W O RDS
Wear your kneepads “Afterward, Pryor said it was difficult to engage in a detailed conversation, especially on issues such as the fiscal cliff — a combination of tax increases and spending cuts that are set to go into effect next year. Many economists warn that it will kneecap the economy if it isn’t averted.” The verb kneecap is not one I expected to hear in a discussion of the American economy. A TV cop show, maybe. But I guess I haven’t been paying attention. Apparently this usage has been accepted as standard for some time now. My old Random House says that to kneecap is “to cripple (a person) by shooting in the knee.”
Bullying and discrimination in Little Rock schools Michel Leidermann
When Sandra met Clifford:
Moderator
We barely survived Hurricane Sandy and now we’re threatened by Fiscal Cliff. Seems a bit much, although I suspect Cliff may be overrated. But Sandy did real harm, too much to be wearing an affectionate diminutive, I think. Hurricanes are not cute, especially the really big ones. What’s next? Hurricane Cissy? Hurricane Tubby? Wise up, weathermen. I bet nobody ever called Sandra Palin “Sandy.” Not and lived to tell about it. “Auburn Coach Gene Chizik walks the sidelines during the second half of Saturday’s 49-0 loss to Alabama at Bryant-
EL LATINO Program AETN-TV Sunday, Dec. 23, 11 pm Monday, Dec. 24, 10:30 pm Broadcast in Spanish
Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Chizik was fired Sunday after a 3-9 season by Athletic Director Jay DOUG Jacobs.” Bick SatSMITH dougsmith@arktimes.com terfield asks, “If the A.D. had a 3-9 season, why didn’t they fire him instead of the coach?” “ ‘Duane Neal had been an intricate part of the success of the Arkansas Republican Party that we are enjoying now,’ Barnett said.” The word that fits here is integral, Michael Klossner points out. As with kneecap and the economy, I found this language a little odd in an article about the Connecticut school massacre. “ ‘It’s alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America,’ he said. His daughter was fine. ... Mergim Bajraliu, 17, heard the gunshots from his home and ran to check on his 9-year-old sister at the school. He said his sister, who was fine, heard a scream come over the intercom at one point.” Fine seems subjective and premature. I’d use safe or unharmed.
WEEK THAT WAS
It was a good week for... if the world is going to end ...
spend your last night with us
FUNDRAISER
BENEFITTING THE
December 21st
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10
DECEMBER 19, 2012
ARKANSAS TIMES
HIGH PROFILE PETITIONS. The attorney general’s office has asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to reconsider its 4-3 ruling that school districts can keep property tax dollars that exceed the state’s per-student funding minimum. Meanwhile, Gov. Mike Beebe has asked the court for permission to file an amicus brief in the case. Beebe’s legal counsel said the governor was mindful of separation of power issues and the court’s “unquestioned role” in interpreting the Constitution and law. “In this case, however, the governor respectfully submits the court has erred and that a rehearing is warranted ... .”
It was a bad week for... MIKE HUCKABEE. The former Arkansas governor, infamous for saying callous and stupid things throughout his career, outdid himself in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. “We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools,” Huckabee said on Fox News. “Should we be so surprised
that schools would become a place of carnage?” Later, again on Fox News, he doubled down, linking “tax-funded abortion pills” to the massacre. ATTORNEY GENERAL DUSTIN MCDANIEL. In a statement, he admitted that he had a “limited interaction” with Hot Springs attorney Andrea “Andi” Davis, some of which was “inappropriate.” The issue was forced into the open by a Dec. 3 filing in Garland County, in a divorce filed by Davis against her husband Fred Day. Day asked Davis for a series of admissions. One of them asks: “Please admit that you had sexual relations with Attorney General of the state of Arkansas Dustin McDaniel in 2011 or 2012.” Davis responded: “Objection. The question asks for information irrelevant to the issues before the court and is asked solely to harass and annoy.” REP. DAVID MEEKS. The Conway Republican told the Democrat-Gazette that he didn’t believe the cuts proposed by the Arkansas Department of Human Services to close a $138 million shortfall were necessary. Meeks, echoing a point many state Republicans have put forward, said through identifying waste and finding other revenue the gap can be closed. Thus far, neither Meeks nor any other Republican has been specific about waste and other funding sources. Meanwhile, DHS has already implemented aggressive costsavings measures (see details on page 24).