re: I Stand in Awe of Arkansas' Legislators

In the past there used to be members on both sides who were closer to the middle and things were able to get done that made sense. Now you’re either far left or far right. No middle ground for compromise and laws that actually benefit the people as a whole.

Couple this with ever increasing greed and this is where these stupid bills come from. The money and power both sides experience now just pushes them further apart leading to ignorant ideas.

Asa was in Fayetteville Saturday at some church doing a "conservatives" get together. There was a rally outside, too. None of it will matter, though.

The Oklahoma legislature was considering a similar measure, but an amendment was proposed that would require the business to display to whom they would refuse service. What do you know, the bill was shelved. If it was truly about religious freedom, seems to me people should have no problem letting all customers know. Just goes to show this is nothing but pure and simple bigotry, cloaked in "religious freedom."

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Just goes to show this is nothing but pure and simple bigotry, cloaked in "religious freedom."

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Im really interested in how the religious defend their right to discriminate on theological grounds. After twelve years of baptist schooling and 31 yrs of having a preacher for a father, im stumped on how this law reflects christian intent at all.

that's why i avoided this thread for 3 pages

i don't mind it so much but it could all be relegated to one thread, politics suck in general so i'm not big on it being blasted all over the place either.

Yall read about this new bill/law making street photography illegal? I might have read it wrong or something. It was posted by a friend on FB who takes pictures as a side business

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Yall read about this new bill/law making street photography illegal? I might have read it wrong or something. It was posted by a friend on FB who takes pictures as a side business

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Not outlawing it, but requiring images going out to have the written consent of every person recognizable in the photo. Person means individual or corporation or business or entity.

It's much more sinister, and you'll just be getting less and less photos and video online because of the chilling effect that happens. And it'll be somewhat arbitrary.

Let's say I get a great photo of a fundraiser in Arkansas, like say Barack Obama and Tom Cotton come out and play a giant floor piano like in Big and then Israeli and Hamas leaders come out and kiss and a state rep. from Gasville is in the background having a beer and I get just one picture of it all happening, and then everyone leaves and promises to tell no one. If I published the photo and made five bucks off of it, I'd be opening myself up to a lawsuit because the Gasville rep has a religious constituency that wouldn't like seeing him/her with a beer and that damages their reputation.

Seem arbitrary? What if I give a picture of Justin Harris's preschool to the Dem-Gaz and they publish it? Am I responsible now? Under this law, that's how it seems now.

It's so vague and wide open. And sure, most of it wouldn't hold up in court, but freelancers/news people/avg. citizens don't want to start that process, so they'll just not bother.

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The way I read it, it looked like there was an "out" if people weren't being singled out, but were just in "public." Still, a ridiculous thing to pass.

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That's the frustrating thing about it - the whole thing is broad and vague and the outs require definition based on the broad and vague language.

It just creates a real chilling effect. I know because in a previous newsgathering career I've had cops yell at me and try to bully away my footage to them. One time I caught an airport security person sleeping and he demanded I rewind and erase the footage based on the patriot act. I didn't want to, because that's bogus, but the boss said I didn't have time to prove my point so just do that and get on my way. Same thing happened recording video of street construction near a federal building - I get read the riot act and have to wait for some person on the other end of a walkie-talkie tell the person that there was no reason to suspect me as a terrorist.

Confusing laws lead to confusing, frustrating moments.

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Where do these legislators get their law degrees, if any?

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Liberty University, they have a law school that churns out these idiots.

i can't decide if he's the biggest moron or just a regular moron- he is pulling the bill after all.

i may be a horrible person and peta maybe should come after me but i think the chicken spreading the wings thing was just about as stupid as this stunt.