Andanh.com

Starts now.

My Friday night? I know you want to know -- Thai salad:  vermicelli, slices of grilled ribeye, sliced Napa cabbage, chopped green onions, minced fresh cilantro, spicy peanut sauce out of a bottle from Kroger, salted peanuts on top. (Above is a very rough approximation from the web. More vegetables -- carrot and cucumber, particularly -- could add a nice crunch and even some vitamins. But you can't beat a lot of fresh uncooked cabbage for vitamins.)

I heard today from Court of Appeals Judge Wendell Griffen, in a letter about his reaction to yesterday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of detainees at Guantanamo. That was one of the subjects he touched in a guest column for the Arkansas Times that contributed to his long-running conflict with the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission over efforts to curb his First Amendment rights.

Judge Griffen won the battle but lost a war. His notoriety undoubtedly was a factor in his defeat in a re-election bid this year.

In the course of getting permission to reprint his letter (on the jump), he told me what the future holds.

He'll join the faculty of the UALR Bowen School of Law as a visiting professor in spring 2009, teaching a pre-trial course in criminal procedure and leading a seminar on Cultural Competency, Inclusion and Law. He said: "The seminar will examine how cultural competency--and the absence of it--operates in the context of legal controversies, court decisions, and societal outcomes. "

He also has formed a consulting firm, Griffen Strategic Consulting, which will assist business, government, education and religious organizations "in achieving proactive success" in leadership development, organizational management, conflict resolution, team building and morale, diversity and inclusion, community relations, public affairs and legal affairs. His term on the court runs through the end of this year.

I had lunch with someone who attended the fund-raiser at UALR last night for Arkansas Baptist College. "Did you hear that [Alltel CEO] Scott Ford gave $2.5 million to build a dorm?" he asked.

I had not.

No need to make a phone call. Jim Harris at Arkansas Business has the report on Ford's gift, for a men's dorm to be named after the college's athletic director and basketball coach, Charles Ripley. The event otherwise raised $100,000. Autographed Darren McFadden footballs were going for $200 a pop, we heard.

Here's the new Arkansas stamp in the Flags of Our Nation series from the Postal Service. A ceremony to celebrate the new stamp is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Old State House.

PS -- The only image I could find of the stamp pre-dates a postal rate increase to 42 cents. The new stamp will bear that amount.

Is the mayor of Helena-West Helena: a) insensitive b) cruel c) a dumbass d) all of the above?

Perhaps we should feed and water the mayor and cut him loose over by Lake Peckerwood.

The statement mayor James Valley issued about release of dogs from the city "shelter" is on the jump.

I see in the D-G today that Hog coach Bobby Petrino, after being touted for weeks in advertising as a speaker at a coming motivational conference in NLR, has found other things to do. (Funny that the article focused on Arkansas Business advertising. The ads also ran in the D-G. Here, AB straightens out that particular record.)

Do you think attention focused here May 11 on the multi-million-dollar-man already out moonlighting on his public employer -- and using copyright-protected Hog paraphernalia to do it -- might have had some influence on his change of plans just a few days later? D-G article today says he dropped out of the pep rally three weeks ago. Just curious. Good decision, whatever the reason.

The NY Times examines complaints of sexism in media coverage of Hillary Clinton and seems to conclude, on balance, that it wasn't sexist.

I think the framing of the article misses the point -- except tangentially. There were undeniably occasional sexist episodes in coverage and commentary. The larger question is whether Hillary got a rougher ride, generally, than her opponents -- for reasons related more to her personally than to her gender. One commenter noted this.

Many in the news media say it is important to look at the coverage of Mrs. Clinton in the context of the coverage of Mr. Obama. While hers was frequently positive, his was even more so — even “euphoric,” said Mr. Rieder of American Journalism Review. That may have added to the impression that the Clinton coverage was negative, he said.

Uh, yeah.

The general election campaign will be interesting. You've read that Obama has established a website to combat smears. The GOP is moving merrily ahead with plans to demonize his wife. Smearing was fair game with the Clintons. The mainstream media, time after time, let nonsense hatched in political attack rooms insinuate itself into regular coverage. Even today, on this blog, we still argue about the Clintons' death list. Perhaps Obama can enforce -- or shame -- some higher standards on media. We'll see. He certainly isn't likely to enforce any new standards on the Rethugs.

Just wondering: Will this nut get the same attention Say McIntosh got for his Clinton allegations? He's about equally credible, sounds like.

Paul Krugman finds political roots in salmonella outbreaks, mad cow and more.

Such hard-core opponents of regulation [as Grover Norquist and Milton Friedman] were once part of the political fringe, but with the rise of modern movement conservatism they moved into the corridors of power. They never had enough votes to abolish the F.D.A. or eliminate meat inspections, but they could and did set about making the agencies charged with ensuring food safety ineffective.

Thanks to JP for a link to a Wall Street Journal article on the packaging and branding of independent megachurches in the style of Starbucks and McDonald's for worldwide growth, with income streams to match.

The lead is built around a Paragould native, Troy Gramling, of Broward County, Florida's Flamingo Road church, coming soon, via satellite, to theaters near you -- and Starbucks. Gramling blogs here.

I'm not persuaded that the keno approved for use in Arkansas racinos today by the state Racing Commision is any more a game of skill than dice, where you also may increase your bet if you like the point that comes up after an initial throw. What we now clearly have is the cover of a paid consultant determining the legality of gambling practices in Arkansas. Since the consultant's money flows from ever-growing gambling, it follows that most schemes will be smiled upon. And the Racing Commission will smile upon anything that brings more money to the Oakland and Southland racinos. Somebody ought to sue.

Or we might as well deal the cards, roll the dice and spin the roulette wheel. The differences now are only cosmetic. But only at the Oaklawn and Southland racinos, of course. They enjoy a state monopoly on gambling until the Bill Halter Memorial Lottery takes effect.