Florida vs LSU(+6.5)- I will take LSU.  LSU's offensive line is awesome and Charles Scott gets to run behind them.  The swamp does not scare the Tigers.  LSU has a good receiving corp and Florida has had issues in their secondary. 

Georgia vs UT- Georgia(-12.5).Alot people will point to stats that show UGA struggling to cover point spread.  I will admit if you had told me in August that UGA would be favored by nearly two touchdowns and the extra points, I would have been surprised; but, its not August, its October and UT is struggling.    They had two weeks off to prepare but the Georgia football team has been thinking about this game for a year(alot more than than the BAMA game or maybe even the Florida game).  Why wouldn't they it was humilating .  Revenge for last year's 35-14 thumping in Knoxville is a very real possibillity. Georgia covers and probably big.  UT has QB issues and Georgia has anything but.  Georgia gets team leader Brannan Southerland back at fullback someone they wished they had for the BAMA game.  You add Knowshon Moreno and A.J.Green to the mix plus the Georgia defense and you got yourself a party.  DAWGS COVER the -12.5 

Auburn vs Arkansas(+17)- I think Auburn might still win the game but this spread is too high. Bobby Patrino's spread offense IS working.  They kept it close with Florida tell late in the 3rd quarter.  Auburn has QB issues regardless of what offense they are running and they just fired an offensive coordinator on Wednesday.

  Supposively Auburn had an intense Tuesday practice WITH TONY FRANKLIN, as in they tried to kick up the intensity.  What does it say when the very next day you find out that same coach has been fired?

 My senior year in high school and my last year playing organized football was also my high school football coach's last year as head coach.  The very next year (my freshman year at Georgia) the team struggled out of the gate 1-4 and somehow finished 6-4 still making the playoffs(they got completely stomped in the 1st round but atleast they still made it).  The following year the team made it to the quarters but that first year without the old man on the sidelines probably hurt the team's confidence.

  This idea that teams like Auburn and UT who are installing new offenses are not going to have some hiccups or growing pains is almost comical.  The spread offense and the west coast offense are both offenses are not easy for teams to learn particularly for teams that are used to running it down people's throats.  College football fans have no patience.  Online this summer it seemed that most Bama Fans thought that NEXT YEAR WAS THERE YEAR and strangely were willing to wait for there impending greatness.  I agreed with them.  If you think the Tide is good now wait till next year when they really start feeling it.  THE POINT IS if BAMA FAN can wait ANYBODY CAN WAIT AND HAVE PATIENCE.  That being said eventually Auburn and Tuberville will figure it out.  I still think Auburn wins but I think they might not be able to cover the 17 points.

  South Carolina(-3) vs Kentucky- South Carolina.  South Carolina has a good defense both against the run and the pass.  On offense, Chris Smelley has proven to be a decent QB.  Plus, the evil genius' record is damn near flawless and he loves beating the crap out of them.  Check your history.  Kentucky last week nearly beat BAMA losing 17-14; they covered.  However, UK allowed Glen Coffee 230 yards the most by a Tide running back since Sean Alexander's time in Tuscaloosa.  South Carolina has a good offensive line and Mike Davis is a good running back.

Arizona(-7) over Stanford- The wildcats look good right now.  Arizona great QB in Wille Tuiatama and Mike Stoops may have finally figure it out.  Stanford is inconsistent and is off a 28-21 loss to Notre Dame, a game where Stanford scored 2 TDs in garbage time.  If Jimmy Clausen can sling it against the Cardinals why can't Willie Tuiatama.

Missouri(-14) over Oklahoma State- Missouri is awesome. Nuff Said.

USC(-28) over ASU-  Nobody gives a beating like the Trojans.  Sanchez is going to play too.

Penn State(-5.5) over Wisconsin

And if the jury found from the evidence that such acts were done by defendant's conductor with unnecessary violence, or with abusive or insulting language, then the jury should further assess damages against the defendant in such sum as the jury may believe from the evidence will be a suitable punishment to defendant for such wrongful acts, and such damages should be separately stated in your verdict.

It's an exciting season in Arkansas and the Arkansas Mycological Society is almost always active during this season.

Here are a couple forays below:
Arkansas Mycological Society's Jay Justice is leading a mushroom hunt at Woolly Hollow State Park, tomorrow (October 11 and again on Nov. 22), 10 am to 3 pm.

In the newsletter I receive the event will be cancelled if it rains.

Another foray will be at Lake Sylvia Rec area, Perry County on November 1st, 10 am to 3 pm. Weather permitting.

For all forays it is suggested that you bring a sack lunch.

If you choose to go mushroom hunting without an expert, remember that there are at least 100,000 species of fungi out there and approximately one percent are poisonous. Arkansas happens to have species from nearly every poisonous class.

Know without question the type of mushroom you have before taking a bite. Your first nibble could be your last.

Auburn over Arkansas

Alabama over Ole Miss

Wake Forest over Clemson

Carolina over Kentucky

LSU over Florida

But His Associations and Prior Activities Put in Him Directly At Ground Zero of the Financial Crisis and Only Raise Many More Questions

On June 12, 2008, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's campaign set up a website dedicated to fighting "viscous rumors" about the candidate. The site, entitled "Fight the Smears" seems to have a "smear du jour" which it addresses and lists nineteen separate issues on which the campaign apparently feels its candidate has been unfairly "smeared" to date. For instance, the issue of the day, October 9, regards Sen. Obama's "tangential" relationship with unrepentant Weather Underground terrorist-turned Professor of Education and author, William Ayers.

One of the issues addressed concerns the now widely discussed organization, ACORN. The group's acroynm stands for Associatons of Community Organizations for Reform Now, and describes itself as:

The nation’s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people with over 400,000 member families organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 cities across the country.  Since 1970, ACORN has been building community organizations that are committed to social and economic justice, and won victories on thousands of issues of concern to our members, through direct action, negotiation, legislative advocacy and voter participation.  ACORN helps those who have historically been locked out become powerful players in our democratic system.

ACORN has a purportedly separate, incorporated entity, that was specifically created to address housing issues:

National non-profit ACORN Housing has been providing free housing counseling to low and moderate income homebuyers since 1987. We have opened HUD-certified, Fannie Mae-approved housing counseling offices across the US, helping over 50,000 families to achieve homeownership.

Obama's "Fight the Smears" site includes a page with "acornrumor" in the address bar. This page states that "Obama never organized with ACORN." In addition, the Campaign asserts that Obama never trained for ACORN nor was he employed by them in any other capacity other than his representation of the organization in a 1995 suit against the Justice Department for violations of the "Motor Voter" law in Illinois. Finally, the campaign reports that ACORN was not involved in Obama's 1992 effort "Project Vote". The Fight the Smears site addresses accusations by a Ken Blackwell that the campaign describes as a "voter suppression guru". If Mr. Blackwell, whoever he is, was the only party questioning Mr. Obama's associations with ACORN, he might be worth looking into. Rumor aside, there is no question that Sen. Obama has a long history with ACORN.

Stanley Kurtz, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and an investigative reporter for National Review, has spent months intensively investigating Senator Obama, including his connections with William Ayers and the Annenburg Challenge, and with ACORN. One of many, the article "Inside Obama's ACORN" best details the organization's true history, intent, and Obama's connection with it.

Any spinning Obama and his campaign have done notwithstanding, Mr. Kurtz has done his homework. He cites many sources for his articles. One of those mentioned in "Inside..." is an LA Times article, which quotes ACORN's Madeleine Talbot:

" 'He got people to vote with their feet' on the issue, organizer Madeleine Talbot said. At the time, Talbot worked at the social action group ACORN and initially considered Obama a competitor. But she became so impressed with his work that she invited him to help train her staff."

Perhaps Obama and Company intend to play the careful parsing of words game on this issue. It's wildly reminiscent of "It depends on what the definition of 'is' is." However, this one doesn't pass "the smell test". Mr. Kurtz's article begins with, "What if Barack Obama’s most important radical connection has been hiding in plain sight all along?" Mr. Kurtz may not know how right he was. Unbelievably, on the Obama campaign site, there is a "Community Blog" post by a Sam Graham-Felsen dated February 21, 2008, which details, among other things, how Obama himself, addressing ACORN leaders in November, 2007 said:

"I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career.  Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work.”

The unbridled arrogance of Mr. Obama, his campaign, and the media truly leaves one speechless. None of these superior beings apparently anticpates that any of us know how to read or work our way around a search engine.

It is not surprising that the tip-toeing through the tulips on the ACORN issue is in full swing, considering the recent public outrage at the possibility of additional ACORN funding being slipped into the recent Bailout Bill and rapidly mounting reports of voter fraud by the organization.

The community organizations element of ACORN is the official entity currently embroiled in voter registration fraud in twelve states throughout the country. ACORN's Political Director in Ohio, Mari Engelhardt, admitted on Tuesday, October 7, that it couldn't "perfectly" prevent fraud. ACORN attorney Teresa James admitted, "We do not have the resources to know if a particular card is fictitious."

Late this evening (Oct. 9), a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals judge issued a temporary restraining order against Ohio Attorney General Jennifer Brunner because, to paraphrase the information relayed by Greta Van Susteren during her show, On the Record, "Brunner is not doing enough to investigate voter fraud." The Attorney General intends to appeal the ruling. Despite my extensive efforts to discover detailed information about the ruling, there is nothing as of yet available online.

Apparently, all of the above concerns prompted House of Representatives Minority Leader from Ohio, John Boehner, to call today for all federal funding to ACORN to stop as well as for a prohibition against any candidates for federal office contracting with ACORN for campaign work.

Obviously, the outcome of the voter fraud problems are yet to be determined as are any actions that result from Sen. Boehner's proposals. The second appeal from Boehner results directly from the fact that Barack Obama, despite denying any connection with ACORN, contracted with Citizen's Services, Inc, a subsidiary of ACORN for services rendered to his campaign in the amount of $800,000. As an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on August 22, 2008, details, Citizen's Services, Inc. was described on an ACORN publication in 2006 as "'ACORN's campaign services entity"'. Besides ACORN's own publication, the article also details that the headquarters of Citizen's Services, Inc., are listed as existing at the same address as ACORN's national headquarters. As the links above note, there is ample information available that confirms the assertion is true. I intend to spend further time looking at the address, 1024 Elysian Fields, New Oreleans, LA, and for further newinformation on ACORN and Citizen's Services, Inc., as my researching their addresses reveals a large number of other organizations at the same address, which must mean this is a huge building or there are some questions that need to be raised. Further, the tax-exempt database I linked for the ACORN address above displays that ACORN keeps its money in an offshore bank account in the Virgin Islands, which I find just plain odd.

It is clear that Citizen's Services and ACORN are essentially one and the same. The Obama for America campaign initially reported a varied list of services that the group was supposed to have performed (see the sidebar in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article linked above) that seem curiously out of place, considering the nature of the organization. The campaign ultimately revised its reports, citing simple filing error. The revision is to report the services of Citizen's as "field work".

Not only is it disturbing that Mr. Obama and his campaign believe that denying any connection to ACORN is plausible, it is disturbing that the ACORN entity in Louisiana appears to be registered as the incorporated housing entity. It is troubling because the organization receives federal funds and calls in to question why this federally funded group would have any connection with an affliate that performs campaign services. There is a clear conflict of interest, at the very least. ACORN, in any form, having been the recipient of tax dollars, should not be working for any political candidates nor should it be endorsing them. The left-wing publication The Nation, proudly crowed on February 23, 2008, that ACORN's PAC had given Obama it's "important endorsement". Yes, in addition to ACORN's many other tentacles, the organization seems to have a Political Action Committee. The above mentioned "Community Blog" is actually a report of ACORN's endorsement of Obama for President.

The only relationship Obama publicly owns in regards to ACORN is his work as an attorney for them in suing the Justice Dept. per the Motor Voter Law. Besides all of the other connections, it appears that there is another legal case Mr. Obama has failed to mention.

In 1994, Obama was one of the attorneys listed on a lawsuit against Citibank in which the plaintiffs claim the bank was engaged in "red-lining" or refusing to grant mortgages to people in particular neighborhoods in Chicago.

Clicking here will allow you to see actual final documents in the case. It is a .PDF file.

Clicking here will allow you to see detailed records of the case at a site called "The Civil Rights Litigation Clearing House"

Note that the case is entitled "Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Fed. Sav. Bank". Due to the nature of such a case, which, to the best of my understanding, requires an individual private citizen or citizens as plaintiffs, and not a non-profit organization, ACORN's name is not listed anywhere in the documentation. In order for the plaintiff to have standing in the case, they have had to have been damaged. Since ACORN as an entity doesn't apply for mortgages on private homes for itself, it cannot sue banks, and so the organization most likely found some victims to prove its point.

Even if this particular case has no connection whatever to ACORN, and that looks most likely not plausible at this stage, it is clearly a tactic straight out of the ACORN playbook. There is no denying that Mr. Obama engaged in filing a lawsuit that had the same purpose as pushing for more and more people to be granted loans who couldn't afford them. These kinds of measures share not only the same purpose, they had the same effect: the collapse of the sub-prime lending market, in addition to terrible monetary policy by the FED, have led us to the current financial crisis.

Citibank likely rejected loan applications for homes in the neighborhoods that were "red-lined" because they were graded as areas for high-risk of default or were of market values that were so low, the costs of establishing and servicing mortgages for homes in those areas exceeded any potential profit. In other words, Citibank was likely employing sound business practice and attempting to avoid granting mortgage loans to people who they had deemed were at high risk for default.

Lawsuits like Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank directly contributed to forcing banks to grant risky mortgages. It again, is not surprising that Obama makes no mention of any such measures taken by "community organizations" or attorneys that helped to lead to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Instead, he blames the Bush policies and capitalism. There is no question that Pres. Bush, his Treasury Secretary, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board deserve much blame for the current crisis, but the entire strategy of giving loans to people who couldn't afford them, gets at least half of the blame.

Besides his involvement in the Citibank suit, Obama received $105,849 from Fannie Mae and its employees since being elected to the Senate in 2006. That makes him the #3 recipient on the list. He is only topped by Connecticut Sen. Dodd at $133,900 and Massuchusetts Sen. John Kerry at $111,000. The list actually records all donations received from 1989-2008. Dodd has been in office since 1981, meaning the amount he has received may have been spread out over the last seven years, and the same is true for Sen. Kerry, who has also been in office for much longer than the term of the report. Sen. Obama has been campaigning for much of his first term in the Senate, and has reportedly spent 141 actually serving in Washington, D.C., since taking office. That means he received $756 in contributions from Fannie Mae and its employees for every day he served.

It's hard to imagine that kind of money has no influence on a politician's policy decisions. Further, it causes one to wonder why Fannie Mae executives and employees thought the Senator was so worthwhile an investment? Could it be that the continued reckless practices of out-of-control lending were concepts he particularly endorsed? Put together with his involvement the Citibank suit, tax policies of forced "fairness", belief that healthcare is a "right", and intent to tax businesses at high rates, it doesn't take a leap to understand that Fannie Mae would find a friend in Barack Obama.

The questions that beg asking are: Where is the media to ask these questions? Why didn't they dig up the information about the Citibank suit?

I'm really hating this friggin froo froo coffee drinks. There is no place for decaf!! If you are to drink coffee you must drink it right!! None of this almost coffee. I mean what the hell? Seriously? Coffee is caffinated, which means you drink it caffinated, which means you don't screw with a good thing! If I go into one more coffee shop and they ask, "Would you like that in decaf?"  I will have a caniption. I do not want decaf, if I ask for a french vanilla latte I want a french vanilla latte. Ugh, people these days. It's like diets and calorie counts. None of whichg concern me. I will protest this. i understand that some people need it but really they can order it there is no need for the cashier to ask if I want decaf. Are they trying to say something? Oh no you did not. I will have such a problem. The whole point being:If I want decaf I will ask for it. Do not, by god, look me up and down and suggest it.

Pennsylvania: stato importantissimo, viene dato blu scuro io non direi. Blu chiaro. Mc sta puntando li perche' li' pensa che la sua campagna su oba-terrorista perche' amico di ayers possa fare presa, continuera' a battere sul reverendo wright e inaspettatamente anche sul suo secondo nome hussein.
A picchiare duro e' il solito Sean Hannity della Fox, di origini irlandesi. La PA e' piena di gente con origini irlandesi. Cattolici, bianchi e diffidenti. Mc sta puntando a mantenere la FL e conquistare la PA. Ecco perche' ha abbandonato il MI perche' sapeva che questa strategia li non avrebbe fatto presa, in PA forse ha qualche speranza in piu'.

Michigan:Mc l'ha abbandonato quindi e' blu scuro, e' finita, chiusa, basta.

Iowa: Mc non l'ha ancora abbandonato ma i suoi gli stanno iniziando a dire "che aspetti?". E' finita, chiusa.

Washington (stato): Non ci spendono nemmeno piu' soldi li. Blu scuro. Chiuso.

Oregon: vedi Washington

New Mexico: tra il blu scuro ed il blu chiaro. secondo me e' 95% oba.

Colorado: oba un po' davanti. Blu chiaro.

Virginia: toss-up tendente oba. Ha qualche possibilita' davvero qui.

New Hampshire: oba e' davanti indubbiamente ma non so quanto sia attendibile. Era avanti di 10 punti contro la gallina e poi ha perso di 3. Toss-up tendente oba (per ora)

Florida: oba sembra avanti ma la strategia di mc di buttargli fango avra' successo? chi lo sa... toss-up puro, forse leggermente pro oba ma li l'amministrazione e' repubblicana e imbrogliano quindi toss-up puro

Nevada: toss-up puro. I sondaggi storicamente hanno sempre cannato il NV quindi e' un lancio di moneta nel buio.

Ohio: l'enigma di queste elezioni, se oba vince qui non c'e' pennsylvania che tenga, e' finita al 100% anche se oba perde la PA. Toss-up puro.

North Carolina: leggermente meglio dell'IN in questo momento se l'IN e' toss-up non si capisce come la NC possa essere rosa. Toss-up puro.
Missouri: li la resistenza di mc e' piu' forte questo secondo me non se lo fanno scappare. E' l'unico posto dove i responsabili degli uffici non hanno fatto entrare rappresentanti della stampa, se c'e' una resistenza di mc e' li. Toss-up tendente mc

Indiana: obama ha fatto grandi progressi ma non penso riuscira' a sfangarla gli serve convincere il 4% di quelli che hanno votato repubblicano nel 2004 a votare lui. Difficile ma non impossibile. Il resto della enorme differenza la fanno i nuovi iscritti alle liste elettorali. Toss-up tendente mc

"Some people like spaghetti, and some like lasagna.  You might expect me to like lasagna, I mean, your lasagna is really good, by lasagna standards, but I really like spaghetti. I always have."

Name or Nick Name : Bryan
Country or City you are from: : Little Rock, Arkansas
Your Age : 29 (When did I turn 29!!!)
Your Gender : Male
What did you come out as? : Gay
What other words would you use to describe yourself? : I was once described as one of those rubber balls that bounces in different directions... I took it as a compliment.
How old were you when you first realised your identity? : About 13
How old were you when you first told someone? : 22
Did you plan it? If so, how? : I was 22, and fed up with lying about who I was. I wanted the people close to me to really know me.
What made you choose that person to tell? : She was a good friend.
Can you remember exactly what you said? : "Some people like spaghetti, and some like lasagna.  You might expect me to like lasagna, I mean, your lasagna is really good, by lasagna standards, but I really like spaghetti. I always have."  Poor girl. She still didn't undersand.
How did you feel? : Hungry for Italian food, and like a weight had been lifted from my chest.
What was the person’s reaction? : Confusion at first.  She thought I wanted to go to Olive Garden. Then I blurted out, "I'm gay,"
What did they say? : and she said, "um, yeah.  We all knew that a long time ago."
What was your relationship with the person like afterwards? : That year was one of the best of my life... and my friend was a huge part of that.  Oh, the clubs we danced at!
What’s it like now? : We've drifted apart - years and distance will do that, but we would still call each other "friend."  I'll see her again for the first time in two years in December.
If you’ve been outed unwillingly, who did it? :
What happened? :
What were peoples’ reactions? :
If you’ve experienced homophobia etc, please give an example. : I'm a lucky one - everyone in my life has been very supportive.
Since coming out how out are you at school? : not_applicable
Since coming out, how “out” are you at work? : all_out
Since coming out, how “out” are you with family? : all_out
Since coming out, how “out” are you with your friends? : all_out
What does being out mean to you? : Living my own personal truth.
What differences, if any, did your cultural background make to your experience of coming out? : Religion made me fear who I was, but spirituality has made me adore who I've become.
What does the concept of the closet mean to you? : A cage of self-loathing and self-hatred.
What advice would you give someone wanting to come out? : Make sure you can support yourself or have a backup plan if you face rejection - and then be yourself.
If you could do it all again, would you do it any differently? If so, how? : I would have come out much younger. I missed out on so many years!
Anything you want to add? : You are not damned to hell or loneliness. The world is waiting on you.

Fall browns are coloring up and on the move on the White and Norfork. Don't miss out.

San Juan's and sowbugs continue to rule. Dynamite worms standard San Juans, even as smal as 16s have been doing well and we like the new Pacific Fly two tone BH Garden Hackle. In sowbugs you can choose from Davy's Wotton's Sowbug, Clint's Wilkinson's Sowbug , Jim Mengle's AP Nymph and Mike McLellan's Woven V-Rib Sowbug. Work the 14s on lighter than standard tippet.

One trick alluded to by Marc Poulos' report and any of those fly fisher who have been in the Journal's boat is to twitch the sowbugs, make them dance as you drift in and over the grassbeds. This has been a hot tactic in recent weeks, making the sowbugs look alive.

Chad Johnson has also been doing well on Copper Johns downstream of Wildcat. Try a red, yellow sebra or copper pattern in a 14 or 16. There may not be any mayfly hatches going on, butthe combination of weight, flash color and profile means it being eaten well.

Streamer fishing remains hot. Read Davy's report below and try different colors. The journal likes yellow atthis time of year but it's a day by day thing, Sculpin patterns in tan or brown have been good, Autumn Splendor's, Cone head rubber legged woollies and Slumpbusters. Its also worth keeping some white and black patterns handy.

NORFORK: Hard to believe the glory days of low water on Norfork ended just in time for Conclave, when there were hordes of fly fishers in the area. You might have thought the weekend's generation could have been started a little early and held off for the event.

Be that as it may the better fish are certainly returning to Norfork but you will need a boat and some river knowledge to access this fishery. Norfork is a tighter and more hazardous river to navigate than the White. But with a little knowdlege you can float or run Norfork and wade fish around the islands and off some points.

So every day here on Weirdews (News so weird, we dont need the N) we are going to highlight 5 effing crazy news stories, videos and photos. This is something that I have wanted to do for a very long time because lets face it there are a lot of crazy weird people out there.

1. WOW! Can you say Tommy Boy?  
2. Myrtle Marie Walter from Arkansas (could ya'll tell?) decided after years of marriage, a night of boozin, and a husband that wanted to have sex..to go ahead and kill him. Well played.
3. Once again a high standing citizen of Major League Baseball makes a good name for himself.  Nice work Brandon Backe.
4. Westerner in Japan gets in a little trouble for well..showing his assets off to the Japanese folk.  Think KFC is still open?
5. Alert! We have a Bra Bandet on the loose in SW Florida.  How many ladies probably think of ripping off $42 bras everyday..this one is going a little overboard.

Follow our blog for more updates in the coming days! 

The misery worsened on Wall Street Tuesday, with stocks piling on the losses late in the session and bringing the two-day decline in the Dow Jones industrials to more than 875 points amid escalating worries about credit markets and financial sector. The Dow lost more than 500 points and all the major indexes slid more than 5 percent.

Steps by the Federal Reserve to reinvigorate the dormant credit markets ultimately weren't enough to calm nervous investors. News about financial companies only added to their despondent mood.

Meanwhile, Arkansas stocks take it on the chin, and Acxiom (Nasdaq: ACXM) leads the way, down almost 10 percent.

Fortunately, we've got two solid, hopeful presidential candidates set to debate tonight, and no doubt they'll have some comforting words for us, right? Right?

75-Year-Old Arkansan 'At Her Wits' End' Says She Killed Husband While He Slept
Myrtle Marie Walter Got Fed Up
75-year-old Woman Arrested In Slaying
Rogers woman "at her wits end" says she killed husband
Rogers woman accused of killing her husband
Mental abuse may have been root of shooting

Recently one of Tony Alamo’s shills, Thomas Richards, declared me to be a Jesuit coadjutor.  I wonder what he has to say about the fact that ole Tony has his bum in a bind again?  Over the weekend I visited the Tony Alamo’s ministerial website and listened to the recording of him asking children and young adults whether or not he ever molested them.  Then Tony’s wife gives her blast about how this is all the work of the evil Vatican.  (Don’t get Thomas Richards wound up…)  Then Tony rambled on about how God tells him what he should eat and what shoes to wear.  And how well connected he was in Hollywood and how he was a professional bodybuilder and how all the movie studios wanted to make films of his kid…

Oh, I almost forgot, he also called his accusers homosexuals and paedophiles.  Not to say that these accusers are or aren’t homosexuals and paedophiles but I guess it would make Tony feel better that his accusers weren’t straight like him.

So I kinda thought to myself, “Wow!  The young ones that Tony picked out to record their testimonies all said ‘no, we weren’t molested!  Tony Alamo is the best man in the world.’  That’s it.  The Tony has spoken, I believe it and that settles it!”

Not.

Tony, if you are guilty then may you rot in hell.  If you are innocent, well, here’s some advice:  It is probably time you started to watch out who your running buddies are.  If these folks accusing you are so God awful then how did they get close to you?  Isn’t it kind of like Jerry Falwell knowing that there was a cartoon of him committing incest with his mother in Hustler magazine?  Surely it wasn’t a Christian who alerted him to this?!?

Maybe since I am from the same part of Arkansas as where the Tony Alamo Ministry has its campus and since I am such an obvious Jesuit coadjutor (according to Thomas Richards) and since the Vatican is behind all of this (according to Mrs. Alamo), then maybe I was the one who was working behind the scenes to bring Tony’s downfall?  Nah!

But wouldn’t it be nice?

Footnote:
Last Friday, my high school football team, the Prescott Curly Wolves made a visit to Foulk, Arkansas.  This wasn’t to visit Tony Alamo’s ministry though.  It was to beat the pants off the local football team.

Prescott Curly Wolves  60
Foulke Panthers 12

Go Wolves!

I decided today to start this blog as a journal of sorts of what the ends and outs are through the juvenile justice system because it is so confusing...and the answers are not readily found.  At least they haven't been for me.  I'll be posting more about our personal story and how we have found ourselves now trying to navigate this lonely road....which is where I find myself today. 

October 5th... alone.  My hope is that through this journal/blog that others who find themselves in the juvenile justice system in Arkansas won't be so lost....and won't have to go it alone.  I just hope the system actually exists because my experiences so far have not taken us anywhere but to this place of despair and nothingness.  I know there has to be more than what the County Juvenile Division has offered thus far on our journey!

There has to be.

In a 4-2 ruling, the appeals court affirmed a decision granting custody to the child's father, though the judges disagreed on whether the lower court considered the mother's religious beliefs.

In her appeal of Chicot County Circuit Judge Robert Vittitow's decision, the mother noted Vittitow described Wicca in his opinion letter as "a religion, movement, cult or whatever it that may be."

The judge also wrote that while the mother testified she was only joking when she told the boy's father that she was involved with Wicca, the "court believes she is much more involved than she would lead us to believe."

In the appeals court ruling Wednesday, Judge Robert J. Gladwin wrote that religious beliefs and practices are material only as they affect children's best interests, and in this case "no party explored connections between religious belief and upbringing."

"There is no basis to hold that the trial court resolved this initial custody determination on (the mother's) interest or involvement with Wicca, but simply pointed out (her) lack of credibility on the issue," Gladwin wrote.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Sarah J. Heffley wrote the circuit judge "impermissibly considered (the mother's) alleged interest in Wicca, which taints the outcome of its decision to change custody."

Heffley also wrote Vittitow made a medical diagnosis - the mother had said she had been taking medication for depression and anxiety but no longer needed them - without the benefit of expert testimony or reports or any type.

Judge Josephine Linker Hart also dissented, writing she was glad the appeals court agreed that basing a custody decision on a parent's religious beliefs "is unequivocally wrong," but that in this case "the majority in one way or another excuses this obvious trial error."

She said the majority opinion "simply 'sets aside' the trial judge's comments regarding Wicca."

"Along the way, however, they twist the words in the finding regarding (the mother's) alleged practice of Wicca to be a finding regarding (her) credibility, notwithstanding the fact that this case does not turn on the credibility of any witness."

Hart also said the circuit judge considered Hicks' mental health without any evidence.

Siding with Gladwin in the majority opinion were Judges Mac Glover, Wendell Griffen and D.P. Marshall.

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2008/10/02/News/348280.html