Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Source: What is #Blogging and How Does It Work?
Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Through the years, I've noticed a trend among indie game developers. I imagine it's the same for many creatives in their respective scene. When you start talking about how to make money on your craft a lot of people jump in and ask, "Why does it have to be about money?" or "If you expect to make money, you'll be disappointed." It's almost as if they are encouraging the idea that you shouldn't make money as an indie.
The problem is that they then say you need to pay your artists and programmers a decent wage. Something I agree with. However, if you don't make money on your games, how can you pay?
WHAT DEFINES AN INDIEThere's a question of what makes an indie game. For the most part, indie games are smaller in scope than AAA, have less of a budget, but ultimately allows for greater freedom of expression and innovative gameplay elements. With that said, not all indie games follow this pattern. Many offer conventional mechanics. Some studios might even have large budgets. And while most indies don't receive funding from publishers for their work, there are a few who do. In fact, there's a burgeoning indie publisher market. These companies help on the marketing end, but some also provide funding for development.
When you look at all of the exceptions, the term indie doesn't seem to define anything. Perhaps the most consistent factor, however, is the size of the team. For the most part, indie studios are small ranging from a single individual to around thirty. Most raise money on their own or via crowdsourcing to get it off the ground. And many, many more do not make back the money they have put it.
THE PLIGHT OF INDIESIt's a sad fact that most indie game developers don't make enough money to work there full-time. Many work day jobs to fund their dream (like us). Thanks to game engines and free art assets, it's getting easier to make games, which leads to a flooded market. That means it's very likely many people won't even see your game. Take Steam for example. It has over 125 million active users, yet the average game only sells around 32,000 copies. And you can bet most of those sales are when the developer reduces the price or when it's part of a Humble Bundle. You can imagine on iTunes or Google Play that number is much lower.
Since most indies can't make a living off their earnings, it's become almost an in-joke. Many people on these Facebook game development groups post how much their game has made on ad revenue. These range from $0.01 to $1.45. It's funny and sad at the same time.
INDIE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEYAll that to say indies have a very mixed relationship with money and earnings. For the most part, they want to make a living off of what they love, but with so much competition and general lack of marketing savvy and influence, it's a tough road.
Eventually, many indies seem to give up on making money. They resign themselves to creating games for no profit and believe that's just the way the industry is. With so many other developers in the same boat, it's almost comforting not to make money because you can be part of the crowd and sympathize. It's easy to give in to a certain amount of complacency. I've certainly been guilty of it. Why even bother sending a note to some large game press? They receive thousands of emails and they won't cover the game for one reason or another. This sort of thinking leads to another – a love-hate relationship with money. Indies want it, but because most won't make any they hate talking or even thinking about it.
SELLING OUTThis isn't a new idea. In fact, for most creative outlets there's this romanticization of being a struggling independent. Fans and other indies are the ones who spread this idea. You'll often hear people say, "I liked this group before they went mainstream." It's a mark of pride for fans. For indies, I believe it's a means of protection. Seeing another indie make it big-time, whether it's scoring a record label or making billions on a game, reminds them they haven't reached that level yet. It's a hard pill to swallow so many simply brush it aside as the other group selling out. Is it true, though? What indie wouldn't make the same decision if offered the same thing?
TALKING MONEYAll this to say, indies need to improve their relationship around money. In fact, it should be something you think about if you plan on making a living off your games. After all, if you don't think about it how you will know what price to make it on release, how to implement in-game purchases or ads if you decide to go free-to-play, how to localize payments for other countries and so forth?
It isn't as though game developers discourage each other. Most are more than happy to share their expertise and experiences with newcomers. When it comes to money, though, many clam up or argue that game development "isn't about the money, man." Maybe this reluctance to talk about it comes from a social faux pas surrounding money in general. Hardly anyone talks about personal finance. If you mention the cost of an item, many will consider you tactless or cheap. Perhaps it's the same with game development. Talking about how much you've made or the best way to implement ads, IAP in a game to make money seems taboo. If you say you're making a game to make money, you'll get plenty of comments to look into a different field.
With that said it isn't easy to make money on games. It is hard, and it takes a lot of time to build up a community of people who will play it. However, you shouldn't just accept the fact your game didn't do well. Analyze your failure and success, understand how to avoid it in the future and then inform other developers. Talk about money and finances. Get creative with how you raise it. Think about how your game can succeed instead of worrying about its failure. There's more than one way to make money in games. Some may take more time than others, but if you want to follow your passion and work full-time on games, there's no way around it. You have to put making money on the same level as making a great experience.
Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Twitter Inc. (TWTR) is starting to show signs of life again, with a modestly growing user base, improving ad business and a leaner balance sheet that could make profitability possible in the near future.
Wall Street seemed happy with the company's better-than-expected third-quarter results. Shares of Twitter jumped 18% on Thursday (marking the fifth-largest gain in the company's history) and jumped another 6.7% on Friday. The stock has surged 34.2% so far this year, compared to the S&P 500's more modest 15.2% gain.
It's great news for the micro-blogging platform that has been staring down at an otherwise murky future, marred by concerns that it can't attract new users or advertisers, despite all the publicity associated with being President Donald Trump's favorite communication tool. As Stifel analyst Scott Devitt noted, Twitter's audience and business are showing more signs of stability than they have "in quite some time."
With Twitter's outlook improving, it might cause investors to wonder whether it could once again become an attractive takeover target. Last fall, Twitter was supposedly courting suitors from Silicon Valley and beyond, with Walt Disney Co. (DIS) , Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) , Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) all said to have expressed interest.
Twitter trades at a discount to its peers, with a low enterprise-value-to-revenue multiple of 5x, noted Tigress Financial CIO Ivan Feinseth. By comparison, Facebook Inc. (FB) trades at a much higher multiple of 13.9x. The company would be a bargain for any tech or media giant that might be sizing it up.
But that's unlikely to happen anytime soon, according to several analysts.
Twitter CEO Jack DorseyTo start, not much has really changed. Twitter did squeeze past Wall Street's expectations for the quarter, but its overall business is still in pretty bad shape. Overall sales, as well as ad revenue, continued to sag lower year-over-year. Twitter's guidance also implies that fourth-quarter revenue will be down again. Monthly active user growth has remained practically flat for the past year, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Future profitability is mostly a result of cost-cutting measures, noted Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, not because Twitter's business model is suddenly making money.
Twitter might become an acquisition target if it could build a better value proposition for advertisers, said Tigress' Feinseth. The company connects advertisers with consumers who are definitely interested in their products, but it can't provide the holy grail of targeted advertising -- users who could be interested in a product, but haven't discovered it yet, Feinseth noted. That high-value data is what Facebook specializes in and is part of the reason why it's grown to become a digital advertising juggernaut.
"Until they can do that, Twitter won't be attractive to acquirers," Feinseth explained. "Twitter's market cap is about $16 billion. You'd have to think about the level of monetization to justify that purchase."
Monness, Crespi, Hardt analyst James Cakmak reached a similar conclusion. Twitter is clearly demonstrating user growth, but until it can demonstrate that its turnaround is sustainable, a "viable acquirer" may not be in the cards.
"Amid lackluster revenue, Twitter is managing to change the story with a massive EBITDA surge," Cakmak said. "This may very well facilitate patience on revenue, but it doesn't change the underlying concerns over the business."
Alphabet, Apple and Facebook are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells GOOGL, AAPL or FB? Learn more now.
Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.When decorating a room, you don't need to splurge on every single item in order to make the space look luxe—just make sure you're saving on the right pieces. One of the best items to buy cheap is an area rug, says Gen Sohr, one half of the husband-and-wife team behind Pencil & Paper Co., a Nashville-based interior design firm. "I think there are so many wonderful area rug options that are a complete steal. And really who wants to break the bank on something that's going to eventually get soiled and need to be replaced?" she says. For an option that's both affordable and durable, she recommends a natural sisal rug, which also hides the appearance of dirt. A flatweave wool rug is another popular option, and Sohr recommends finding deals on Overstock.com or Rugs USA. To help your search, she's even rounded up some favorite options over on the Pencil & Paper Co. blog.
Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.You like to drive, have some spare time and need to make some extra cash — but you don't want to shuttle people around.
Amazon is looking for people like you. If you have a car and an open schedule, you can make money delivering packages for the e-commerce giant.
Amazon Flex is the company's courier service. You can deliver for Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Now and Amazon Restaurants, which means you could spend a shift delivering dinner, groceries or gifts. Here's a rundown of how to get started and what to expect.
SnapshotEligibility for Amazon Flex depends on your location. The service is available in over 40 areas, including midsize cities like Tampa, Florida, and Stockton, California, as well as urban centers like Los Angeles and New York City.
Find out which places are hiring on the Amazon Flex website.
Find out which places are hiring on the Amazon Flex website. If your city isn't available, you can add yourself to a mailing list to be alerted when opportunities arise.
What you needNo matter which Amazon service you drive for, each has the same basic set of requirements, with a few variations:
Amazon provides you with commercial insurance while you're on the job but won't reimburse you for mileage, tolls, parking or other expenses.
Get on boardYou can get started from the comfort of your computer and phone.
To register:
Once everything is squared away, you can start scheduling.
Sign up for deliveriesScheduling and completing deliveries for Amazon Flex mostly takes place on the app.
Delivery blocks, which are shifts that are typically three to six hours long, can be picked up in two ways:
The Flex app sends out a notification one hour before your block starts. At that point, you see the pickup location for your items, where you'll deliver them and the general size of your workload.
When you arrive at the pickup location, you check in and your block time starts. Packing your car counts as part of your shift. You are responsible for scanning the QR code or bar code of all your items before you load them up.
For AmazonFresh, you may want to have a hand truck because some packages may weigh 50 pounds or more. For Amazon Restaurants, a pickup location may be a restaurant. For these, you'll need to buy your own insulated bag to make sure the food stays at a safe temperature.
The number of packages you're expected to handle varies. With a large enough car, you could deliver up to 70 packages.
With a large enough car, you could deliver up to 70 packages.
The app will create a route for you. This is just a suggestion; if you know your way around town, it may be better for you to use your best judgment about navigation.
When you arrive at a location to deliver a package, check in on your app. Then verify that you're at the right address and check if the customer has given any special instructions.
Scan the bar code on the package to record that you completed the delivery. You'll need to repeat this process for each item.
Sometimes, you may not be able to deliver all of your packages in the amount of time allotted. This could be due to any number of reasons, including traffic, restaurant backup or inability to leave packages at an apartment building. Deliver all the packages you can, and contact Amazon Flex support about what caused the delay. You won't get paid for the extra time it takes to deliver the rest of your shipment. Packages you can't deliver should be returned to the pickup location.
Get paidAmazon Flex's website states that you can make between $18 and $25 per hour during your blocks.
You can make closer to $25 per hour by using a larger car, which makes you eligible to deliver more packages. Another option is to claim blocks during busy times, which are marked in the app, or to deliver for Prime Now, AmazonFresh and Amazon Restaurants, which allow customers to give you tips.
You can make between $18 and $25 per hour during your blocks.
Drivers get paid twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. If you delivered for Amazon Restaurants or Prime Now, you'll get paid after your tips are processed, which generally takes one to two days after delivery. Payments are delivered via direct deposit.
Because working for Amazon Flex makes you an independent contractor, you'll be responsible for withholding money for your taxes. You may also need to file quarterly taxes.
Want to take action?
Get a car for your gigsWant to dive deeper?
Find more ways to make moneyWant to explore related?
Become a taskerWatch as Dr. Berardi explains the Precision Nutrition Formula to over 1,000 health and fitnessprofessionals at the Business Summit. (Want to read the transcript? Click here.)
How would the PN Formula change your career?Once you're Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certified, you can use the Precision Nutrition Formula — world-class curriculum, expert coaching, innovative software — to help improve the nutrition, fitness, and health of the people who turn to you for advice. It's your springboard to a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results.
Learn what the Level 1 Certification is all about in this short video, which features renowned coaches Eric Cressey, Molly Galbraith, Adam Lloyd, and Jon Goodman.
Level 1 Certification Graduate StoriesPrecision Nutrition is trusted by elite-level fitness professionals worldwide. Here's what they have to say about the Level 1 Certification:
"The Level 1 Certification is a very practical experience that allows you to immediately affect positive changes in the lives of your clients. One of the things I absolutely love is the focus on the big things first — the behavioral modifications, and to some degree the quick fixes that can yield dramatically improved results." - Eric Cressey, MA, CSCS
"What really makes a great coach, and what I think works so well in the PN Level 1 program — it's not about telling someone to do something. It's about knowing what questions to ask, and then leading the person in the right direction."- Jon Goodman, CSCS
"The Level 1 program gives you the skills and tools that you need to actually go out and do it. So it's not just academic information. It gives you everything you need to be a successful coach." - Marie-Josee Perrier, PhD
"I think the coolest thing about the program is the promotion of behavior change. If I can teach my patients how to change, I can make a world of difference without having to pull out my prescription pad. In the end, when people tell me they want to teach other people how to live healthier lifestyles, I tell them the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification is the way to go." - Spencer Nadolsky, DO, Bariatric Medicine
"As I was going through the course I realized it was perfect; it's exactly what I wanted and needed to learn. The information it taught me vs. the 4th year nutrition course I took as a Kinesiology student...it was like comparing apples to oranges. The nutrition course was good. But the Precision Nutrition Certification was that much better." - Adam Lloyd, CSCS
Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.What ever happened to inflation? When it comes to fundraising for their gubernatorial campaigns both Ralph Northam and Ed Gillespie are lagging their 2013 counterparts.
Through the end of September, Northam, the Democratic candidate and current lieutenant governor, has raised $19.8 million. Republican Ed Gillespie has raised $12.9 million.
But as the money trackers at the Virginia Public Access Project point out, at this point in the 2013 race, Gov. Terry McAuliffe had raised $24.7 million. The GOP's Ken Cuccinelli had raised $14.8 million.
In the lieutenant governor race (a.k.a the "I want to be governor someday" contest) the candidates are even more modest: Democrat Justin Fairfax's $1.9 million so far and Republican Jill Vogel's $1.5 million lag former Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling's 2009 total through September of $2.1 million, and the nearly as large sum Democrat Jody Wagner raised that year. Fairfax bested, but Vogel did not, the $1.8 million Northam raised for his 2013 run and the $1.7 million Tim Kaine raised for his 2001 lieutenant governor race. The GOP's 2013 candidate, E.W. Jackson, raised $945,000 through September.
Attorney General Mark Herring's fundraising total of $5.5 million so far, though, sets a record. His Republican challenger John Adams' $2.7 million is more than any other A.G. hopeful, though, including Herring's 2013 total through September of $2.2 million and Republican Mark Obenshain's $2 million.
For those who, like Shad Plank, like to look at small (under $100 donations) as a measure of grass-roots outreach, here are the gubernatorial hopefuls' September totals: Gillespie, 2,739 donors, for an average of $39.61 each; Northam, 6,860 donors, giving an average of $31.61.
Fundraising picks up in the 94thPost-Labor Day, Shelly Simonds, the Democratic candidate for the House of Delegates' 94th district — central and northern Newport News — is working the grass roots hard, judging by the large number of small donors kicking into her campaign, despite a late start after the party's initial nominee dropped out.
The latest campaign finance reports filed with the State Board of Elections show some 434 people have given an average of $19 each just in September. Small donations don't really pay for ads or costly mailers, but getting $10 or $20 bucks from a supporter is a way of building the kind of connections that translate into somebody standing in line for you on Election Day.
The incumbent she is challenging, Del. David Yancey, R-Newport News, with a warchest of $173,000 even after spending $283,000 so far on the race, has received small donations from just 27 people so far this year.
Simonds received $22,227 in mail services from the state Democratic Party and $8,548 in field operations services from the House Democratic Caucus. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Alexandria, gave $5,000 as did Zack Wittkamp, who was the party's nominee until he withdrew from the race this summer.
The Republicans have spend $48,969 on mailings for Yancey. Majority Leader (and Speaker designee) Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, gave $12,500, and Del. Todd Gilbert, R- Shenandoah County, $11,000.
But party groups are giving even more in other races.
Just up the road, Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, has received $64,717 for mailers from the state party, while his Republican opponent, Heather Cordasco, has received $70,800 from the GOP. Cordasco has also received $106,000 in cash from Speaker Bill Howell's PAC, and $32,699 from the House Republican campaign committee.
Up in Loudoun County, where Del. Tag Greason, R-Leesburg, seeks re-election in a district that gave Clinton a nine percentage point margin, the GOP has paid $46,550 for mailers, while the House campaign committee has kicked in $11,000. As an incumbent, Greason receives more donations from businesses and trade associations than a challenger like Cordasco can count on. His Democratic challenger, David Reid, received $65,330 worth of mailers and mailing services from the Democratic party.
In Fairfax County, where Del. Jim LeMunyon, R-Chantilly, also is seeking re-election in a district that gave Clinton a big victory margin, the GOP has spent $48,700 on mailers, while the House campaign committee has kicked in $64,000. His Democratic challenger, Karrie Delaney, has outraised him, even without counting the $26,400 she's received from the House Democratic caucus and the $51,500 from the state party for mailers.
Polling signals … maybeRemember those overlapping circles in math class when your teacher tried to explain sets?
We're seeing something like them in the latest survey by the student pollsters at Christopher Newport University's Wason Center for Public Policy — which is why Shad Plank is going to point out something the students note in their discussion of methodology.
When the headline result is that 48 percent of likely voters favor Democrat Ralph Northam and 44 percent favor Republican Ed Gillespie, what this means is a little more complicated. It is:
Somewhere between 43.8 percent and 52.2 percent of voters who have voted at least a couple of times in the past few elections and told the very polite CNU students that they'd probably or certainly vote in November, probably favor Northam.
Somewhere between 39.8 percent and 48.2 percent of that same group of Virginians probably favor Gillespie.
Those subsets (remember those Venn diagram circles?) overlap. They could be saying Northam would win, at least in an election held last week. They could be saying Gillespie would win.
And they say this, too: some 59 percent of registered voters who have voted in at least a couple of the most recent elections say they're going to vote; about the same as usually say so in a statewide (as opposed to presidential) election. Usually, turnout in gubernatorial elections is just barely above 40 percent.
That could matter for another result from the students' poll: asked about voting inclinations for the House of Delegates by party (rather than by specific candidate), somewhere between 43.8 and 52.2 percent of likely voters favor a Democrat, as opposed to somewhere between 35.8 and 44.2 percent who favor a Republican. Somewhere between 7.8 and 16.2 percent don't know or wouldn't say. Higher turnout tends to help Democrats in these races, which is why the careful way the CNU students test for likely voters is particularly interesting.
And, of course, that split in sentiment about the House is a long way from the current 66-34 Republican to Democratic split, isn't it?
Sometimes, mind you, you get circles with big overlaps when you draw Venn diagrams of your survey results, sometimes another.
So in the subset of 642 of the 1,085 registered (and active) Virginia voters who last week told the students they'd probably or certainly vote in the gubernatorial election, it turns out there's a sub-sub-set of one third who disapprove of President Donald Trump.
Somewhere between 91.8 percent and all of Northam's supporters disapprove of the president, while 17.8 to 26.2 percent of Gillespie's do.
While there's not a lot of overlap if you try to graph sentiment about Trump, there is some, and that could be a signal about how or if the president will affect Virginia's race.
A couple more numbers:
Nearly half of likely voters (somewhere between 40 and 49 percent) say they see their vote for governor as a way to send a message to Trump. Somewhere between 23.8 and 32.2 percent say it's a message of disapproval, while somewhere between 12.8 to 21.2 percent want to show support for the president.
Roughly seven in 10 Gillespie voters say they don't intend any message with their vote and about half of Northam's voters do.
All that could matter because turnout — and what's motivating turnout — has a lot to do with whether Democrats or Republicans have a edge in Virginia's odd-year elections.
Shad Plank, by the way, is expressing poll results as ranges because of the plus or minus 4.2 percentage point margin of error in the CNU students' results; that is, statistical theory about random sampling and the design effect adjustment that students in CNU stats classes learn about mean a poll result of 45 percent (the number of likely voters the students surveyed who said they saw their vote as a way to send a message to president means that somewhere between 40.8 and 49.2 percent of all likely voters feel that way). That is, probably. For stats theory also notes that 95 of 100 surveys done the same way would come up with results in those ranges.
Ress can be reached by telephone at 757-247-4535
Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.From the web
In response to the Oct. 16 Arkansas Blog post "UA Little Rock picks firm to study football":
I guess UALR has money to waste. This study will probably conclude with the same results the 30 Crossing [study] did, i.e. this is a "have to" idea. Then UALR can follow the ASU model of funding it, charge the students, use tax dollars, and borrow from the budgets of other departments.
arkdemocrat
Great idea. Then let big daddy UA give them Bielema to finish out his contract as their coach. He'll probably last about a month in that job given the "talent" that surely exists at UALR. That should be enough to save UA the cost of firing him or buying out the contract.
Razorblade
If UALR is fortunate enough to gain a marching band, I pray that they'll have saucy majorettes instead of those whiney flag squads.
louie
No no no no.
Who thinks this is remotely a good idea? With the growing evidence of health concerns combined with the vast majority of schools losing money on football, what the what?
Their AD answered the question — don't waste money, especially if it's a veiled excuse to try and save the crappy War Memorial Stadium. That ship has sailed and so should any serious thought that money should be spent to discover something already answered.
yapperjohn
Look for a "study" that says, "It's Time For Some Big-Time Collegiate Football in War Memorial Stadium!" Schools don't puke up big bux for studies that say, "Naw, You Small-Time Colleges With No On-Campus Student Body Would Be Pissing Money Down a Rat Hole If You Ponied Up $5M a Year for a Top Rated Coach Like Bret Bielema to Put You in the Alabama-Buckeyes Big Time." Claude Bahls
Well, it's a good thing they aren't wasting any of that money on expanding academic programs or scholarships for underrepresented populations.
tsallernarng
A feasibility study does not actually give a recommendation. It puts numbers on start-up and annual costs. Those numbers are based on things like what stadium will be used, what conferences the school can play in, and what the average revenue and expenses of programs in those conferences are like.
LRreporter
In response to the Oct. 16 Arkansas Blog post "Fort Smith legislator paid almost $700,000 on port concept. A waste, says one evaluation.":
Conservative welfare at its finest.
What is it about Fort Smith elected officials? Jake Files and now this guy. I think the finances of all our legislators need to be examined.
Poison Apple
Does [Mat] Pitsch have ANY professional qualifications in the freight transportation area? The Arkansas Department of Transportation has multimodal planning responsibilities and actually has qualified consultants on retainer for river port studies. This should have come through them IF there was a need to study, which there was not.
Arbiter of All Things AOAT
[He said] he has had to pay taxes on his income and bear the cost of his "family's benefits package."
Oh, wow! Just imagine if everyone had to do that! And on an average of, what, about $80,000 a year — not including his income, etc., from his legislative boondoggling, er, work, of course.
Doigotta
Fort Smith and Sebastian County seem to be most eager to allow members of the legislature to rip them off for projects that never get built. I guess that is the conservative ethic at work.
Plainjim
In response to the Arkansas Times' Oct. 12 profile of attorney Mike Laux, who has sued the Little Rock Police Department five times over police-involved shootings. Yes, there are criminals that should be arrested for breaking the law, but glossing over unjustified excessive force and fatal shootings is making the city of Little Rock more violent. Mr. Laux explained what he sees happening in Little Rock and I agree with his comments. You can pray about the violence until you are blue in the face, but nothing will change until the state government, city officials and the police department show the public that they take police shootings seriously, want the truth and will pursue justice, so everyone else involved will take it seriously. If they don't, the violence will get worse and it will be their fault.
ShineonLibby
In response to the Times' Oct. 12 story "DHS rule change threatens disabled care: ARChoices algorithm inspires state and federal lawsuits."
Now how did DHS "lose the data" for the algorithm that determined the level of care? This is not believable. Either someone is lying or incompetent. Legal Services needs to depose Tami Harlan, the deputy director of medical services under oath. Let us see what Tami Harlan says.
Orval Falsebus
Choosing levels of care by the use of the abacus is the same as length of the rope vs. body weight to insure a successful hanging. Medical care is not Moneyball. This is the situation of getting what you want but not wanting what you get.
Going for the record again
Why can't DHS or any state agency answer questions? This attitude of we don't have to account to anyone for why or what we do is increasing and it is approved of by the governor. It sounds like they are covering up something they don't want the public to know. I consider lying a sin, even if it isn't on Charlton Moses Heston's Ten Commandments chart. What happened to the Arkansas government's morals, integrity, and common decency toward other human beings? You would almost think they want people who are elderly, disabled, sick and poor to die so they won't be a liability to the state budget. If that were true, they should not be governing or in charge of people's lives. They practice fetus worship but kill off people they think aren't important to their voter base. They are really pro-death. There is nothing pro-life about them. Are they getting their orders from Donald? Or has he allowed them to finally show their true natures?
ShineonLibby
From Facebook
In response to the Oct. 16 Arkansas Blog post "Judge objects to trainer's reference to Black Lives Matter," about Pulaski County Judge Wendell Griffen's complaint that during a recent training for courtroom personnel an instructor called BLM a hate group "like the KKK": But which of these groups have a history of murder, intimidation and government sanctioned terror?
Reginald Ford
One group wants to wipe out all others who are not white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants, though it is sometimes vague on just HOW they plan to accomplish that ... as they hold their AR-15s. The other group is protesting the injustice that allows police to kill blacks at a very high rate, with the judiciary further allowing it. Their implementation to accomplish that is peaceful protest, and to continue to bring the blatant injustice to light through video and publicity of cases. HOW is BLM a hate group, again?
Betty J. Rousey
Well, black lies (sic) matter is a violent deceitful hate group, little different than the old-time KKK.
Steve Estrada
Black Lives Matter was begun by grieving mothers of sons slaughtered by police. So this guy equates moms w/the KKK???
Denise Parkinson
I am so pleased that Judge Griffen spoke out.
Margaret Ann Gibson Niven
In response to the Oct. 15 Arkansas Blog post "Talking Turkey, Yellville Turkey Trot Style:
This is godawful and cruel - what kind of a person would participate in this?
Fran Owens
Few People up here take pride in their barbarism. Look who they vote for. As for AG&F's sponsorship, I believe they have a turkey calling contest at the Kelley Slab site. Don't expect Chamber sponsors to effect much change. Remember the Klan exists quite openly just over the county line in Boone. Institutionalized animal cruelty is par for such a community.
J.R. Pinky
Arkansas, you're proving your ignorance by keeping this tradition going another year. This is barbaric. Stop! These turkeys don't always land safely when being thrown from an airplane at 100 mph and the people who think this is funny and entertaining are ridiculous.
Jessica Garrison
Animal cruelty should be EVERYONE'S business. Ditto child abuse, elderly abuse. Arkansas has become the laughing stock of the country, thanks to Yellville. This gene pool needs to be drained, and fast. Such an embarrassment to the State.
Elizabeth Wood
Maybe you should visit a chicken/turkey processing plant and watch the hang them upside down it a dark room and cut their throats so they will bleed out. Then steam their feather off before the suck their guts out with a vacuum. Then dropping them from a plane won't seem so bad.
Sonny Bell