Arkansas Blog

Don't miss " Maureen Dowd: A Woman Who's Man Enough" over at Pottersville.
"Things are getting confusing out there in Genderville.

We have the ordinarily poker-faced secretary of defense crying over young Americans killed in Iraq.

We have The Washington Post reporting that Hillary Clinton came to the floor of the Senate in a top that put "cleavage on display
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The just posed "Ugly American" bit is good, sorta makes you sick all over again as you watch all of Bushco lie over and over..then the call for them to be jailed.

What fun.

opps! The link -Pottersville-is on blue name.

I wanna come eat with you...

Any other Harry Potter fans out here? I finshed the book in 8 hours. It was wonderful. And for all those anti-Potterites...Read it before you judge!
No other set of books has transcended race, class, sex, religion or global boundaries like Harry. Nor has it brought parents closer to children, stimulated deep thought and conversation.
Nothing but the Bible.

My hat goes off to J.K. Rowling

Oh Max,
Just what I just heard?

That the state imposed audit on the LRSD is the result of their inability to turn in the 05-06 audit at the end of 05-06. It was discussed on here a while back. Well said explanation goes that Dr. Mitchell filed for the exstension, becasue state law could dissolve the board if it was not turned in on time. THis is the precise, underhanded mess you expect from certain entities in the LRSD. Furthermore, this audit will cause teachers not to receive step increases, grade increases or any negotiated raises until after it is over. On top of that this audit will keep the new board from being able to make any expenditures, changes etc until after the 2 seats up for grabs are elected. ITs funny how the machinations of certain people can effect 2,000 underpaid teachers and the students of the district. When will this game of who is in control and in charge stop, so that children can be educated?

ARK. BLOG. Interesting. And I'll check Monday. It seemed clear that the district was behind on filing its paperwork and that the alarm was raised by the "Gang of Four." So, on circumstantial evidence alone, you could begin to wonder if the Brooks administration had tried to engineer a failihg audit to put the district under state supervision. On the other hand, that's a long row to hoe to get to a changeover of the board. But, at a minimum, I wondered why the Brooks-supporter faction had so little to say about the fact that this wondrous superintendent was unable to complete his audits on time. Not the DOG. Not all the parents suing. Not the DOG's law firm, which continues to insist that the new leadership is lacking somehow.

On May 21, Max posted a blog entry titled 'Faith in the workplace:'

"The Tyson Family Foundation has given $2 million to the University of Arkansas to endow a professorship in faith and spirtuality in the workplace. The course will be taught in the business school."

Isn't it interesting that one line in a Regent University Business School faculty position announcement states:

"The applicant should show evidence of comfort with and experience with evangelical Christian faith as well as commitment to the mission and publication of popular press articles on integrating faith into the workplace."

I wonder if UA-Fayetteville has aspirations to be the Regent University of the mid-South?

Because they thougth it would be easy for the state to come in and remove the board, but it doesn't seem as though the state would remeove a board who wasn't responsible for the delayed audit. Then again who knows. Also, they tabled having a board friendly auditor, but are now being audited by the state. Seems as though they don't want the "Black majority" to get a hold of some messed up numbers. All those people who don't understand Dr. Mitchell, must know she has 18 years of memory files of dirt done by previous boards.

I have spent the afternoon preparing a lovely dinner of beef tongue. We're 15 minutes away from a late late dinner and out of 7 people invited to eat....only Ma and I have showed up to chow down.

People people people! We as a nation simply must get over our aversion to eating tongue! Every cow has one, every pig and sheep too and it's against 16 chapters of the Bible to kill an animal and waste the parts.

Now I know what you're going to say....you won't eat anything that comes out of a cow's mouth. But you're perfectly willing to eat eggs in the morning. Think that one over!

Love my job,

The information you need to come to an informed decision is found at A.C.A. 6-11-105, A.C.A. 23-15-20 et seq, Act 1467 of 2003, and ADE Rules and Regulation "Identifying and Governing the Arkansas Fiscal Assessment and Accountability Regulations".

It seems that someone has unkindly shaded information in order to frighten you. The accountability statutes that deal with fiscal distress are very vague as to exactly what will trigger the initiation of fiscal distress declaration by the State Board of Education, but it is very detailed about the due process involved. The Rules and Regs list about 12 findings that "may" trigger the process, some as simple as a bad health or safety review, all the way to very egregious things. I believe your source is using the "failure to turn in fiscal reports on time" category to build the case for conspiracy. If you read the list, you will see that being late with a report is mild compared to some of the other possible violations.

If the Department decided that they wanted to pursue fiscal distress status for the LRSD, they would have to go through a public notification/hearing/appeal process that would take at least 90 days. And, the Department does not have the authority to designate a school as in fiscal distress; only the State Board of Education.

If the SBE decided to declare LRSD in fiscal distress, the district would have to have all debt approved by the SBE. Salaries and current year operating expenditures would not be classified as going into "debt", so none of this would effect your salary, yet.

As to the idea that being late with a report was a clever scheme to unseat the board is also very far-fetched. The SBE does have the authority to replace the Superintendent, temporarily suspend the board, or to completely reorganize the board/administration. The only time that comes to mind that has happened is in the case of Helena/West Helena and at least one other district I cannot recall at the moment.

And, even buying that scenario as a possibility, you realize that the Superintend would not be retained and the board suspended, don't you? It would be the other way around.

http://tinyurl.com/yvergy
". . . Oil refineries across the country have been plagued by a record number of fires, power failures, leaks, spills and breakdowns this year, causing dozens of them to shut down temporarily or trim production. . . ."

O.K. or are we seeing another of Dick Cheney's energy company buddies and booster running a "California Energy Crisis" scam on the entire country and covering-up venalty as he did for the "California Energy Crisis?"
http://tinyurl.com/38w8of

The whole world is wondering . .

PS Number 1 daughter was in line Friday night at midnight to pick up her pre-ordered Harry Potter book.

She finished it by 8 last night and number 2 daughter and wifey started reading it back and forth.

Wifey's at work tonight and number 2 daughter is using the excuse that she can't put Harry Potter down long enough to come eat beef tongue. I bet they serve beef tongue at Hogwarts often!

DBI,

I have to confess, until very recently I did not know that "beef tongue" referred to a literal beef tongue. I found myself gazing into the meat case wondering what it was that I was looking at when it dawned on me ....a beef tongue; and actual tongue. I was shaken.

If you've ever eaten hot dogs, chances are good you've eaten beef tongue. I've never cooked it but I've certainly eaten it before. It was good.

I made Hungarian mushroom soup again tonight, and we enjoyed it as we usually do. But the Brantleyses's cena sounded mucho mejor.

Beef heart is good too, and kids get a kick out of saying it.

They mush up beef hearts in potted meat food product to make it look pink. And all mammals have tongues.
Amazing what you can learn from William Poundstone and Cecil Adams.

All this interest in Beef Tongue reminds me that during World War II, we couldn't get red meat. Meat was rationed throughout the US, but in our little town, meat was seldom available. The butchers usually couldn't get it, and few people in town could afford to buy it anyway. Word spread fast whenever meat would come in -- women stood in lines waiting for whatever cuts might be available, each clutching a purse that held a little round "red ration point", a few coins, and several red- and green-plastic mill tax tokens.

We raised chickens in our basement to survive -- probably against the town ordinances, but we couldn't keep chickens outdoors. We lived next to the railroad tracks, and the hoboes walking next to our house would grab any chicken in sight.

However, the town butcher usually had some Beef Tongue on hand, which sold at two or three cents per pound. Many people in small towns survived on Beef Tongue just as we did.

We loved Beef Tongue. Mom used to boil it for a long time, then we'd slice it like lunch meat.

Ones and zeroes,
Thanks for the accountability and fiscal distress message, however, this isn't about fiscal distress, its about improper reporting of the annual audit. To which the state apparently wasn't happy with so they are preparing a full audit, which freezes the books except for mundane expenses. TEachers are paid off their old contracts. Not the new scale or any increases and then retroactively paid when its over, its happened before. I'm like Max the pro brooks faction hasn't complained about his piss poor bookeeping practice.

Click on Cato.

Let's see if this gets the same press play that McKinney's outburst did last year.

Ecce you must have grown up in a small town not in Arkansas. Most of Ark in 1940s was rural and hence many had chickens, pigs, and a cow and calf. There were many small farms. Deer were abundant and hunters took them year around.

Sure it was a rationed economy, esp for auto parts and tires but meat was still available in Ark. People who had never earned a wage or at least a decent wage were fully employed during WWII. Farmers were eager to market to them. That's what I've read anywaz. I was born when it ended.
.

Final dinner update: My 2 dogs and I enjoyed the beef tongue very much, everyone else took a powder.

Guess I'll scratch my plan for a Saturday whale penis buffet.......

DBI
Incidentally, did you know that the whale has the largest baculum (penis bone) of any mammal? Frighteningly it is the size of an average man's femur!