Charlie Alison

A bronze statue of George Mason on the campus of George Mason University.

A New York Times headline today: “Faculty Support of George Mason’s President Draws Federal Investigation.”

It is a rare thing for faculty to agree with their president, but a federal offense? Best evidence yet that everyone in the current administration is doing ketamine the same day each week.

I assume this will entail revising Arkansas maps depicting flood zones based on recognition that something (don’t call it climate change) is shifting how big a 100-year flood is today.

On average, we have four plane crashes in America per day, which seems crazy. This research looks at how to reduce that number.

Study Finds High Protein Diet Improves Birds' Ability to Tolerate Infection Research identifies diet-driven differences in how canary immune systems respond to infection while revealing how a protein diet primes the birds to resist infection.

Research @UArkansas identifies diet driven differences in how canary immune systems respond to infection while revealing how a protein diet primes the birds to resist infection @uarkansas.bsky.social @sauerscientist.bsky.social @clstacy.bsky.social
news.uark.edu/articles/786...

Opinion | Really, Secretary Rubio? I’m Lying About the Kids Dying Under Trump?

Nicholas Kristoff calls out Rubio, the guy who put the demon in demonstrably false.

Remembering Leroy Pond, a soldier from Fayetteville, Arkansas, and died in battle during WWII.

The new Mission Boulevard side trail in Fayetteville, Arkansas, leading toward Root Elementary School.

59 years ago, I rode a bicycle along this stretch of highway. I was 8 and headed to grade school. Every kid walked or bicycled via the highway. It was a different time. This spring, Fayetteville, Ark., added a side trail to the highway so that kids today can do the same thing, albeit more safely.

My wife and I rewatched “Paper Moon” a couple nights ago after not seeing it for at least a couple of decades. We were a little worried, though, that it would feel like a 1970s version of the 1930s, if you know what I mean. We were quite relieved. It held up really well. Actors were pitch perfect.

You had me at “train.” All the rest is bonus. Who is the author? And, yes, I’m too lazy to google it! Just kidding. I’ll go look right now.

Town Hall: Federal Budget Cuts Threaten Critical Services The mission of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families is to ensure that all children and their families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize t...

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families will hold a town hall May 13 at the Jones Center in Springdale. Learn how proposed federal budget cuts will affect services for families in NWA.

More information and registration is here. All are welcome.
www.aradvocates.org/events/town-...

Harvard should watch out. When a Trump appointee makes a stupid mistake, someone usually winds up in a foreign gulag. But, best case scenario, your top secret conversation is published in The Atlantic.

Trump has gone through four IRS directors in four months. If I were Rubio, I might be dusting off my resumé.

A calming few moments for the morning.

Clams, lobstah, did anyone suggest starfish yet?

I like that we all see the world a little differently, Ben. Walking is good for whatever needs tending. Keep at it!

If you were a seller of domestic automobiles and knew your competitors selling foreign-built automobiles would have to charge customers 25% to cover tariffs, might you be apt to raise your own prices 10%, knowing you can still undersell the competition but boost your own profits at the same time?

Hanging out with the moon and Venus tonight.

During our walk tonight, the dog got tired of waiting for its shadow.

5. Infernal combustion machines are obstacles (outright bans)

I think you mean “used to get a lot more money back.” With all the cuts being made by President Musk, we all might end up in the red. No pun intended.

Trump Fires 17 Inspectors General in Late-Night Purge The internal government watchdogs were believed to have been dismissed at several major agencies, though the Justice Department’s was not said to have been among them.

Breaking News: President Trump fired 17 inspectors general in a late-night purge of the internal government watchdogs, people with knowledge of the move said.

Well, we’ve had snow on the ground for two weeks now, which says more about how cold it has been than how much snow we got.

The two states of being are not mutually exclusive. He’s at his most unpredictable when you’re not the manipulator.

The rising moon and the Inn at Carnall at left.

The setting moon with Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus.

Moonrise on Monday and moonset this morning, both in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The moonset includes the University of Arkansas’s Old Main framed by pine trees.

Taking a Schrödinger’s cat photograph: The full moon outside and a china cabinet inside, both at the same time. Maybe there’s more to this quantum superposition thing than I realized. Or didn’t.

I love how she caught the gleam in Jeff Bezos’ eye. Not much else to like about a newspaper avoiding its job or Telnaes feeling the need to resign.

Is my math correct? Even if the CPB were completely eliminated, it would only reduce the federal spending 0.00008% of the federal budget? Seems like we could save more just eliminating DOGE, right?

NPR and PBS Stations Brace for Funding Battle Under Trump Republicans in Congress have tried to defund public media for decades. With the help of Elon Musk, could they finally make good on their threat?

public media funding is always under threat — but now Elon Musk is targeting NPR and PBS for budget cuts. @benmullin.bsky.social and I found out how stations are preparing: www.nytimes.com/2024/12/27/b...

A two-story house, lit by golden lights and a holiday string of bulbs, is framed by the silhouette of a walnut tree

The front porch of a home glows under Christmas lights strung along its width.

Strands of lights frame the roof lines of a house on Washington Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas

The front porch of a house is lit up like day by numerous strands of white bulbs wrapping the porch’s three columns

Four houses in nearby neighborhoods.

Opinion | Unsettled by the future? This is the moment for the ‘Messiah.’ Handel’s beloved oratorio was born out of turmoil. It’s fitting for today.

Charles King, perhaps the first person I interviewed after starting work at The Springdale News back in the late 1980s, has a new book out about a guy whose handle is Handel and whose song is titled “Messiah.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...