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Tim Griffin's photo op
12/14/2011

Seventeen words from my congressman, U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin of Little Rock, sent me into orbit last week. by Max Brantley

Seventeen words from my congressman, U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin of Little Rock, sent me into orbit last week.

Said the Republican congressman, in his Twitter feed: "I am currently touring Arkansas Children's Hospital and learning more about the incredible work being done here."

His tweet was dutifully regurgitated by the Arkansas Republican Party and, I'd guess, other elements of the right-wing electronic echo chamber.

What's not to like? Who doesn't like Children's Hospital and the miracles it performs?

Answer: The Republican Party, if policies count more than a Twitter post intended to wrap a politician in the warm gauze of sympathy for sick children.

Eight months ago, Griffin voted in lockstep with a budget proposal crafted by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan that would have gutted Medicaid as a guaranteed health insurance program for poor people. It would have turned it into a block grant program. Had the legislation not been defeated in the Democrat-controlled Senate, it would have reduced Medicaid spending by almost $800 billion over 10 years. It would have allowed states to cut back services to the disabled, children and the elderly.

Without Medicaid, Children's Hospital doesn't exist as we know it. Sixty-five percent of its patients are covered by Medicaid. Though Republicans wouldn't cut it all at once, it's easy to guess some of the first casualties.

Intensive care and emergency services would continue at some level, but would vital early childhood intervention programs, Head Start and basic primary care continue? The odds would not be good.

I had a personal window last week on the value of such a simple thing as an encounter with a Children's Hospital primary care physician. The only medical problem facing one young patient was head lice. But it was an outgrowth of deeper problems in her home, problems that began being addressed thanks to a call from the concerned Children's Hospital physician. Cut Medicaid and you can soon forget such luxuries as this timely intervention that kept a home intact and a child in school.

Ryan has not given up on his budget plan. He'd still like to cut taxes of the wealthy, at the expense of poorer people, and reduce Medicare and Medicaid outlays. He'd give poor people vouchers to help buy insurance, yes, but the vouchers would be supported by only about a quarter of the federal money now being provided, says the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Faced with rising health costs and insufficient insurance, poor people would go without. The big new Children's Hospital buildings that Tim Griffin toured and touted? They'd be emptied of sick children and caring staff in favor of enriching the wealthy.

The National Association of Children's Hospitals has told Congress that the hospitals are already strapped by decreasing Medicaid support and the burden of uncompensated care. Cuts in spending are also a guarantee of greater costs. Children who need attention, but don't get it, will experience worsening, more expensive conditions.

Polls show American people prefer elimination of tax breaks for the rich and tougher regulation of banks over cuts in spending on vital programs, looser government regulations and no tax increases.

By his past votes, Tim Griffin indicates he doesn't believe the polls. Or he believes that photo ops and lip service at the local Children's Hospital will cover his support for the Republican assault on government-supported medical services for the poor, from children to elderly.

In 2010, many voters voted against self-interest. It could happen again — certainly if no one runs against Griffin. He's currently unopposed.

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Flying a little longer
12/14/2011

The North Little Rock city council and mayor Pat Hays agreed to postpone a controlled goose hunt in Burns Park that was scheduled for next week. The mayor is seeking alternatives to thin the amount of geese causing issues at the park. by Brian Chilson

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Fla. artist admits rare wildlife smuggling
12/08/2011

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A Miami Beach artist has pleaded guilty to trafficking in protected wildlife Tuesday, federal prosecutors said. Enrique Gomez De Molina was accused of importing things such as orangutan skulls, a king cobra, a slow ...

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Obama: may give up Hawaiian Christmas
12/08/2011

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- President Obama promised to give up Christmas in Hawaii if the payroll tax cut extension is not passed, a Demoratic leader said Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Obama at a meeting with Democrati...

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Baggage handler offered job back
12/08/2011

RENO, Nev., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- An airport baggage handler in Reno, Nev., fired after refusing to let an emaciated dog be shipped from the airport has been offered her job back. Sally Leible, president of Airport Terminal Services, said Wednesday the St....

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Critics oppose new Capitol permit policy
12/08/2011

MADISON, Wis., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Critics say a new policy that makes it tougher to protest at Wisconsin's Capitol is a violation of free speech. The policy requires organizers of events at the Capitol involving four or more people to get a permit at le...

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Sebelius blocks FDA on Plan B
12/08/2011

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Girls under the age of 17 will still need a prescription to obtain the so-called morning-after pill known as Plan B, U.S. regulators said Wednesday. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, overruled ...

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Maintenance man charged with killing girl
12/08/2011

CANTON, Ga., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A maintenance worker at the apartment complex where a slain 7-year-old Georgia girl lived was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of killing her, police said. Ryan Brunn, 20, is scheduled to appear in court Thursday, The Atl...

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Live tiger found in box in Moscow
12/08/2011

MOSCOW, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A box containing a live tiger was discovered in a Moscow district, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday. "Yesterday, we received a call from residents who had discovered a box containing a tiger in wasteland in the Pechatniki distri...

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Radiation found in baby formula in Japan
12/08/2011

TOKYO, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A company in Japan says it's recalling 400,000 cans of infant formula containing traces of radiation after the nation's nuclear plant meltdown. Tokyo-based Meiji Co. said the milk was manufactured in March and April and shipped...

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Iran blocks U.S. ‘virtual embassy’
12/08/2011

TEHRAN, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A day after the United States launched a "virtual embassy" Web site aimed at Iranians, would-be users said Wednesday they were sent to an Iranian site. The site provides information in English and Farsi on U.S. visas, immigrat...

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The brain drain
12/07/2011

From online comments on Kristian Andersen's Big Idea submission of an Arkansas Business Fellowship ("Stop the brain drain," Nov. 30).

The brain drain

From online comments on Kristian Andersen's Big Idea submission of an Arkansas Business Fellowship ("Stop the brain drain," Nov. 30).

Are there "scientific" studies to support the assertion that "our best kids go to San Francisco, Austin or New York because that's where the best jobs are" or is this simply conventional wisdom that might be flawed? (And please define the term "best kids.")

I ask about our "best kids" going elsewhere because a year ago former Arkansas Dept. of Higher Education director Jim Purcell said that new ADHE numbers showed that two-thirds of Arkansas's young people who've earned a BA or higher are staying in the state.

He credited this to a slow dance with industry to ensure that while we're educating our workforce, we're also bringing in jobs that give them a tendency to stay here. Seems to me you're traveling somewhat the same road, thus I applaud what you're doing with the Arkansas Fellowship Program.

Beyond Arkansas, I'm concerned about the nation's "brain drain." Last I heard, almost 70 percent of science and engineering grad students in American universities were from other countries. In the past, most stayed here after graduation, contributing in countless ways to the health and welfare of this country.

Today, however, a rapidly growing number of these brilliant young university graduates are going back to their home countries to engage in their careers, particularly to booming China and India. I think much of this is due to our woeful immigration policies and that we'd better wake up and correct them.

But even THAT may be too late. I fear the day is quickly dawning when these bright minds won't even be coming here to study, since not-to-be-outsmarted China, India, and other countries are paying American schools to set up shop on THEIR soil.

The result of this is that you and I could live long enough to see a shortage of scientists, engineers, and physicians so critical that the U.S. will no longer be at the sci-tech-medical fore.

Durango

Kristian Andersen responds:

"Best Kids" is a bit of a fuzzy term — you're correct. In this context, we're talking about high-potential, entrepreneurial (often unconventional) students. The statement regarding where the "best kids" go is absolutely based on anecdotal evidence, but that doesn't make it any less true. I've spent the last several years traveling the state, talking to students and recent grads and there is definitely a feeling that there is not sufficient opportunity for entrepreneurially-minded graduates. Now, I don't happen to think that is true, but I do think there is a disconnect between those opportunities and the job seekers. That is one of the primary purposes behind the Arkansas Fellowship.

To your second point — Yes we have a national brain drain as well. There are three reasons for this. The first is our restrictive visa policy. There are some smart people that are trying to rectify this like Brad Feld, Paul Graham and Sen. John Kerry via the "startup visa act."

The second is that we just simply have fewer students pursuing careers in the sciences (mathematics, engineering, etc.). And the ratio of young women pursuing these types of careers is woefully inadequate. There are a number of folks working on addressing this issue with varying degrees of success.

The third is countries like India and China are much better (easier) places to start a business than they used to be. They are still not the U.S. in terms of rule of law, intellectual property rights, access to markets, early-stage funding, etc., but they are a lot closer to the U.S. than they were just 10 years ago. A brilliant Indian student studying in the U.S. really had no option but to stay in the U.S. if they wanted to pursue an entrepreneurial career 10 years ago. That is no longer the case.

Build the Chester Bridge

I read Max Brantley's column last week ("A bridge too few," Nov. 30) with interest and found myself in essential agreement with him. I favor using Chester Street, which not only connects with I-630 but runs south from the river to Roosevelt Road, as a place for  a new bridge to take off. Although the street is not designated as a state highway, the state Highway Commission could, I trust, make that happen. Unfortunately, it is questionable whether or not the soon-to-be revealed design proposals, still on the closeted drawing boards of the crew at construction firm HNTB, will satisfy.

I suspect it's time to focus on the next river crossing, one whose design and construction are still several years away. With forethought, vision and a well-developed sense of consequence (which the Highway Department seems to have in short supply) we may be able to build that singular span.

Let's keep the Broadway Bridge, limiting its use to pedestrians and bicyclists, and build a great new one that's accommodating to vehicular travel, cyclists and pedestrians at Chester. Locating it there would insure room for an enlarged Robinson Auditorium footprint, providing needed space for the performing arts facility that Philip Mann rightly favors.

June Freeman

Little Rock

Petrino's outburst

Chutzpah? Too big for his britches? Goose/Gander? Pot/Kettle? How much does the State of Arkansas pay this guy? What does the president of the UA System say about this? Is BoPet growing like JoPat? Bobby Knight? Woody Hayes? KingKong Suh?

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino screamed obscenities at the LSU coach for kicking a late field goal to make the score 41-17, apparently accusing him of running up the score. The quadruple irony/hypocrisy is: The week before, Petrino's Razorbacks beat Mississippi State by the identical score. In three earlier games, including an SEC game, Petrino's team won by margins of at least 42 points.

Robert Johnston

Little Rock

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Ray Tarantino comes to Maxine's
12/07/2011

Plus Rodney Block.

THURSDAY 12/8

Ray Tarantino plays a smart modern take on singer-songwriting rock 'n' roll – think Springsteen or maybe Tom Petty filtered through U2-esque arena bombast and you're close to Tarantino's sound. He plays Maxine's at 8 p.m. Red-dirt troubadour Jason Boland comes to Revolution for an acoustic show with fellow traveler Evan Felker. Trey Stevens opens the 18-and-older show at 9 p.m., $12 adv., $15 d.o.s. Bernice Garden hosts a tree-lighting holiday party, with Christmas carols, crafts for sale and refreshments. Bring an ornament to hang on the tree, as well as your own plate, utensils and cup for this zero-waste event, which starts at 5:30 p.m. The folks at Electric Heart Tattoos host The Type Truck, a mobile letterpress that's currently touring the country, starts at 6 p.m. and includes printing demonstrations and music from Bonnie Montgomery.

FRIDAY 12/9

Rodney Block & The Real Music Lovers headline "A Soulful Christmas," with singing from Jeron, Mia McNeal, Dee Davis and Bijoux, Twelve Modern Lounge, 9 p.m., $10-$20. The Arkansas Chamber Singers present a "Holiday Concert," including performances of Respighi's "Laud to the Nativity" and the premiere of a new work by Scottish composer Cecilia McDowell, Covenant Presbyterian Church, 7:30 p.m., $10-$18. It's 2nd Friday Art Night and at the Historic Arkansas Museum, there will be an eggnog competition, music from The Meshugga Klezmer Band and a new exhibit, "Found–Fired–Formed: Sarah May Leflar, Donna Uptigrove and Amber Uptigrove," 5 p.m. Over at Arkansas Studies Institute, they're unveiling "Ark in the Dark: An Exhibition of Vintage Movie Posters," which includes 35 posters that feature films from the years 1926 to 2009, as well as Arkansas- and movie-related memorabilia, such as programs, tickets, photos, lobby cards, books and other items, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY 12/10

The Elise Davis Band and Amy Garland play White Water Tavern, 9 p.m. Over at Shooter's Sports Bar & Grill, Ed Bowman & The Rock City Players bring the blues, R&B and rock 'n' roll, 9 p.m., $5. Check out a double feature of productions from Independent Guerilla: "Tuckerman" and "The Devil Lives in Hot Springs" screen at Market Street Cinema, starting at 7 p.m., and including a Q&A with the filmmakers, $10. It's time to start a dance party over at Revolution, with Tragikly White, 18 and older, 9:30 p.m., $7.

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Off-campus crime and Arkansas Baptist
12/07/2011

Off-campus housing in Reservoir apartments a magnet for crime. by Cheree Franco

On Nov. 11, Arkansas Baptist College student Shaderio Logan,19, was shot as two intruders tried to break into the housing the college provides for him at Avondale Apartments on Reservoir Road. Logan survived the shooting, but just days earlier, another student at Avondale, Kylaus Williams, 22, was fatally shot, his body dumped in a driveway in the North Little Rock neighborhood of Rixie. Williams was the student body's second homicide victim in six months.

According to Little Rock police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings, the shootings are not connected. "I suspect they're drug or robbery related. Drugs are a big part of our problem at those apartments," he said. The Logan case is still under investigation. Lt. Carl Minden with the Pulaski County sheriff's office confirmed that the Williams case is drug related and that three men were arrested in Arizona in connection with the homicide.

According to Hastings, the LRPD filed 96 incident reports from the complex in 2010. Thus far in 2011, there have been 169 reports filed. Hastings acknowledged that this is an extraordinary ratio for 206 units.

"I've lived here for a year," said Marquette Govan, 20, an Arkansas Baptist sophomore studying criminal justice. "I don't feel safe at all. There's supposed to be security at night, but he just sits right there in his little truck and doesn't move." She indicated the area in front of her building. Actually, two guards patrol the complex at night. Avondale has its own courtesy officer, and Arkansas Baptist employs additional private security.

Govan is one of 73 Arkansas Baptist students occupying 30 apartments at Avondale. Arkansas Baptist students living at Avondale have been victims of break-ins, burglaries and automobile vandalism. But Govan's friend LaPorsha Meanus, a 21-year-old education major at Arkansas Baptist, thinks the students are also perpetrators. "When I've been out here, I've seen fights started by students," she said.

When Dr. Fitz Hill became president of Arkansas Baptist in 2007, his mission was to recruit more students — particularly those who "wouldn't have a chance at traditional schools," according to director of communications, Terri Clark. Hill introduced a football program that helped enrollment jump from about 179 to its current 1,193.

With the 2010 addition of a men's 192-bed residence hall, the college can house 343 students on-campus. A new woman's residence hall is expected to open in fall 2012. Arkansas Baptist's goal is to house all students on campus, but for now, it's had to explore other options.

In 2009 and 2010, Arkansas Baptist housed its overflow at Coleman Place, a 132-unit, gated complex near the University of Arkansas Little Rock. Coleman Place caters to students. It rents by the room, employs nightly security and invites both students and parents to on-site social mixers. Arkansas Baptist's arrangement with Coleman was similar to its current deal with Avondale. Students paid the school, which leased the apartments under its name.

"I think they kicked us out of Coleman Place, which is why we're here," said Govan. A manager at Coleman Place refused to discuss why Arkansas Baptist students are no longer housed in the complex. Gourjoine Wade, director of housing for Arkansas Baptist, said the move was a mutual decision, based on both "maintenance and disciplinary issues."

Meanus lived at Coleman Place last year. "It wasn't like here. You couldn't have loud music, no one could hang around outside. Security is very strict," she said.

But police records show that crime is increasing at Coleman Place as well. In 2010, when Arkansas Baptist students were still at the complex, police filed 57 incident reports. Thus far in 2011, they've filed 63 — one of which was a homicide.

Meanus doesn't live at Avondale, but she frequently visits Govan.

"One night I almost got shot," she said. "There were some guys arguing [in the parking lot], and a guy walking around with a gun. I got mistaken for one of the guys." Meanus runs her hand across her shorn hair. "This young lady said, 'that's him right there,' and points to me. I took off my shirt, so he could see I was a girl, and just ran."

Govan also had what she considers a close call. Initially the housing department made a mistake, placing her and another girl in the apartment where Logan was recently shot. "We got moved out about two weeks later, because boys and girls weren't supposed to be together," she said. "But when I stayed in that apartment, the locks were faulty. They didn't lock at all, and we were trying to get them fixed by maintenance people. When I moved they still weren't fixed. The people who broke in, they might have just known that the doors were like that."

Gary Stubblefield, the on-site manager at Avondale for just a month, declined comment on the Logan shooting. Arkansas Times e-mails to regional manager Jera Harris were unreturned. But a week after the shooting, Logan's door is dead-bolted. There's a gap in the door frame, which may be attributed to the intruders who, according to the police report, tried to forcibly open the door despite its latched chain. The intruder shot through the door, hitting Logan in the lower back.

As far as Govan knows, Avondale didn't report the shooting to Arkansas Baptist. "I'm a community assistant, which means I report on things that happen out here." When she learned of the shooting, she called Arkansas Baptist's housing department. "No one knew anything about it," she said.

Housing director Wade confirmed that he learned of the shooting from Govan. "We're concerned about what's going on at Avondale, and we're currently looking into other housing options," he said, although he didn't feel at liberty to discuss those options. According to Wade, the college will relocate the students as soon as other arrangements are made.

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Hogs' best and worst
12/07/2011

ith the regular season now in the rear view for Arkansas, this week's Pearls is about living in the recent past. Grant me this one chance to do the canned "season in retrospect" routine, and I shall reward thee with sporadically amusing observations and possibly one more potshot at the deposed Ole Miss coach! by Beau Wilcox

With the regular season now in the rear view for Arkansas, this week's Pearls is about living in the recent past. Grant me this one chance to do the canned "season in retrospect" routine, and I shall reward thee with sporadically amusing observations and possibly one more potshot at the deposed Ole Miss coach!

BEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER: From year to year, so long as Bobby Petrino remains head coach, this will be an accolade flush with candidates. For this columnist, though, the selection of Jarius Wright comes without hesitation. Wright was absent from the Troy game due to injury, and the Hogs accordingly floundered in the second half of what should have been a rout. It was his record-setting effort against Texas A&M that rescued this team for good, his clutch scoring grab against Vandy that settled the Hogs by halftime and his long TD catch against South Carolina that turned that game permanently. The senior from Warren is a viable NFL talent for three reasons: blazing speed, precise routes, and a devil-may-care willingness to endanger his modest frame as a crossing receiver and run blocker.

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Harder call, to be sure, and this may draw a few barbs, but nobody was more quietly efficient than Eric Bennett. The sophomore from Oklahoma was the lone genuinely consistent element in the secondary, a reliable tackler who emerged as reliable in coverage as well as run support. His three interceptions were second on the team, two of them being decisive, mood-altering plays in unsteady wins against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Apologies to seniors Jerry Franklin and Jake Bequette, both of whom had princely moments throughout the year, but Bennett was an unexpected anchor in a particularly maligned backfield.

BEST SPECIAL TEAMER: Joe Adams muffed a couple of punts. I'm not holding that against him, nor do thousands of YouTube commenters, all of whom are erudite and eloquent, natch.

BEST MOMENT: It would accordingly be illogical to deny Adams' instantly legendary return against Tennessee this nod, but when Broderick Green, thought to be lost for the year, came back against Texas A&M and punctuated a rousing comeback with a short TD run, it gave both the player and the team sweet redemption.

WORST MOMENT: Off the field, no question that Garrett Uekman's passing applied harsh brakes to the Hogs' November surge; on the field, Ole Miss' late recovery of an onside kick, largely enabled by the hands team standing in admiration of the fluttering oblong ball, had the conference's historically inept bottom-feeders envisioning an upset until Bennett snatched away Randall Mackey's final heave.

BEST GAME: All facets clicked in the Razorbacks' 44-17 dismantling of Mississippi State in the prelude to the ill-fated LSU contest. But for an early Tyler Wilson fumble and a throwaway score at the end, Arkansas so thoroughly embarrassed the Bulldogs that Dan Mullen called it the worst game his team has played in his three years as MSU's lead-visor-overseeing-bad-quarterbacks.

WORST GAME: It is all too tempting to cite the Ole Miss debacle here, but a win is a win, even if achieved at the expense of the coaching fraternity's version of Lewis Skolnick and the rest of the TriLambs. The worst game, rather, was the 38-14 loss to Alabama, which had all the earmarks of a common collapse, namely a rare mental lapse by Petrino when he failed to call timeout early on a fake field goal alignment and some woeful tackling on Marquis Maze's long punt return. The entire game film should have been produced by Irwin Allen.

BEST NUMBERS: Dennis Johnson averaged an astonishing 9.6 yards per touch this year and over 130 all-purpose yards per contest; Wilson's 22-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio is a close second, and combined with Ryan Mallett's final stats the prior two seasons, Arkansas starting quarterbacks have chucked 84 TDs while throwing only 25 picks since 2009.

WORST NUMBERS: The Hogs amassed only 64 yards rushing total in their two losses, and had only 49 minutes of aggregate possession time against LSU and Alabama. To tip this present balance of power in the SEC, Arkansas must exercise dominion over the clock. This will, in turn, cause helpless and frazzled wives of opposing coordinators to wax unhinged on weekly religious programs.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO: First 11-win season and year-end Top 5 ranking since 1977-78. Recruits come from far and wide to immerse themselves in the rebirth. John Daly hangs out on the sideline more. Concession stands at Reynolds Razorback Stadium begin offering beef tenderloin and lump crab cocktail. Jim Robken comes back to lead the band. Tusk will be allowed to run loose on the field and will make out with a female sideline reporter...

You know, I'm getting ahead of myself. Robken ain't coming back.

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2nd district candidates
12/07/2011

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel stirred a little excitement at last weekend's Arkansas Democratic Party convention by promising that news would be coming soon about a candidate to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin for the 2nd District seat.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel stirred a little excitement at last weekend's Arkansas Democratic Party convention by promising that news would be coming soon about a candidate to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin for the 2nd District seat.

Strongest bet continues to be Democratic Party Chair Will Bond, a former state representative from Jacksonville and lawyer. So far, though, he's mum. Candidates must file by March. If there's no contested primary, a candidate has plenty of time to prepare for a November election contest, but Griffin has long been at work raising money.

A strong challenge, preferably a defeat, of Griffin is desirable to Democrats because of the widespread belief that he'll use re-election as a platform to challenge U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor in 2014.

And speaking of Senate: Some still hope retired Gen. Wesley Clark could be encouraged to run for the 2nd District seat. The long view is that he could serve two terms, then face Republican Sen. John Boozman in 2016.

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Go Greenhouse
12/07/2011

Fayetteville's Greenhouse Grille impresses.

We have taken great interest in this Fayetteville operation, now set up next door to where the local farmers market meets. From outside, the building beckons with planters and beds of herbs, vegetables and shrubs — many of which are used in the dishes inside.

Greenhouse Grille has also partnered with dozens of local farmers and meat and dairy producers to create its menu.

We ordered the Sweden Creek Farms Organic Shiitake Mushroom Fries ($9) on both of our recent visits and have come to the conclusion that they are far superior to traditional potato fries. The thick planks of mushroom cap were dipped in a tempura-type batter and were served with a tarragon ranch dip and cumin-flavored "magic catsup." The slices themselves were pliant and tasty. The tarragon dip was all right, but the drizzle of magic catsup on the side was fantastic. We'd purchase a bottle if it were available to take home.

We also tried the filling Parmesan and Herb Risotto Balls ($7). The cheese and rice were creamy smooth and a little salty. The Roasted Garlic Aioli came in a sour cream-textured smear on the plate. The risotto balls would have been excellent on their own, but the aioli made them all that much better.

We also tried two entrees from the autumn menu (the menu changes seasonally). The Tuscan Vegetable Pasta ($16) was a large bowl of bowtie pasta, garbanzo beans, roasted red bell peppers and artichoke hearts topped with some fresh-made ricotta-like goat cheese. We appreciated the attention to detail with the all-vegetarian plate and liked it, though it needed a touch of salt.

We were even more pleased with the Lamb & Herb Meatballs ($20), a trio of two-and-a-half-inch-thick egg-shaped meatballs packed with sundried tomato, green onions and bits of herb and served atop a pile of fresh-made angel hair pasta and under a crown of sundried tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and locally produced feta cheese. The bits of mushroom had the tenderness and flavor of finely cooked veal; the sundried tomatoes added the right amount of spark to brighten up the mild pasta and sauce. The meatballs were succulent but a little under-spiced, but the brightly sharp cheese made up for that in spades.

We also tried a side of the delectable Root Vegetable Fried Wild Rice ($3.50), almost creamy with bits of carrots and onions throughout. Our dining companion claimed he would order this alone in a double order and be happy with dinner.

On our other visit we tried items from the regular menu. We sampled the Greek Quesadilla ($10) with spinach, artichoke hearts, garbanzo beans, mozzarella, feta cheese, cumin cream sauce and roasted bell peppers and found it to be decent, though not extraordinary. We also tried one of the burgers, the Goat Cheese Burger with Spinach and Roasted Garlic Aioli ($10). We found the garlic a little strong, though the oregano-infused tomato tapenade was excellent.

Greenhouse Grille

481 South School

Fayetteville

479-444-8909

www.greenhousegrille.com

Quick bite

With all these tasty offerings, one might decide to skip dessert. We urge you not to — the Chocolate Chunk Bourbon Pecan Pie is one of the absolute best pies we have found in the state. The rich and thick custard is cluttered with chocolate chunks and sits on a cookie crust under candied pecans and a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's served with an ample serving of berries for a very complete and gorgeous finish to a meal.  

Hours

11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Other info

All credit cards accepted. Full bar.

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Future feels fine
12/07/2011

I read a lot of news media prognostication. So I'm well versed in the doomsday scenarios that imagine print's imminent death; that predict an ever-escalating contraction of whatever you call newspapers once print is dead; that tell me, in so many words, that I've made a bad career choice. Nonetheless, I'm hopeful. by Lindsey Millar

I read a lot of news media prognostication. So I'm well versed in the doomsday scenarios that imagine print's imminent death; that predict an ever-escalating contraction of whatever you call newspapers once print is dead; that tell me, in so many words, that I've made a bad career choice. Nonetheless, I'm hopeful.

Why? Because this is an old story with new details. The industry has faced existential crises every decade or so since the emergence of the radio. Technology, culture and business are always changing. Those who've survived such changes abide by a maxim that's arguably never had more relevance: innovate or die.

Lucky for people like me, it's never been easier to report in new ways. The video camera in my phone shoots in full HD. A $50 microphone and the recording software that comes for free on my Mac are enough to record and edit audio. Free to inexpensive tools now allow me to host, mine and visualize massive troves of data in ways that would have been cost and time prohibitive just a few years ago. And all those are relatively old tools.

To get a sense of the future, I love trolling through projects funded by or affiliated with the Knight Foundation, the most prominent source of funding for journalism innovation.

One of my favorite recent projects comes from Dan Schultz, a Knight-Mozilla New Technology Fellow and graduate student at the MIT Media Lab. It's automatic fact-checking software he calls "truth goggles." Say you're reading a political blog and come across Newt Gingrich's recent assertion that even millionaires can qualify for food stamps. Schultz's truth goggles would highlight that claim, point out that it's false and perhaps offer users an opportunity to learn about some of Gingrich's other false statements. It works by using natural language processing (the method by which computing tools like Siri on the new iPhone interact with humans) in conjunction with the St. Petersburg Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checker PolitiFact. As Nieman Journalism Labs suggested, the tool could also end up serving as a sort of spellcheck for facts for journalists.

Most of the recent winners of the annual Knight News Challenge, which provides start-up funding to technology-related media ideas, share the same motivation behind Schultz's software — they aim to make newsgathering easier and the reader experience fuller. For instance, one of the 2011 Knight winners collects user-generated content from social media during significant news events and shares it in what it calls an "easy-to-browse" interface. One provides a platform for journalists to reach rural communities without broadband through text messages. Another offers a platform for easily searching state code, court decisions and legislation.

Every couple of weeks, I hear senior editor Max Brantley, who's worked at the Times for 20 years and in journalism for nearly 40, cursing with amazement at the speed and ease with which he's able to, say, augment multimedia to a story and send it out on our website and through all our social network channels. Max has been around long enough to remember hot type. He's seen an evolution in the industry that must feel like going from the Model A to the Prius (I kid, sort of). He's managed to develop a following because he's a dogged reporter who's been willing to embrace new tools. That's a good prescription for journalistic success in the future, I think, with maybe one addendum for young, enterprising would-be journalists — learn to code.

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Blues in the Heights
12/07/2011

Somebody wrote in the paper the other day about the blue-stocking neighborhoods of the Heights and Hillcrest. I think they meant silk-stocking.

Somebody wrote in the paper the other day about the blue-stocking neighborhoods of the Heights and Hillcrest. I think they meant silk-stocking. — Ann O'Nimity

Ann is probably right. The adjective silk-stocking means "aristocratic or wealthy." But maybe, just maybe, the writer had something else in mind. A bluestocking is "a woman with considerable scholarly, literary or intellectual ability or interest."

Many bluestockings live in the Heights and Hillcrest; they're particularly thick around Wordsworth book store. Several Arkansas Times staffers reside in these two neighborhoods and their stockings are vividly blue, as far up as one can see.

I'm sort of an honorary bluestocking myself. I somehow got on the mailing list for a book catalog called "Bas Bleu," which is French for "Blue Stocking." Somebody must have tipped them that I'm a Jane Austen fan. (Though not enough to buy any of those books where a fictional Jane Austen catches murderers.)

The Bas Bleu website says that "In about 1750, Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu (later called 'the Queen of the Blues') and her friends founded the first official bluestocking society in England." I didn't know that. I did know that in the 1920s and '30s, Bessie Smith was called "the Empress of the Blues." She was the Jane Austen of her field.

A reader who identifies himself as "a swamper at the Wye Mountain Branch of the Internationally Famous Rasputin Mule Farm" writes concerning our discussion of mule skinner:

"The term 'mule skinner' was used by those who worked with the 20-mule teams that hauled borax out of Death Valley in the late 1800s. I do not know if the term originated with them. I do know that it's figurative. Those who drove these 20-mule teams would crack a whip over the backs of the mules to get them going, and keep them going, but they never intentionally hit the mules with the whips. Despite tales to the contrary, a mule will not tolerate pain and mistreatment. A mule that is mistreated will invariably become a dangerous renegade. I have seen perfectly good, gentle mules turned into dangerous animals by mistreatment."

Much the same happens with newspaper columnists.

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December book calendar
12/07/2011

Food for fines and more.

7-11 Food for Fines, fines on overdue Central Arkansas Library System materials currently checked out can be canceled with the return of the material and a donation of at least one nonperishable food item.

8 "Dr. Seuss and Philosophy: Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!" a discussion of the common ground between Socrates and the Sneetches, 7 p.m., FCL.

10 Ashley Cooksey ("My Mom is a Super Hero"), 1 p.m. TBIB.

10 Berniece Vann ("Dream a Dream: a novel"), 3 p.m., HC.

15 Mary Sue Anton and John Gill ("Open House" and "New Madrid: The Mississippi River Town in History and Legend"), 6 p.m., TBIB.

17 Tiffany Hays ("How I Got Over"), 1 p.m., TBIB.

28 Allyson Lewis ("The 7 Minute Solution"), 4 p.m., TBIB.

Area bookstores, libraries and venues:

CS: Clinton School of Public Service, Sturgis Hall, 1200 President Clinton Ave., 683-5200.

FCL: Faulkner County Library, 1900 Tyler St., Conway, 501-327-7482.

HC: Hastings of Conway, 1360 Old Morrilton Hwy., Conway, 501-329-1108.

LL: Laman Library, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock, 501-758-1720.

ML: Main Library, 100 Rock St., 918-3000.

TBIB: That Bookstore in Blytheville, 316 W. Main St., Blytheville, 870-763-3333.

WW: WordsWorth Books & Co., 5920 R St., 663-9198.

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'A Christmas Carol, The Musical' endures
12/07/2011

I will unreservedly state that "A Christmas Carol" is one of the most significant stories ever written in English. With it Charles Dickens forged our modern Christmas mythology, carving into the calendar a season that is important both economically and spiritually; he embedded into cultural consciousness what today we take for granted as the "reason for the season" and a month brimming with unmitigated good cheer. by Bernard Reed

I will unreservedly state that "A Christmas Carol" is one of the most significant stories ever written in English. With it Charles Dickens forged our modern Christmas mythology, carving into the calendar a season that is important both economically and spiritually; he embedded into cultural consciousness what today we take for granted as the "reason for the season" and a month brimming with unmitigated good cheer.

"A Christmas Carol" has been rehashed just about every year since its publication in 1843, never going out of print and finding its way into every possible artistic medium. On the Rep's holiday bill is "A Christmas Carol, The Musical," gleeful and colorful and an apt celebration of the season's warmth and childlike vitality.

For those of us who are no longer children but not yet raising our own, Christmas is often accompanied by a greater than usual ironic detachment, this being a time of year filled with ceaseless jingle bells and pathological consumerism. But Dickens' story, classic as it is, transcends the pagan gaudiness of present-day Christmas. The Rep's lyrical production continues the tradition, and it reminded me with song and dance that "A Christmas Carol" is really one of the few artifacts of Christmas that I can stand.

It's a full-out, stage-crowded show that breaks into song right away. From the get-go it's an enormous experience, the ensemble swirling around with unstoppable choreography, lots of children prancing around and bright Victorian costumes. You know the story: It's Christmas Eve in London for everybody except the money-loving Ebenezer Scrooge, who grudgingly gives his underpaid and overworked employee, Bob Cratchit, the next day off. At home Scrooge is visited by Marley, his dead business partner, who, wrapped in chains, tells him that he will be visited by three more ghosts throughout the night. Scrooge is told to heed their warnings or he'll regret it in the afterlife. All he can say is "bah humbug," but then the clock strikes one and Scrooge's journey begins.

The show has the right balance of both the frightening and the fanciful. Marley's lecture at the beginning is grotesque and dramatic, with lots of chains being whipped around, but it's quickly tempered by the young Scrooge rollicking at Fezziwig's party with his old flame in another colorful dance number. Unspeaking and faceless, draped in black, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come unfurls eerily out of the smoke machine, dragging the already-penitent Scrooge into a distressing, funereal future. He learns his lesson, the whole cast comes out to dance and Tiny Tim lives to ride his father's shoulder and depart the audience with his famous last line.

The scenes move very quickly, which lends to the excitement and the feeling that Scrooge is on an adventure. And of course, in a sense he is — after being paraded through time, he is stripped of his greed. In a dynamic and operatic climax, he faces the audience directly, wearing his iconic droopy nightcap, and belts it out, singing for forgiveness. This speed amps up the entertainment, no doubt, and its snappiness is very suited to any children in the audience. But it might be up to parents to remind them that Christmas is only the story's second priority. Its primary target is Victorian England's greedy 1-percenters, who dismissed debtors and street children to prisons and poorhouses — personified inside the Ghost of Christmas Present's fur-trimmed coat as "Ignorance" and "Want." Otherwise the play's jollity is for the most part untouched by Dickens' grim social message, which, as his most popular of stories reaches another year and another Christmas, becomes unknowingly indicted by our own contemporary brand of capitalistic irony.

The fact that it's a Christmas story is incidental, but let's leave the harangue to the English teachers. The Rep knows that the holiday season is fun, when we should all possessed by Tiny Tim's relentless optimism. Scrooge's transformation touches us, as it always does, without being too preachy or haunted. It's a good time, a Christmas memory worth reliving.

"A Christmas Carol, The Musical" continues through Dec. 25. All evening shows begin at 7 p.m.; matinee performances on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sundays begin at 2 p.m.

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New WM3 doc
12/07/2011

"West of Memphis" has been in the works since 2008, and promises new interviews and information in the case, including evidence pointing to new suspects.

New WM3 doc

With the release of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin last August, it's pretty much a lock that the "Paradise Lost" trilogy of films — the documentaries about the West Memphis Three case by filmmakers Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger — are front and center any time anyone wants to talk about the real-world power of documentary film. Now Echols, his wife, Lorri Davis, and filmmakers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh want to give their own take on the WM3 story, and possibly help clear the names of the accused, with a new doc called "West of Memphis." The film, which was recently completed under the umbrella of Jackson's Wingnut Films, is produced by Echols and Davis, with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg in the director's chair.

A press release said "West of Memphis" has been in the works since 2008, and promises new interviews and information in the case, including evidence pointing to new suspects. Jackson and Walsh, creators of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, became involved with supporters of the WM3 in 2005, and have spent years quietly bankrolling the search for new evidence to exonerate the three men, including hiring private detectives and renting out a house once occupied by the family of one of the three murdered boys so their investigators could dig up a filled-in swimming pool and sift the dirt for potential clues.

Berg hopes her film can have an impact in the case. "This film represents the trial these men didn't have," Berg said. "With the support of Damien and Lorri, along with unprecedented access to those closest to the case, we were able to make a film that shows the inner workings of the defense — the investigation, research, and appeals process, in a way that has never been shown before. This film began as a study about innocence; but I feel it goes beyond that now — it asks the question, what value do we, as a society, place on the truth?"

"West of Memphis" is currently seeking a distributor and has no firm release date, but you can bet it will play big in Arkansas.

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Fable becomes history
12/07/2011

Americans are losing their grip on reality because it's become too hard to distinguish between propaganda and fact and between fable and history. by Ernest Dumas

Americans are losing their grip on reality because it's become too hard to distinguish between propaganda and fact and between fable and history.

That is true because one of the two great political parties has a single unified theory about what has happened to the country the past three decades and is happening now, and that story is propelled by every officeholder, candidate or party leader and amplified by the biggest media, headed by the Murdoch empire. That, as you know, is the Republican Party.

The Democratic message is weak and fractured, the lone audible voice being that of President Obama, who was deeply unpopular across a huge swath of the country because of his race and heritage and now has lost credibility with much of the rest of the country because he said he would get us out of the economic mess the Bush administration created and he hasn't.

Here is the official Republican worldview, shared by a sizable part of the electorate: Ronald Reagan brought a revolution in U.S. politics and government. He took a meat axe to government and cut it down to size, slashed taxes and spending and instantly created a robust economy. Democrats returned to power and reversed all those trends, and now they're trying to undo it all again after the superb Republican hiatus of the last decade. They are engorging government, running up mammoth deficits, raising taxes and driving the economy into the ground.

Little of that has much to do with reality, but in times past there was an occasional Republican truth-teller who shattered the propaganda and dispelled the myths. If he was strategically placed, he could make a big difference. Today, there's not one.

If you're middle-aged, you remember David Stockman. He was the cerebral conservative congressman and supply-side economist who became Reagan's budget director and brain trust. He spearheaded the effort in 1981 that slightly reduced domestic budget growth and cut income taxes, mainly for the rich.

That winter he gave a series of interviews to William Greider, who published a mammoth article in The Atlantic Monthly, then headed by the legendary editor William Whitworth of Little Rock. The article, titled "The Education of David Stockman," was a bombshell. Stockman said the big tax act, which cut nearly everyone's taxes a little bit, was a Trojan horse to get what they really wanted, much lower taxes on the very rich. The popular theory, which they called "supply-side economics," was that if you cut the taxes of job creators, the economy would take off and create millions of jobs, the government would take in more money, not less, and the budget would be quickly balanced.

In The Atlantic interview, however, Stockman revealed that he, the president and his advisers had no clue about what they were doing.

"None of us really knows what's going on with all these numbers," he said famously. He had thought Reagan would really cut spending, but he actually increased it sizably with ballooning military expenditures. Far from eliminating deficits, the tax cuts instantly tripled them.

And, to Reagan's credit, he set about to try to set things right. In the next six years he raised taxes far more than any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt in World War II and the deficits began to recede slightly in his final years.

As for shrinking government, that had to wait for Democrats, Bill Clinton and Al Gore, who actually reversed the trend of Reagan and Bush I by slimming the federal government by 365,000 employees, running four years of budget surpluses and creating 22 million jobs.

George W. Bush had his truth teller, too. His treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, a conservative industrialist and chairman of the Rand Corp., was fired when he did not tell the president and vice president what they wanted to hear — that their tax cuts for the rich and corporations would keep the budget balanced and ignite the economy and that the invasion of Iraq was necessary and wise.

O'Neill predicted the budget surplus they inherited from the Democrats would turn into deficits exceeding $500 billion a year (Bush's last budget deficit actually exceeded $1.4 trillion). Worse, in his memoir with Ron Suskind, he painted a picture of a president who paid little attention to the policies of government, demonstrated little curiosity and took his guidance from Vice President Cheney. When Cheney insisted in a cabinet meeting that rich people's taxes needed to be cut even more than in the 2001 act, Bush said he thought they had taken care of their rich friends in 2001 and, besides, shouldn't they be worried about the rising deficit? "Deficits don't matter," Cheney replied.

Amid all the propaganda, people did get a small dose of reality.

No more, unless you count the faint but still oracular voice of the aging boy wonder, David Stockman.

The Republican insistence that Congress extend the Bush tax cuts on high incomes and their declarations about abolishing the deficit by cutting government spending, he said recently, are "rank demagoguery."

"If these people were all put into a room on penalty of death to come up with how much they could cut, they couldn't come up with $50 billion, when the problem is $1.3 trillion. So, to stand before the public and rub raw this anti-tax sentiment, the Republican Party, as much as it pains me to say it, should be ashamed of themselves."

It would be refreshing, and hopeful, if even one of the Republican presidential candidates, one member of Congress or one candidate for any office would be so honest. Just one.

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Marriage and impending doom in 'Melancholia'
12/07/2011

The opening shots of "Melancholia" depict a tableau of surreal moments captured on and around the grounds of a grand estate and golf course — a mother clutching a child, a horse falling to rest, weather amok — while a blue-and-white marbled ball several times the size of Earth creeps up on our planet. As the operatic score rises and soars, the planet wanders closer and initiates a collision that sends our beloved continental plates flaking away into space like the hide of a pulverized M&M. by Sam Eifling

The opening shots of "Melancholia" depict a tableau of surreal moments captured on and around the grounds of a grand estate and golf course — a mother clutching a child, a horse falling to rest, weather amok — while a blue-and-white marbled ball several times the size of Earth creeps up on our planet. As the operatic score rises and soars, the planet wanders closer and initiates a collision that sends our beloved continental plates flaking away into space like the hide of a pulverized M&M.

With that, "Melancholia" announces it's ending the world with a finality rarely imagined in even the grimmest science-fiction flicks. (Alternate, rejected title: "Bummer.") In its ambition and scope, you have to grant that "Melancholia" is undertaking a broad portrait of something, with visual indulgences best suited to big-screen viewing. By the end you have to grant that even if it fell shy, it admirably aimed to die trying.

As if the end of Earth weren't bad enough, we soon open the narrative portion of the film to find that Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgard) are dreadfully late for their wedding reception. Their limo driver can't negotiate a tight curve, and as both bride and groom take turns trying to steer, they seem chipper, healthy. But upon arriving at the palatial home of their hostess and host — Justine's sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her husband John (Kiefer Sutherland) — Justine fades. She connects with neither her gadfly father (John Hurt, delightfully) nor her brittle, cynical mother (Charlotte Rampling) and she continues to slink away from the party and from her family. In a second act with Claire at its center, the sisters cope with Justine's emotional state while the news of the planet Melancholia's approach comes to dominate the thoughts of John and of his and Claire's young son, Leo (Cameron Spurr).

Lars von Trier, the director and screenwriter, overshadowed the initial reception for "Melancholia" at Cannes when he invoked Hitler stupidly at a presser, but the film nonetheless was nominated for the Palme d'Or and Dunst was dubbed Best Actress. She has never been finer, scratching out Justine's pained lurch through life with a dark, heavy savagery. Like the onrushing Melancholia, her sadness overtakes the screen and threatens to extirpate all it touches. Von Trier alternates between sniper and mugger in his framing, at turns sweeping over the grounds of the estate or drawing back for a sunrise starring Melancholia, but lingering longer in the drawn corners of Dunst's mouth, the haunted looks in Gainsbourg's eyes as the planet's approach morphs from a novelty to a threat. Through them, von Trier can paint this infinite tragedy with tight, intimate strokes.

Anything looks absurdly small when set against the impending end of the planet; that von Trier sets "Melancholia" amid a wedding and celebration by the ostentatiously wealthy seems a jab at both. To that end, the film suggests that blood is thicker than marriage. As the end of the world looms, "Melancholia" shrinks its cast, just as many of us are prone to in bad times, drawing near to those already closest, those still at hand even after hard shoves. With such a heavy title and short view of the world's survival, "Melancholia" is tempting to read as a depression allegory. In that it must be regarded as the most pessimistic film of all time, were it not for the fact that, amid the squooshing of the entire planet, family may yet clutch tight. For that, at least, we may as well be grateful and remain calm.

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Curry in a Hurry opens
12/07/2011

Plus West Memphis plans a kitchen incubator.

Curry in a Hurry, at 1800 Pike Ave. in North Little Rock, had its grand opening on Nov. 11. The restaurant is a tiny, home-style Indian affair, owned by the same family that operates the adjoining convenience store. Sahil Hameerani runs the restaurant, and his father does the cooking.

All food is cooked fresh on-site, and Hameerani is currently working on a combo menu. A single meal ranges from $10 to $15. The phone number is 753-4400.

Holiday spirit thrives at Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack where, till Jan. 1, 2012, adventurous chicken and music lovers can sample pumpkin battered fingers with Cranberry Voodoo Sauce. The Smashing Pumpkin Fingerz, an obvious reference to Stickyz's other specialty, breaks an eight-year dearth of new Stickyz chicken finger flavors.

After witnessing the success of kitchen incubators in towns with similar demographics such as Florence, Ala., and Athens, Ohio, the city of West Memphis has developed plans to revitalize the depressed Arkansas Delta by building its own 6,000-square-foot kitchen incubator.

Kitchen incubators are licensed facilities that lease time to local entrepreneurs, such as caterers and packaged food manufacturers. Currently Arkansas producers of jams and jellies, dips and other local foodstuffs found in regional gift shops and tourist centers often travel to eastern Tennessee and northern Alabama to create their wares. Sometimes local food entrepreneurs use their personal kitchens, violating health codes and making them vulnerable to expensive fines. The kitchen incubator will offer an affordable, licensed facility to entrepreneurs who can't afford to build a private facility. Delta Cuisine, the nonprofit behind the project, also plans to provide training in basic business finances and product marketing and promotion.

Construction will be fast-tracked, with a proposed opening date at the end of 2012. In addition to Arkansas, the incubator will serve southern Missouri and Memphis.

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