| Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) "Failed Leadership" |
Today, April 6th, Representative Rick Crawford, now joined even more US Representatives have in another letter addressed Senator Reid's "reckless, partisan strategy of shutting down the government."
Crawford writes in the second letter to Senator Harry Reid, "With all due respect, if you do not plan to fulfill your responsibilities as Senate Majority Leader, perhaps it is time to step aside." The letter goes on the state, "Mr. Reid, it is time to stop denying the dire straits of our nation's fiscal health. "It is time to pass a bill."
[Full Story with the two letters and the list or Representatives who signed the letters.]
Tags: US Congress, letters, Rick Crawford, Arkansas, Senator, Harry Reid, time to resign,
Who is more fiscally responsible: Charlie Sheen or Washington? Duh! Charlie the Warlock. Washington spends $30 million, the same as Charlie’s salary, in less than five minutes. Now that’s a fastball… At least Charlie knew not to spend more than Two and a Half Men was paying him.
Bankrupting America: At first thought, Charlie Sheen hardly seems like a model for fiscal responsibility. But, somehow, Washington has managed to be far worse.
Washington's habit of spending far more than it takes in has driven the country into debt. And our economic situation is projected to only get worse.
The solution is clear, but not easy: spending cuts. History shows that reducing government spending leads to sustained economic growth. And that's something (even Charlie Sheen) can get behind.
With the help of Charlie (sort of), our latest video explains that after years of spending far more than we take in, Washington has driven us deep into the red. And there’s only one viable solution. Check out the video below and then sign up to be one of the first to receive our latest products!
Excerpt:
Charlie Sheen (impersonator): “Yeah, well, being a ‘rockstar from Mars’ is expensive. Duh. But I still brought in more than I spent. WINNING. You can’t say the same for Washington. LOSING.”
Here are a few facts:Last year, Washington brought in 2.3 trillion in taxes, and spent it all, plus a lot more. One and a half times to be exact. Losing!We need solutions NOW and Public Notice’s latest video shows what we already know to do. Cut Spending!
It took over 200 years, and every president from George Washington through Bill Clinton, to rack up a $ 6-trillion debt. But Washington politicians have more than doubled that in just 10 years. Losing!
Our current debt of more than 14 trillion means every American household is on the hook for $130,000. Losing!
We pay almost $1 trillion, every year, on interest payments alone. Losing!
After World War II, the U.S. government cut spending from 44 percent of the economy to 11 percent.
If Charlie Sheen can figure out how to turn a dire situation around, there just might be hope for Washington.
Tags: Bankrupting America, Charlie Sheen, data visualization, debt, deficit, Government Overspending, Government Spending, new video, video, who is more responsible, Who's more responsible: Charlie Sheen or Washington?, winning Via ARRA News Service.
Well, here's some more great news for the housing industry -- CoreLogic says the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has overstated its national sales numbers by as much as 20 percent.
Ruh-roh, Scooby. That's a scary accusation if it proves to be true, considering how often the NAR's report is used by economists, analysts, journalists, etc. It's also scary when you realize that the number of months in supply is directly tied to sales -- lower sales could mean more months in supply than we thought, meaning it will take longer to get housing inventory thinned out than we previously believed.
Click here to read about this whole mess.
Considering Prosecutorial / Judicial Misuse or Abuse of the Arkansas Animal Cruelty Laws
By Bill Smith on 1:31 PM
Filed Under: Animal Cruelty Laws, Arkansas, ARRA News Service, judicial abuse
It was in the courtroom of Judge Bruce Anderson, Bradley County District judge, in Warren, Arkansas that the first two cases of that county were tried, two remarkably similar cases with inexplicably different results.
Read Full Story
Before the reputations of more Arkansans are damaged, before more jobs are placed at risk, before more family financial resources are consumed, and before any further enforcement of the animal cruelty laws are enforced, more education on the law is necessary for law enforcement, prosecutors and, of course, judges! Legislators are encouraged to re-evaluate their former efforts and reaffirm or even improve the “safeguards” placed in effect to protect property owners against frivolous lawsuits and charges when protecting their properties, persons and livestock from the threat of roaming dogs belonging to or abandoned by irresponsible pet owners.
At the end of June, I went out and bought my first full-sized pickup truck -- a Dodge Ram 1500 SLT with a crew cab.
I was wowed by the semi-truck styling of the thing, that mango tango paint job, the car-like comfort of the ride and a stout V-8 under the hood.
The fuel economy is terrible and parking the thing can be a nightmare, but I just had to buy the truck. Now that I've had it a few months, the time is right to review it.
Hey, the 2011 Rams are virtually unchanged, so people looking at one of those might want to know what someone thinks about a 2010 model after a few months. Am I still glad I shelled out $32,000 for a gas-guzzling pickup truck? Click here and find out.
Yes, the crew over at First Arkansas News has started something new -- old time radio (OTR) serials.
Yes, we're talking about those multi-episodic story arcs that kept people coming back week after week, month after month and year after year to hear what happened next.
That's some fine entertainment, kids featuring the likes of Lum and Abner, Superman, Flash Gordon and Little Orphan Annie. Want to head over and listen to some episodes?
Sure you do! Just click here and you'll be on your way to old time radio heaven.
Tags: Bob Parks, commentary, Black History Month, history, blacks, democrats, republicans To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". H/T ARRA News Service.
The economy is a mess and we're seeing all levels of government taking action to get people working again.
Here in Arkansas, one area of concern has to be with contractors who hire illegal immigrants (we've seen a lot of bills written around the nation that appear to be in direct response to the "they took our jobs!" mantra that's common these days). The Arkansas Legislature is due to take up H.B. 1013, which is sponsored by State Rep. Jim Nickels (D-Sherwood). That bill, simply put, would punish contractors who knowingly hire people who are not authorized to work in the United States.
What is interesting is the broad appeal that this bill will likely attract. Why? It addresses an issue embraced by both conservatives and liberals (to an extent) and the bill has already drawn the support of union leaders here in the Natural State.
Want to read more about H.B. 1013 and what the unions are doing to support it? Sure you do! Just click here...
Yes, it's the Atari Lynx -- the portable gaming system that was ahead of its time but was absolutely stomped into oblivion by the Nintendo Game Boy.
The Lynx had a lot of advantages over the Game Boy -- color graphics, better sound and a groovy innovation or two that should have made it a contender in the market. However, it also had wretched battery life and lacked the marketing dollars, third-party support and the franchises that Nintendo enjoyed. Still, the Lynx was a fine little system and I still play mine quite a bit.
Interested in an overview of the Lynx? Sure you are! Click here to read all about it.
While the latest housing news out of northwest Arkansas might not be great, it sure looks good compared to the dismal sales reports up there -- and from around the nation -- over the past few months.
Union Pacific Corporation owns one of America's leading transportation companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad, links 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers and provides Americans with a fuel-efficient, environmentally responsible and safe mode of freight transportation. Union Pacific's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Energy, Industrial Products and Intermodal. The railroad emphasizes excellent customer service and offers competitive routes from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways. Union Pacific connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major gateways to Mexico, making it North America's premier rail franchise.
Union Pacific's Steam Program
No other railroad in this country has retained its steam locomotives and historical rail car fleet like Union Pacific. The preservation of this equipment speaks to the high value Union Pacific places on its heritage and its role in America's history. Our two steam locomotives have run thousands of miles as UP ambassadors of goodwill:- The Challenger No. 3985 was designed by Union Pacific and built in 1943 by the American Locomotive Company, and is the only operating engine of its class in the world today – the largest and most powerful operating steam locomotive.
- The No. 844 is the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific Railroad, and was delivered in 1944. No. 844 was placed in freight service in Nebraska from 1957 to 1959, then was saved from being scrapped in 1960. No. 844 celebrated its 50th anniversary of Special Train Service in 2010.
After the departure of former Arkansas Realtors Association (ARA) Chief Executive Officer Andy Schaus in September, the search has been on for a new CEO.
The ARA ran a search for a few months and the new hire, Mark Marchand, started at the organization on Monday.
Oddly, the ARA didn't make that information public. However, First Arkansas News confirmed that Marchand was, indeed, at the ARA and you can read the full story by clicking here. Yes, that's a First Arkansas News exclusive story, so check it out.
It seems all good things must come to an end.
Yes, Ryan Mallett -- one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the University of Arkansas -- has decided to skip his senior year and enter the NFL draft.
That's a shame.
A real shame.
However, he won some great games with the Razorbacks and any fan worth his salt ought to wish Mallett well in the NFL.
You can read the story about Mallett's departure here.
I've collected a ton of Nintendo Entertainment (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems (SNES) over the years.
The games pretty well last forever but the hardware needed to play them doesn't. What's a retrogramer to do? I looked at one of those Chinese-made systems that are cheap and new to use with my collection of vintage video games a few months ago and have been pleased with the results so far.
Want to read all about my nifty little red and gold game horse and how it's held up over the past few months? Sure you do! Just click here for a review of the Retro Duo and you may just decide to pick one up for yourself.
Well, the unthinkable happened -- my hard drive developed a logic error, forcing me to reformat the whole shebang and reinstall everything.
Here's a tip for you cats -- get a Dropbox account and store your important files on it. You get two gigabytes of storage for free and the thing is easy to set up and use locally. The importance of Dropbox is this -- when your computer flakes out on you, at least you can recover your important files (the ability to access your files from virtually anywhere you have an Internet connection is important, too).
At any rate, I was surprised to see my hard drive on my netbook die because I've only had this nifty little computer for a year. Rather than go back to Windows XP, I decided to try something new -- Ubuntu Linux. Here's what I've learned -- Linux isn't scary, weird, limited or anything else. It just works and works very well.
You can read all about my adventures with Linux here.
Christmas has come and gone and good old Santa Claus left a Microsoft Kinect for the kids.
They must have been good this year as the Kinect is one of the "hot toys" of the season. However, there are some questions about it. Does it actually work? Is it a ton of fun? Does it live up to Microsoft's hype?
Yes, Microsoft doesn't really have a good track record when it comes to releasing products that work as promised and are as cool as the company's hyperbole suggests.
I'm happy to report, however, that the Kinect does work and the potential is there to provide a slew of fantastic motion-based games. Whether the controller will realize its potential and live up to the hype remains to be seen, but Microsoft appears to be on the right track with this.
Click here to read all about my initial reaction to the Kinect.
On Wednesday, the hardworking folks over at First Arkansas News released a housing market report showing that yet another real estate market in Arkansas is is still struggling through this mess of an economy.
Sales in central Arkansas fell 31.25 percent last month, continuing a trend in declining sales that took hold in the summer and hasn't let up since.
Click here to see the First Arkansas News report and make sure to click a few links and see what's going on in other parts of the state, too.
Looks like we're in the middle of a long winter folks, as far as the economy goes, at least.
Looks like home owners are in for a big old lump of coal if the lukewarm sales figures in November carry through to December.
Want to see the latest housing market report from northwest Arkansas? Just click here and have a look.
Here's the summary -- sales prices went up a bit, but days on market were up compared to the same month a year ago and sales were down 41.9 percent.
Ouch.
Stay tuned -- the housing market report from central Arkansas should be out before Christmas.
