Early Voting

City Government election May 14

 Early voting will be held Tuesday, May 7, 8, 9, 10 and 13 at the 

Garland County Election Commission.  Election Day is May 14 and nine sites 

within the city limits will be open.   ONLY  Garland County Registered Voters 

residing within the City Limits of Hot Springs will be allowed to vote.

If you like the current government you must vote AGAINST this ballot initiative. It was proposed by someone that does not live in Hot Springs but resents the city's right to regulate the installation of water and sewer pipes within a 5 mile radius of the city limits. He wants us to go back to the Alderman system that was so corrupt the retirement funds for the police and firemen were absconded. 

We have to keep a professional BUSINESS person in charge of the daily operation of bill paying not some special interest good ol' boys bunch of hoodlums.

Breaking News From Little Rock

The 'Boys' are at it again

The Republicans are trying every dirty trick in the book to get you to not have a voice in our so-called Democracy. The current plan is to eliminate ALL election  commissions and then replace them with appointed commissioners from the Republican districts.  Please call your Representatives ASAP and tell them to vote NO on SB 722.

We do not need an oligarchy or a plutocracy running Arkansas.

SJR 7 is a bill defining Rules and Regulations. It will be used to discriminate against us voters. Vote NO, go to Little Rock and sit in on these committees and watch what happens when we aren't paying attention. Our country is being systematically robbed out from under our feet.

These are the names of all the Senators that voted to fund Planned Parenthood, please call and tell them how much you appreciated their support for this organization that does so much for the poor and indigent in Arkansas.

• Senator David Johnson
• Senator David Burnett
• Senator Eddie Cheatham
• Senator Linda Chesterfield
• Senator Joyce Elliott
• Representative Deborah Ferguson
• Senator Stephanie Flowers
• Senator Keith Ingram
• Representative Greg Leding
• Senator Uvald Lindsey
• Representative Fredrick J. Love
• Representative Reginald Murdock
• Representative Mark Perry
• Senator Bobby Pierce
• Senator Larry Teague
• Representative Butch Wilkins
• Representative Hank Wilkins, IV
• Representative James L. Word
• Senator David Wyatt

The legislature passed the voter ID law and it will go into affect next January. If you know anyone that does not drive offer to take them to get a photo ID. Get as many IDs as you can so in case you lose one you'll have a spare.

I have to look up all the bills being introduced and will report back with more details. We are under seige in Little Rock, make no mistake. The Republicans want us enslaved and on our own without any kind of government support. If this is your idea of what our government should be like, please move to Saudia Arabia.

Breaking News From Hot Springs

We will be voting on what type of government we want to run our fair city. Right now we have a City manager/mayor system. It means that we vote who represents us and hire a manager to run the everyday business of managing the city. Some unhappy contractor got the prerequesite signatures to force an election to change our government BACK to Alderman/mayor type. He lives in the county and yet because he got the signatures we have to pay to keep our form ogf government. That means that we will have I think 12 people deciding what we will do rather than the 8 we now have. Under the system this guy wants to reinstate, the city built more water pipes across the state than we have in the entire city of Hot Springs. 

I would appreciate anyone diving in on this and getting all the details straight as I'm not much of a detail person. I like to paint with broad strokes. Thsi election is coming up the first of May and you need to Vote NO or AGAINST this proposal. We got rid of the corruption under the Alderman form of government, we don't need to go backwards just because this guy doesn't like the idea that Hot Springs can tell him how to put in sewer and water lines. Would you rather let him put them in any old way he wants and then when the city annexes the property, the city has to replace all the existing pipes to bring it up to code? Or when we hook up to his services have to replace all his stuff so we can supply city water to the homes he built and sold without annexation.

Never a dull moment around Arkansas. The national news is full of our fiasco at self determination.

Letter to the Editor

Latest Submission to the Sentinel  Record

Dear Editor,

The last time you published my letter I received an anonymous call from someone who did not identify himself. In the usual cowardly way he told me I was a 'frigging moron'. I would put his phone number here but it would probably be removed.

His name calling didn't bother me because I realize there are a lot of cowards in the world. They don't all live in and around Hot Springs either. 

Yesterday his ilk proved it in the worst possible manner; someone set off 2 bombs with the distinct purpose to wreak havoc amongst the gathering of celebrants and contestants of Boston.

My caller did no real damage to me or my ego. He didn't make me afraid to send my opinions into your newspaper. It just showed me that cowards are everywhere. There are just degrees under which they operate.

Judy Ladd

(address available elsewhere)

I was going to go on about what an idiot he was when I decided to respond to his phone call but Boston happened and put him in a whole new context.

I guess I just don't give a shit whether anyone likes my opinions or not. I lived under threats most of my life and I learned you can't run from them or turn your back on them. You have to face them out in the open and in the light of day.

I hope everyone is doing well and that we can survive this too. Terrorists only succeed when we let them terrorize us. It's a game of cowards.

We're Off to see the Wizard

A Day at the Capitol

This is an observation of my day at the 'legislature'. 

On Monday, April 8, 2013, Barbara Butler, Melinda Nobel and I went to Little Rock to confront our legislators on the latest effort to screw up "Obamacare'. We met with Philip Adams, liaison for Health and Human Services, at the office of Governor Mike Beebe. We had a long discussion about why the health care bill currently under consideration, is a bad idea. It lets the insurance companies 'cherry pick' the healthiest people to insure while the state picked up the uninsurable, disabled, aged and sick. 

He explained that as the situation was today Blue Cross-Blue Shield had a 'monopoly' on health care in Arkansas. You either used their insurance or pretty much went without. As a compromise, it was determined that in the interests of 25,000 Arkansans that are currently NOT insured, it would be best to let other competitors into the market. This plan will be in effect for 3 years only (at which time I'm hoping Arkansans have wised up and voted these imbeciles out of office). Philip said it was better to settle for 'good' rather than hold out for 'perfect'. With that information, we went on the attack. 

I met with Bruce Cozart who has maintained the sleezy personality that he expressed when he first ran for Representative of my district. The NAACP asked both Cozart and Jerry Rephan to debate their positions to those interested in the 2 candidates running in District 24. In the course of questioning I asked him if he was for the ERA. His response was he knew nothing about it but would get back with me. When I could get my jaw off the floor, the 'debate' went pretty much as you would expect. Jerry well informed, Bruce hedging and 'how religious he was' and that his business experience as a contractor gave him the edge when it came to running government. FYI, government is NOT a business. Anybody need help, get out your dictionary.

Meanwhile back at the Capitol, I asked Bruce if he'd figured out what the ERA was. He responded with (as near as I can remember, a direct quote): " I realized I was in a set up situation so I decided it's best to play ignorant and just say I knew nothing about it".

I'm sure that the NAACP would love to know that. They are a non-partisan, non-profit group dedicated to the improvement of race relations and to give its members an opportunity to learn first hand from the candidates the issues and their positions without partisanship or bias. Everyone is welcome to express their opinion and make their case.

Well done, Mr. Cozart. You're a typical Republican who will never understand why minorities don't buy into your ideology.

Back to our reason for approaching Mr. Cozart. I asked him if he was for the health care bill and he said he was still undecided. I think that meant he was not going to discuss it with me. I explained my position and though it had changed after talking to Philip Adams, I hoped he would support it.

Later, after all of us had hit the halls of 'higher echelons of governance', we went to John Boozman's office. He doesn't have a sign saying the door you enter is 'John Boozman's office'. You have to ask unless you've been there before.

We presented our individual cases to his emissary ( I can't find the card he gave me with his name on it. Maybe Barbara or Melinda can update this blog if they like) for what we wanted Boozman to support and asked if his position on gun control was in keeping with the majority of Americans. I told his liaison that if Congress was not going to restrict or limit guns and magazines for them then tax the bullets. He laughed at me. Barbara pointed out to him (which took the smile off his face) that that was how Al Capone was brought down.

We explained that the ERA was an important issue that needed to be resolved, women will always stay under the gun until they reach parity with men. Until that happens, we will always be used as a political football. Each of us gave examples of why it was not government's role to restrict or regulate abortions. He said he was against abortions, period. I asked him how many babies he'd had? Since he hadn't had any I didn't give a damn what his opinion was. Barbara gave him a card to Foster care volunteers since he said he wasn't even involved in the care of those children he insisted women give birth to. It will be interesting to see how many in Boozman's office take up Barbara's offer to foster care these children he feels so attached to. I told him 24,000 children went to bed hungry every day in Arkansas, why wasn't he concerned about that.

All in all, a very interesting day with nothing to show for it except exhaustion and the knowledge that we had done our best to participate in our Republic and its politics; good, bad and very ugly. Damn its hard being a woman sometimes. I realized that after all the hard work, politicking and picketing I had done for most of my adult life, I was further from equal rights with my male counterpart than I was at 20. At 20, I had youth and good looks on my side. It's a bitch being a 2nd class citizen and old.

Latest and Greatest

Letter to the Editor

Here is the latest effort to get a letter published. You can read it here in all its entirety. The Sentinel Record has a habit of editting some of my more colorful comments:

Dear Editor,


President Obama signed into law the reinstatement of the Violence Against Women Act. This was a landmark act considering that it was up for renewal last Fall. It took this long to get reinstated due to the efforts of the Republicans in the House trying to remove the changes made to the original document to correct those women denied protection under the original bill.

We elect the people to represent us that are supposedly of higher moral character and who will best represent us in Washington. Unfortunately, that isn't true for the residents of Arkansas. We have some people that still believe there should be 2 sets of laws protecting our citizenry, those that meet their views of what is proper and good and those that need to be castigated and relegated to the sidelines to be treated as worthless or 2nd class citizens. Our representatives from the Republican party supported that view by voting against VAWA, Representative Tom Cotton from District 4 and Senator John Boozman. Instead of doing the 'right' and noble thing by voting for the protection of ALL women, they chose to take the low side of the debate and voted to deny every woman protection under the law. For whatever their personal reasons, they have no business representing anyone in Washington. They have already proven they only want to represent those that share their prejudices and animosity. Our country is moving forward into the 21st century and we don't need 18th century representation.

I hope that every woman that was ever hit, beat, raped or molested at any time in their life will consider that when they go to the polls in 2014. We need people of moral character and high ethics to represent us, not some backward misogynist trying to reverse the clock and move women back into male domination and servility.   As you can see, my opinion of most voters here in Arkansas will get me censored. Just bear with me and you can read it here in all its vainglorious prose.

Still Fighting the Good Fight

My latest letter to the editor of the Sentinel Record follows:

Dear Editor,
President Obama signed into law the reinstatement of the Violence Against Women Act. This was a landmark act considering that it was up for renewal last Fall. It took this long to get reinstated due to the efforts of the Republicans in the House trying to remove the changes made to the original document to correct those women denied protection under the original bill.
We elect the people to represent us that are supposedly of higher moral character and who will best represent us in Washington. Unfortunately, that isn't true for the residents of Arkansas. We have some people that still believe there should be 2 sets of laws protecting our citizenry, those that meet their views of what is proper and good and those that need to be castigated and relegated to the sidelines to be treated as worthless or 2nd class citizens. Our representatives from the Republican party supported that view by voting against VAWA, Representative Tom Cotton from District 4 and Senator John Boozman. Instead of doing the 'right' and noble thing by voting for the protection of ALL women, they chose to take the low side of the debate and voted to deny every woman protection under the law. For whatever their personal reasons, they have no business representing anyone in Washington. They have already proven they only want to represent those that share their prejudices and animosity. Our country is moving forward into the 21st century and we don't need 18th century representation.
I hope that every woman that was ever hit, beat, raped or molested at any time in their life will consider that when they go to the polls in 2014. We need people of moral character and high ethics to represent us, not some backward misogynist trying to reverse the clock and move women back into male domination and servility.



I don't know if it was published, I rather doubt it since I 'disrespected' the citizens of Arkansas and the idiots they elected to office in the 4th District. I call every day to Washington to remind them that some of us really do care when they vote against our best interests such as Social Security and Medicaid. As many people that live here that are dependent on these programs you would believe they would be strong advocates for their protection. NOT!

Politicking ala Hot Springs

I put out there on the web that I needed people to join me to campaign against assault rifles and large magazines.We have had too many people die needlessly from these types of guns. The toll is at over 1000 since Newtown, Connecticut. 

Barbara Butler was the only one to join me January 17, 2013. We did get a response from a 'guy' that thought we were a couple of nuts who didn't know what we were talking about because I put on my poster >>>CLIPS

He said clips did not fit in assault rifles. I explained 'magazines' didn't fit on my sign but I was sure everyone would know what I was talking about particularly since the people in Congress used the two names interchangeably.

Saturday, January 19, she and I joined Planned Parenthood on the steps of the Capitol in Little Rock for a rally there  St. Senator Joyce Elliot and Dr. Jocelyn Elders (former Surgeon General) were guest speakers. If you ever get a chance to meet Dr. Elders I recommend you do so. She is an honor to our sex and a wonderful humanist.

I will be having more gun rallies if anyone would like to join me. I usually will have them at Reserve and Central in downtown Hot Springs. The time will probably be Wednesday at 12 noon. If I get enough interest the time can be adjusted to meet the needs and desires of those wishing to join me.

Here is my latest submission to the Sentinel Record for those that may not get the paper. This is by no means a proof of publishing. Submitted 1-21-2013:

With the passage of time it has become more apparent than ever that the corporate agenda for America is its Africanization of resources and its population. Corporations are not held liable for environmental damages they incur through their business practices of raping and pillaging to get to our resources. Mountain top removal is the most ambitious and destructive of these practices. 

The processing of tar sands in Canada shows that the practice has moved beyond our borders to Canada where the indigenous people's lands are systematically being stripped and ravaged at no little cost to the environment. Illness and health issues that they had never experienced before have become the norm.  As these caustic oils are removed from the ground, we are being used as the pipeline to move these tar sand oils across our 'bread basket' of the plains states to the refineries on the Gulf Coast. The fact that the shortest pipeline already completed through Michigan had ruptured and contaminated the water supply there is not to be concerned with. It won't happen with the pipeline being built now, because We have rules and laws to prevent that from happening.

We have fracking across the US that has proven to be so destructive that Europe has banned the practice. Water supplies are being contaminated, people and animals are dying. Yet the practice goes on. We are told it's for our use to make us less dependent on foreign oil and yet these petroleum products are being exported to Europe and China. The coal fields of the Dakotas and Montana need a railroad to the west coast to ship OUR coal to China.

The broader issue is not so much that the Keystone pipeline, coal mining and mountain top removal are dangerous and hazardous at best, it's what it means to us, the people of the United States. The wealth being 'taken' is not being shared with the people most impacted by the destruction of these areas. We are now becoming just another inconvenience to the taking of our natural resources from the earth that we are told is public property. Our representatives in Washington take money for their election coffers from these companies and then write legislation that makes it easier and less painful to extract this wealth.

For the truth about the consequences of environmental disasters, check out how much Exxon has paid out for the Valdez incident. Look at BP's compliance with environmental law and how much they have compensated the residents of the Gulf Coast. 

Wages have been flat ever since the mid 1970's. This has been planned and when states like Michigan and Wisconsin enact 'right to work' legislation those wages will go even lower while the corporations make off with the spoils. This is 'Africanization'. The people work and receive a pittance while the rich get richer at our expense. If there is an environmental disaster, OUR government will step in and with OUR tax dollars, clean the mess up.

In Africa, it was called 'colonialization', what will we call it here but the Africanization' of the United States.