#Arkansas Democrat Gazette

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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That’s the quote. I was looking for it. And here it is. Hannah Arendt on the Matt Gaetz as AG announcement ::

'This process includes the replacement of all first-rate talents, regardless of their political loyalties, with crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is the best guarantee of their loyalty.' (The Origins of Totalitarianism, renewed version, A Harvest Book New York, 1976, 339)

‪Tamar de Waal‬ ‪@tamardewaal.bsky.social‬

[sweetsmellosuccess]

The second half of Denis Villeneuve's epic adaptation of Frank Herbert's sprawling novel is not without its flaws, but before we get to them, there is call to sing its praises, at least on one specific topic. After a years-long slog of superhero movies with substandard CGI cementing the films as money-grubbing afterthoughts -- like an old, regifted candle wrapped poorly -- Villeneuve's majestic film is a revelation of special effects and cinematography that adds an enormous gravitas and beauty to the proceedings.

It doesn't seem as if it should be so difficult, in this day and technological age, for a high-rolling studio to put the time and effort into its CGI creations such that it enhances and doesn't detract from the picture, and in that sordid process, reveal the chintzy apparatus it's trying to peddle to viewers. Yet, time and again, with big, would-be tentpole blockbusters boasting enormous production budgets, the effects feel flat and unconvincing.

[sweaterkittensahoy]

While keeping to my general "Fuck historical accuracy" rule for this rosielemmons, I am actually from Arkansas and knew the state paper of record (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) was previously two different papers, so I wanted to know which one was more likely to be read by Ken Lemmons.

Which led to this wikipedia line:

The Gazette and the Democrat exchanged words that soon escalated into an exchange of gunfire between the owner of the Democrat and a part-owner of the Gazette.

Because of fucking course it did. Rednecks are gonna redneck.

[carriehillart]

More illustrations of the fun and sassy Billy from her namesake book, “Billy of Arkansas”! The book was first published in 1914, then serialized in the “Arkansas Democrat-Gazette” in 1922. The Gazette has been publishing summaries of it lately, and I’ve had the pleasure of illustrating them! (Fun fact: if you google “Billy of Arkansas”, these stories with my illustrations are the first things to appear! 😍)

[futileexercise]

And they’re scared if drag queens, who are public performers, while this crap… 😡

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

SEE EVANESCENCE'S AMY LEE SING "BRING ME TO LIFE," COVER BEATLES AT VATICAN CONCERT

Lee participated in annual "Concerto Di Natale"

Back on December 17th, Evanescence singer Amy Lee had the unusual honor of performing at the Vatican's annual "Concerto Di Natale" as part of Pope Francis's Christmas celebrations at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome, Italy. She sang her band's smash hit "Bring Me to the Life" and covered the Beatles' "Across the Universe," both accompanied by the Orchestra Italiana del Cinema, conducted by Maestro Adriano Pennino. Today (February 1st), official footage of her performances hit YouTube — watch above and below.

As reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Lee became involved with the concert after she took part in a 2021 songwriting session with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo, at Bocelli's estate in Tuscany. Soon after the fact the Vatican event, she described her participation as an "unforgettable experience." Other performers included AKA7even, Cristina D'Avena, Darin, Fiorella Mannoia and Jimmy Sax.

[masquedrones]

La vigilancia con drones sin consentimiento provoca una disputa legal en Arkansas

Un notable conflicto legal ha surgido en Arkansas en relación con la supuesta vigilancia no autorizada con drones realizada por Clean Harbors, una empresa especializada en la gestión de residuos peligrosos. Según informaciones del Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Clean Harbors se enfrenta a serias consecuencias tras el vuelo de un dron operado por uno de sus empleados sobre las instalaciones de su…

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

John Deering, Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Play offense, not defense!

September 16, 2024

Robert B. Hubbell

Things are going so badly for Donald Trump's campaign that he has decided it is better to stoke outrage with racist lies and attacks on Taylor Swift than allow the media and public to focus on the ugly truth of his collapsing campaign.

So, let’s resist Trump’s disinformation gambit and focus first on Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who are crisscrossing the country to carry their message to persuadable voters. Harris and Walz will visit Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and North Carolina this week. According to the Harris-Walz campaign,

Harris will be doing a sit-down interview with the National Association of Black Journalists in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. She will then head to Michigan for a live stream event with Oprah on Thursday, [and then] she plans to be in Wisconsin on Friday. On Tuesday, September 17, Governor Tim Walz will host a series of political events in Macon and Atlanta, Georgia and Asheville, North Carolina.

The race remains effectively tied, although Kamala Harris has maintained her initial momentum despite predictions that it would evaporate shortly after the convention. (Sorry to disappoint you, Nate Silver!). And every objective signal suggests Harris is driving new registrations and fueling unprecedented levels of grassroots activism and small donor contributions. In August, Kamala Harris’s fundraising total was triple that of Trump's—driven almost entirely by small donor donations.

I always urge readers to ignore the polls, but new voter registrations are verifiable and quantifiable. I will spare you the details, but new voter registrations are higher across the board compared to 2020—with Black women, voters “under 30,” and women showing significant increases over 2020. Those cohorts have strong Democratic correlation. (If you are interested in new voter registrations, Tom Bonier is keeping track on Twitter.)

 It is difficult to quantify the effect of raw enthusiasm, but every objective observer knows that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are leading on that metric as well—which is why cynics like Nate Silver continue to “discount” Harris’s lead in the polls to offset what they believe is an unsustainable level of support for Harris.

It is also worth noting that Kamala Harris has met and exceeded every expectation marker that doubters and critics set for her. Although many doubted her ability to secure the nomination, she did so in 48 hours. Her convention speech was a soaring success—described as “presidential” by even her toughest critics. Her first sit-down interview with major media (Dana Bash) was a solid success. And her performance in the first debate was historic. Indeed, Trump is still trying to recover from her resounding victory, which explains why he has doubled down on racism and hate as a diversionary tactic.

So, we should look ahead with confidence to her sprint to the finish. She is on message, energetic, and positive as she challenges the biggest threat to democracy in nearly a century. We can take nothing for granted, but we are well-positioned for the final 50 days of the campaign.

We should be inspired to work with even greater dedication and confidence—and to ignore the noise that is the sound of Trump's campaign desperately trying to distract attention from its failures while appealing to the ugliest instincts of his base. Read on!

Trump and Vance turn up the volume on anti-immigrant attacks and hate

Trump and JD Vance doubled down on racism and hate over the weekend—apparently concluding that provoking criticism for those statements is better than allowing the press to dwell on Trump's disastrous debate performance and his continuing decline in the polls (all within the margin of error).

Trump started Sunday morning by posting “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” on Truth Social. It was a reprehensible post on many levels—but most fundamentally because “hate” has no place in political discourse. Such vitriol can only serve to motivate Trump's followers to threaten, harass, or harm Taylor Swift. Every responsible media outlet in America should condemn Trump's attack on Swift—but as of Sunday evening, most outlets are simply reporting the fact of the attack without commentary. Let’s hope that changes soon.

Just as reprehensible as Trump's attack on Taylor Swift was JD Vance’s appearance for an interview on Dana Bash’s show on CNN’s State of the Nation. Vance not only failed to acknowledge that his attacks on Haitians were baseless, but he also seemed to suggest (and then retract) that it was acceptable to fabricate false stories about immigrants if doing so caused the media to focus on the problem of immigration.

During a back-and-forth with Dana Bash about whether the reports of immigrants eating domestic pets were true, JD Vance said,

If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast.

JD Vance later seemed to retract the statement, saying that his comments were based on “first-hand reports from constituents.”

But Vance’s attempt to retract his statement is unavailing. He admitted that “creating stories” was acceptable to counter the media’s alleged (but non-existent) bias in favor of Kamala Harris. Whether he did so with respect to the cat-eating immigrants is beside the point. As one reader noted in an email Sunday evening, “This is simply unbelievable. Right out of the Nazi playbook of the early 30s.”

The reader forwarded an article from The Bulwark, Trump Team: ‘We’ll Take The Hit’ on Cat Eating to Keep Immigration in the News.

Per The Bulwark,

Bash suggested the rhetoric from Trump and Vance incited bomb threats and risked violence, but Vance called the insinuation “disgusting” and refused to tone down his approach, delighting conservatives on social media. [¶¶] Privately, Trump aides think it’s a net plus. The longer the discussion is about migrants, the less it is about tougher topics for them. “We talk about abortion, we lose. We talk about immigration, we win,” said one Trump adviser. But what about spreading an incendiary story for which there is no evidence? “We’ll take the hit to prove the bigger point,” the adviser said.

In the last two lines above, the Trump campaign adviser seems to confirm that JD Vance “spread incendiary stories for which there is no evidence.” As the reader noted, directing such slander to immigrants and foreigners is, indeed, “right out of the Nazi playbook.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded with a tweet:

Cats! Dogs! Geese! Laura Loomer! Look, now he’s attacking Taylor! Like the last season before a show gets canceled for getting over-the-top and, at the same time, boring. This election is about jobs, wages, climate, health care, abortion. Not his show. Your life.

Secretary Buttigieg is right: Trump understands that he is on the verge of being canceled and is going all out to retain viewership.

Trump may also be attempting to create distractions to divert the press from talking about rumors about his relationship with Laura Loomer, the right wing provocateur who had been traveling with Trump on his private jet. (Trump's campaign managers have apparently banned Loomer from further travel on the jet.}

Finally, Heather Cox Richardson noted that the anti-immigrant hate may be an attempt to gain control of the Senate by defeating Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. See September 13, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson. Per HCR,

The widespread ridicule of Trump’s statement has obscured that this attack on Ohio’s immigrants is part of an attempt to regain control of the Senate. Convincing Ohio voters that the immigrants in their midst are subhuman could help Republicans defeat popular Democratic incumbent senator Sherrod Brown, who has held his seat since 2007. Brown and Montana’s Jon Tester, both Democrats in states that supported Trump in 2020, are key to controlling the Senate. 

The key question, of course, is whether Trump's tactics will work. Most people in Springfield, Ohio know that Trump's lies are racial slurs with no basis in fact. Such lies will not expand Trump's base—and will likely offend persuadable independents and Democrats who might have otherwise stayed at home.

A note on the second apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump

The Secret Service foiled a second potential assassination attempt on Trump's life. See Trump safe after potential assassination attempt at golf course. (This article is accessible to all.) As details are still developing, I will refrain from discussion, other than to say that in a nation with more than 300 million guns, many will find their way into the hands of people with mental health issues and tendencies toward violence.

The most reprehensible response to the attempted assassination on Trump was that posted by Elon Musk on Twitter. In response to a tweet that said, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?”, Musk posted,

“And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”

The Secret Service and FBI should treat Musk’s post as an incitement to assassinate Biden and Harris until Musk explains otherwise. Taking the Tweet down would be a good first step in that direction. Musk’s companies are major US government contractors. All of his companies’ contracts with the US government should be put under review. It is unacceptable for the US government to be doing business with a person questioning why Biden and Harris have not been the subject of assassination attempts.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[sweetsmellosuccess]

In 30 years as a movie star, Leonardo DiCaprio has played everyone including a mentally challenged man-child, Romeo, historic figures like Howard Hughes and J. Edgar Hoover and slick, unscrupulous con men like Jordan Belfort. Yet he's never played a character more jarringly amoral as Ernest Burkhart, the salty protagonist in Martin Scorsese's adaptation of David Grann's true crime book "Killers of the Flower Moon." He comes to a small, oil-rich town in Oklahoma, and becomes the treacherous, morally reprehensible henchman of his even more corrupt uncle, William "King" Hale (Robert De Niro), en route to destroying an entire Osage family.

DiCaprio has long had a baby face, which served him well as a teen heartthrob and young movie star, but, at times, less convincingly playing more adult roles. Here, the 49-year-old has never looked worse or more convincing. His face wan and puffy, his teeth subtly altered, his mouth perpetually in a De Niro-esque frown, he plays Ernest as the worst kind of duplicitous: Bizarrely unaware of his own utter moral decrepitude.

[vegasgogreen]

OPINION | Curtis Varnell: How changing laws morphed perception of Marijuana from dangerous hallucinogens to something tamer - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

http://dlvr.it/TCd4pM

[01courtreporter]

Susan Frances King (Hurt) Obituary | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ...

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

[nathanmonjko]

On the trail, Biden urges calm, truth-telling - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

... brutality and banning weapons like the AR-style rifle used in the weekend attack on Trump. "It's time for an important conversation in this ...