Thanksgiving Weekend Update

What to do when the world doesn't give a crap and it scares the crap out of you

My letter to the editor was published last Friday according to a friend. That is good news because I felt really strongly about the mess in the Gaza Strip. You can't hold people hostage and harass them and then expect them to sit down and like and do whatever you ask.

Politics in Hot Springs are starting to get interesting. Barbara Thexton got a discussion group going to see what can be done to take back the legislature. We don't need to lose the governor's office in 2014 either. Dustin McDaniels is going to have the ride of a lifetime if we don't get something happening here soon. Arkansas has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the US. We don't need voter suppression here, we need people to take voting seriously. When I moved here in the mid 50's, we had a poll tax to suppress voters. It was declared unconstitutional and now people just don't vote. No one seems to mind sending our troops over seas to support and democratize the Middle East and Africa but as far as voting here, you've got to be kidding, they just don't have the time or won't take it.

Claudia Reynolds LeBlanc and I picketed Walmart on Black Friday at the Albert Pike store here in Hot Springs. There were very few customers going through the light where we stood. They must have all gone to the store on Central since it may be the bigger store here. I put some sandwich boards on Tigger so he could earn his keep. He's a great little campaigner. If you need him at your function, he works cheap. Several people had told Claudia they would show up to help. Apathy extends beyond the voting booth here.

Here is my letter to the editor for those that wish to read it:


The attacks on the Gaza Strip by Israel requires a close examination of the cause and effect of this 'military action'. At first blush it looks like Israel is completely in the right in defending its country against the Hamas.

This is the simplistic view that the politicians would like you to believe and not examine any further. We are pro-Israel without a doubt. Anything they say or do we are in complete agreement with. The question is; should we be?

The Gaza Strip was given to the Palestinians as a surrogate country until an agreement could be reached satisfying both sides of the argument establishing statehood for Palestine. Israel sent in settlers and essentially confiscated the lands designated Palestinian. Israel then set up road blocks, check points, boycotts and other extreme measures restricting movement into and out of Gaza vital supplies such as food and medical supplies. Given these conditions, the Hamas resisted and is now almost completely annihilated by the technology sold to them by the USA.. Today the missiles Israel is firing into the Gaza Strip are nothing more than target practice.

Now let's take a look at a world view and not just the myopic one being peddled by the pro-Israeli faction.

What will happen if Israel can justify in the way it is currently headed, an attack on Iran? We keep hearing they are Israel's biggest threat. Secondly, Egypt is sitting by not doing much more than obfuscating to appease the US.  Israel's biggest fear is Arab retaliation to its aggressive behavior against Iran.

Now to the serious business of a war between Israel and Iran. This is Obama's second term and what if it were possible to lay at the feet of his administration the ultimate war in the Middle East? I do not see a peaceful solution when China, Russia, and the Arab Emirates chooses sides in this unwinnable war. His administration will be known to be more inept even than George W. Bush's.

We are asked daily to honor our military and yet the military establishment squanders the personnel aka soldiers like so much toilet paper. Do you really believe we have the concerned population that will continue to fight for a global war that they didn't start and have no way of winning? Only 1% of the population is in the military. That means 99% of us sit on the sidelines wondering what Kate Moss' latest tatoo looks like and where it may be located.

It is time we got our heads out of the sand and demanded from our leaders a solution to the Middle East crisis and I don't mean more bombs and missiles.

Judy Ladd
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It's been awhile since I was here. It seems I was so involved in getting my friends elected I forgot about this page.

Well, Arkansas did its stupid thing again,and voted for the 'rich' guy. I was a poll watcher and I was not surprised to see the majority of voters were old white men and women. Considering many were retirees from up North you'd think they would have voted more progressively. NOT!

Romney took the electoral college votes and for the first time in 138 years, we have the Republicans in control of our state legislature. This next session will be a thing to behold as we turn the clock back and start teaching biblical 'evolution' or is it called Divine intervention?

Our state rates 3rd from the bottom in education and after having had former governor Huckabee push ignorance in our schools we are sure to drop even lower on that scale when this legislature comes to order.

Sex education will be demonized and the teen pregnancy numbers will climb and more children will be raising children without benefit of a good paying job or an education. Of course, we have ARKids to support them but I wonder where the taxes will come from to keep those services afloat when all those white retirees don't want their little IRAs taxed anymore. All their capital gains can't be taxed either.

David Reagan got elected to JP District 1. Congratulations, Dave. He said going door to door is what won the election and the help from all his sign holding friends at the polls put him over the top. Maybe the other candidates could take a hint from his success.

Many people worked the phone lines from the Democratic Headquarters here. They did more out of state calling than here local as I understand. Maybe they shouldn't have given up on Arkansas so quickly. We might have saved some of the state from the complete takeover by the Republicans. The Tea Party didn't do as well as they thought they would but then we're still living here in the 19th century so who knows.

 I joined the Arts Advisory Council here in Hot Springs. I believe that the only way to change the future is change our kids' attitude towards their city or community. Making them a member of their society or community will instill pride of ownership. Art is an easy step in that direction. We have many public buildings that are just terrible looking and if the kids were given a paintbrush and the freedom to express themselves they may take pride in where they live.

Well, live long and prosper. We can still kick ass by calling the village idiots in Washington on a regular basis to make sure they understand that we may be down but we ain't out. Don't forget Little Rock. Those guys need to hear LOUDLY from us too.

Where oh where has the time gone?

Politics in Hot Springs are about as exciting as watching paint dry.
I wonder when someone is going to run for office that really cares about Hot Springs and not just what will bring in the most money. You know we do have a national park within our city limits.
We need to start getting with the program and start making our water and sewer system as green as possible. Some places have already put in operation a system that recycles all the water through a natural filtering system that utilizes nature rather than big holding tanks and intense energy usage. They are raising talapia in the waste water using ponds like nature uses. We could certainly learn a lot from those towns that don't have as much water as we do. We just need to stop wasting it.