for sharecroppers. My mother got room and board, along with 50 cents a week, for picking 100 pounds a day.

Her winters were spent back up north, and she managed to complete the 6th grade in [Yellville, AR] before taking care of her cousins took precedent over her getting more of an education. Nothing was ever said about her having to take care of any “other things.”

Sometime after she turned 14, my mother heard voices just over the horizon calling her name, and she went to live with an unrelated couple who owned a cafe in either [Lepanto] or [Marked Tree, AR] (around 45 miles northwest of [Memphis]). She learned a lot about a lot of things from them, and she really appreciated all that they did for her.

Nonetheless, my mother had her share of "teenage moments." Some of those moments involved “borrowing” the nice couple’s car so that she and some friends could dance the night away in Memphis ([Beale Street]?).

After staying in northeastern Arkansas for a while, my mother heard the voices calling her name again, and she eventually found herself on the opposite side of the state (over 250 miles away) in [Texarkana, AR]. She wound up moving in with a lady, whom she came to think of as being her mother.

It was there, while working as a carhop in 1951, that she met a fun-loving pipeliner, who introduced himself as being "Buddy." A few days later, she left with him to start a new job in [Ohio].

This was after being married by the justice-of-the-peace as soon as her last shift was over, of course. For my mother was most definitely not “that” kind of a girl!!!

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[TWO FOR TUESDAY - Foreigner]