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Why don't you just move to another city somewhere else? America's a big place. There are places here that are still nice, but are probably a lot more business friendly :)

Clearly, I wish Asa had won. But, I honestly think this was never going to be his year. If Rockefeller had been alive, he would have won it just because he was so well liked. Asa just had everything in the world working against him.

I hate it because there's no telling when we'll have a real actual 2 party system again in this state. I don't know who we're gonna run who's gonna have a dog's chance against Mark Pryor.

Mike may not have helped Asa's cause, but I don't think he could have ever gotten him in there. It was too far gone.

You've been to Alaska? Must be cold this time of year.

Seriously, I don't know that "driving through" makes you an expert on the state. It's got it's issues, but so does every other state. The point is that Mike left things better than he found them.

Note remotely defending his immigration policy. Not saying he's the best candidate for Prez. Just don't want the guy to take knocks for stuff that's not really his fault.

Mike did a good job as governor. Our roads are better. Our schools are better. I heard on the radio the other day that Arkansas schools were rated something like 29th in the nation. If that's true, that's pretty impressive since we were 49th when Bill was gov (and had been since the beginning of time). Our state economy is better. Our state parks are better.

In Mike's defense on getting his successor elected. a) Arkansas has almost never voted a Republican in. Mike himself was an aberration...the only reason he got there in the first place was that Jim Guy Tucker got sent to the pokie...that and from Clinton backlash (when he got re-elected). Second. The "successor" mike couldn't deliver was Asa Hutchinson, whose brother got booted out of his Senate seat a few years ago for some moral problems. Asa had the same problem Jeb Bush would have running for President...his family name....it's difficult to get voted in as a Republican to begin with and when your last name is associated with scandal... Mix that with the fact that this was an offyear election where people were mad at the Republicans in general because of Republican incompetence on Capital Hill...it's hard to blem Mike solely for the fact that we're now stuck with Beebe.

"That was the first time it struck me that there was something exciting about Christianity. I kept reading Chesterton even as I continued my dissipated lifestyle, and then one night in October 1999 I had a hypnagogic experience — the sort in which you’re not sure if you are asleep or awake. I heard a woman’s voice saying: “Some things are not meant to be known. Some things are meant to be understood.” I got on my knees and prayed — and eventually entered the Catholic church."

Nah. The longer a lot of them, the better. A LOT of them need help paying for their own retirement. Here's the ugly truth...it was never realistic to have the whole country retire at 55 or 60 and then live to be 90. Yes, the Democrats killed Social Security by bleeding it dry. Doesn't mean I want my parents or their friends eating dog food in 20 years when the darn thing collapses. A LOT of them aren't prepared. So, a lot of them are basically gonna have no choice but to work a few extra years. The boomers are in the same boat the Xers are in, only maybe worse. They thought Social Security would be there. At least we know Lyndon Johnson killed it 30 years ago by bleeding it dry to buy lib votes and it's not gonna be there and know to not count on it. It's gonna go belly up before they're all pushing up daisies since our government seems to have no real interest in fixing it.

The Bible does talk about false teachers...who better to convince fools that the Bible doesn't mean what it says (for political gain to boot)? Satan is alive and well.

It makes perfect sense from their perspective. You have two of the worst Presidents of the modern era trying to destroy the "religious right" from within. Get these people to not care about family morals or what the Bible actually says (coming to you from the man who is not sure what the definition of "is" is), and you take away a huge chunk of the Republican party.

Hold in mind, this was towards the beginning of when we started having these sprees. I believe the law changed after this happened specifically because of these two boys. But, they couldn't sentence the kids based on laws that were changed after the fact.

I think they would be charged as an adult if the same thing were to happen today.

Someone elected the fine politicians who stole all of the money out of that program to buy votes. Since X'ers weren't old enough to vote for "the great society" politicians...

Not under Bush's plan. Under his plan, we'll bankrupt Social Security even faster by giving benefits to the Mexicans...legal or not.

Why? It's fun. It provides a way of keeping alumni in touch with the University and introduces children to the University. It gives hundreds of students from each school (by the time you look at the entire support structure) a chance to travel all over the country and interact with people who have similar interests but who are from different cultures within our country. It gives college kids a chance to learn to work in large team environments in very public, high pressure environments. It teaches college kids how to act in a poised manner no matter the circumstances, but it's their job to try to keep the fans into what's going on. You may personally feel physically exhausted or may be disgusted with what's going on in the game, but you have to at least act upbeat because that's your job.

NFL or NBA or not, all of this is great prep for the professional world. I'm saying this from firsthand experience in a support organization...being a lower middle class kid, being part of the Razorback organization gave me experiences opportunities I would have never had otherwise that prepared me for the real world and I got to feel like I was earning my keep by playing my role to be there. And no, the high school version of what I did wasn't REMOTELY the same.

A team that wins the regular conference schedule shouldn't have to win it again by winning a post-season tournament.

The problem with that is a conference like the SEC. This year is a great example. We have 12 schools. We're divided into the East and Western division. Each school plays every team in their division, plus 3 teams from the opposite. So, no team plays every team every year. So, you get situations like this year where Arkansas and Florida both had one loss in regular season SEC play, but they hadn't played each other. The SEC championship game was the only fair way to settle that.

In their defense, schools have to be concerned about the money. All of this stuff is expensive to do. Think about it. For the Southern Cal game, the university had to fly over the the football team, some cheerleaders, some trainers, the coaches, and a small band...plus, everybody's equipment. Then they had to pay for all of these people to sleep and eat while they were there. Plus, they had to pay for buses for all of these people to transport them while they were over there. As an SEC team, Arkansas has to do this same thing with our regular opponents...it's a long freakin way from Fayetteville to Gainesville, Fla or even Knoxville, TN. All of this costs money. Money the University doesn't want to take away from people's education or from tax dollars.

So, the Athletic dept has to do this standing on their own two feet.

That being said. I agree with you wholeheartedly that we need a playoff system.

It's no secret it's money. That's why those are called "rent-a-win" games if you talk to any SEC fan.

Dude...the other part of this is that you should be careful what you ask for. There's a reason big schools call these games "rent-a-wins". When big teams do home and aways, like Arkansas trading games with Texas and USC, it's as if it's an SEC game...everybody paid their own way for the travel and expenses and such and did whatever it is they do with revenue. When we bring in schools like Boise St. or Utah State, we pay your schools big bucks to be there. That's why these small schools are willing to come and get pounded every year. It is a MAJOR part of funding your programs. Does your Athletic dept have the $$ to do it the way the big kids do it? Probably not right now or you wouldn't be signing up for these. Maybe in time, but not right now more than likely.

South Carolina plays Clemson every year too. Forgot about those old traditional games.

Doesn't work that way. Arkansas beat Auburn. Auburn beat Florida. Florida beat Arkansas. Life in the SEC baby. THAT's why the Gators deserve what they've got. They had to slug out week after week.

SEC teams have scheduled home and aways with teams from other conferences. In recent years, Arkansas has played Texas and Southern Cal. We also played Boise St. several years ago, though I don't remember if we played them at their house. I can't remember who, but someone else in the SEC had a biggie this year too.

What this proves is that we need a playoff system. Boise St. didn't have to go through the week after week gauntlet that teams in a major conference go through (which is why the Gators deserve the championship with our current setup). So, there's no way to know if they could do it over and over. Plus, we'll never know if they could or couldn't have beaten UF because they were never given the chance.

We need a playoff. That's the only honest way the little guy will ever have a fair chance without giving their teams something they didn't earn.