The Arkansas Project

‘20 and Counting’: Duggar Book Drops Tuesday

By David Kinkade - December 1, 2008 5:55 pm

Did you know that the Duggar family has a book, “20 and Counting,” hitting stores tomorrow? I didn’t. How come you never tell me these things?

MSNBC has excerpts.

Huntsville: Anti-Obama Rebel Flag Display Stirs Debate

By David Kinkade - November 28, 2008 8:25 am

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s John Krupa offers up some fine reporting from the Faubus Motel in scenic Huntsville, Ark., where owners James and Linda Vandiver hoisted the Confederate flag on electon night as a protest against big government:

The Vandivers said they didn’t raise the Rebel flag to protest a black man moving into the White House, as many of their neighbors assume. Instead, they did it because they believe the country has abandoned the principles of its founders by electing Obama.

Linda Vandiver said the Democrat is a Marxist who wants to turn America into a socialist country.

Obama wants to redistribute wealth by raising taxes on the rich, create a universal healthcare system and institute a global tax aimed at eliminating worldwide poverty, she said.

“We think socialism is deeply rooted in him, and we’ll see it manifest in all areas,” Linda Vandiver said. “This doesn’t have anything to do with despising Mr. Obama’s color. We’d like to celebrate the fact that for the first time we have a black president. But we can’t.”

Rebel Rebel

The Vandivers’ protest has sparked sharp debate in tiny Huntsville (pop. 2,000ish), with the editor of the local paper, Kyle Mooty of the Madison County Record, saying he’s received some 20 letters to the editor on the issue in the last three weeks. (And whaddya know, Mooty has a little blog of his own over at the newspaper’s website, where he weighs in on this very issue.)

Meanwhile, Krupa’s story notes that local Methodist minister Heath Bradley has urged his congregation to write in asking that the flag be taken down. Bradley makes the case as to why he thinks the flag should come down on his blog.

The Arkansas Project first noted this story from a local TV station on November 6. I wasn’t able to find a photo of the offending flag online, so I put up that shot of a chick in a rebel flag bikini over there for your enjoyment. I figure if you’re reading this, it’s probably because your jackass of a boss is requiring you to be in the office on the day after Thanksgiving, so you could use some good news.

Arkansas Project Most Handsome Blogger

By David Kinkade - November 25, 2008 7:54 pm

Arkansas Project publisher "Dapper" Dave Kinkade in an undated file photo

It’s official: Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times has dubbed me more handsome than Think Tank blogger Blake Rutherford. The truth came out in a webcast interview with KATV reporter Kristin Fisher this evening, which you could watch here if there was a video archive, but there’s not, so you’ll just have to imagine it. (Rutherford pouts about it here. There’s no shame in coming in second to a face like this, Blake.)

I asked Arkansas Project Girlfriend (APG) how it felt to know that she’s with the most handsome political blogger in Arkansas, and she just snorted and said “that’s kind of like being voted most likely to succeed in a terminal cancer ward.” There are times when I really wish APG would just shut up and let me savor my victories.

Man Moves to Arkansas to Kick Porn Addiction

By David Kinkade - November 24, 2008 10:51 am

Author David Yale

I’m not sure when this blog turned into the Arkansas edition of Fleshbot, but it’s a holiday week so we’ll take whatever news we can get.

A dedicated Arkansas Project reader sends along a note about a new book, “Saying NO to Naked Women,” a loosely fictionalized chronicle of how author David Yale kicked his addiction to pornography and meaningless sex by moving to a humble shack in backwoods Arkansas, where he can confront his demons. Why Arkansas, you ask? Here’s why:

…we got to Arkansas, and I loved the mountains. A real estate agent said he had just the type of land I wanted: remote – about 30 miles from town, with water on it, wooded but also including a small flat field that would make an excellent vegetable garden – and it was cheap. If memory serves me, I paid $96 down and $48 a month for five years – and then I owned it, free and clear. My total tax bill was $1.80 a year, payable in three equal installments if need be! When I saw the rock-rimmed pool and waterfall, I fell in love with it and wrote a check on the spot.

I’m glad this guy found inner peace and all, but I’m going to be honest with you, looking at that picture, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that coming up with ways to say “no” to naked women is probably the least of his problems. I think a better place to start might be by kicking his addiction to wearing ties with short sleeve shirts.

Nude Photos on Cell Phone Lead to Lawsuit (UPDATED)

By David Kinkade - November 23, 2008 1:05 pm

You may have seen this story about Phillip and Tina Sherman, the couple in Bella Vista, Arkansas, who lost a cell phone that just happened to contain nude photos of the wife. They’re suing McDonald’s after a McDonald’s employee allegedly found the phone and uploaded the photos to the Internet, along with their personal information. They want $3 million for their trouble.

Since this is a high-quality professional blog that adheres to only the highest journalistic standards, I spent a good 2 hours running various image searches on Google, Yahoo, Flickr, Photobucket and assorted other photo sites to find said naked images to present to you, the Arkansas Project reader.

Then it occurred to me that that’s a pretty pathetic way to spend my time, and anyway, I don’t even know if this woman is hot enough to make it worth the effort. So I’m gonna give it another 2 or 3 hours, and if nothing shows up I’m hanging it up.

Update: OK, a reader sends this along, but I honestly don’t know if it’s reliable or not. A blog search turns up this Photoshop job of a sexy chick in lingerie layered onto an iPhone image with a McDonald’s logo superimposed. It’s being circulated as one of the “Tina Sherman” photos (the lingerie image, that is, not the iPhone image or McDonald’s logo, which would ostensibly be manipulations after the fact):

So is the woman in the lingerie Tina Sherman? What am I, Hugh Hefner? I don’t know. She’s not nude, but she is good looking, so unless and until verifiable photos of the real Tina Sherman emerge, let’s all just agree to pretend that this is what she looks like, because I have the feeling it’s much better than the reality.

Update to the Update: I see that the Drudge Report has now picked up on the story as well, which means that tens of thousands of perverts serious researchers the world over are, as we speak, putting their ninja web search skills to work digging up the (real) Tina Sherman photos.

Update to the Update to the Update: Here’s one guy who’s getting out there and saying that the photos are probably a hoax, a claim he makes based on the absence of evidence:

One problem, no photos and no alleged website where they reportedly taken down from.

Nobody seems to be able to locate any photo other than the tired cropped one below.

Some unscrupulous sites, in order to capture traffic, have resorted to “censoring” the image, or using ones like the shower image above. (which we found on google images) Some have even been making claims to posess video.

This of course only leads to malware and viruses. So stop searching.

We’ve searched high and low and have found no evidence of the validity of this story’s claim.

By the way, don’t you wish I covered Arkansas political developments with the same depth and dedication that I did this naked photos story?

Really? You do? Jesus, you are so lame.

Update X 4: That ain’t Tina Sherman in the Photoshop image above. It’s actress Chyler Leigh, who’s apparently on “Grey’s Anatomy.” I don’t watch that show, because I am a heterosexual male, but I’ll get Arkansas Project Girlfriend (APG) to confirm it for me, since she does. That is, if APG’s still talking to me after all the attention I’ve given this topic over the last two days. We might as well go ahead and put that question in the “Unconfirmed” folder as well.

Bridge Inspectors Over Troubled Waters

By David Kinkade - November 17, 2008 6:44 am

The Under the Dome blog reports that Arkansas is facing a shortage of bridge inspectors. I don’t know why that would be, because that doesn’t seem like a very hard job. I mean, what could it entail? You just check the bridge for cracks, maybe jump up and down on it a few times, look underneath to make sure there are no trolls living under there? Yeah, that sounds fine. Sign me up.

Craighead Co. Weighs Women’s Prison Needs

By David Kinkade - November 13, 2008 6:13 pm

Poking around some newspapers from the hinterlands, I came across a story from the Jonesboro Sun about female inmates in the Craighead County Detention Center, and I thought, Oh, this might be interesting for The Arkansas Project. But it turns out that it’s all about budget stuff and the need for more detention space, so never mind. It’s nothing at all like that DVD I watched the other night.

De Queen Bans Pit Bulls in City Limits

By David Kinkade - November 12, 2008 2:12 pm

Arkansas Project mascot Spartacus

Sorry, Sevier County dogfighting enthusiasts, but if you were looking at getting a pit bull, you’ll need to rethink your plan if you live inside De Queen city limits. The AP reports that De Queen officials approved an ordinance banning pit pulls:

De Queen Mayor Billy Ray Kelvy says no one’s been attacked, but that the city council has received complaints about the dogs. The city’s new ordinance, approved last week, bans four breeds of pit bull: American pit bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers and American bulldogs.

Dogs that are a mixture of any of the four breeds are also banned.

I’m glad that we don’t have an ordinance like that in Little Rock, because I’m pretty certain my beloved dog, Spartacus, has some pit bull in his lineage. He’s a fighter, that’s for sure.

Arkansas Baby Named for Obama

By David Kinkade - November 7, 2008 9:07 am

Si se puede!

Here’s an AP report on people naming their babies for President-elect Barack Obama. Among the early adopters: Walter and Adria Kimbrough of Little Rock (he’s president of Philander Smith College), whose son Benjamin Barack Kimbrough was born on Election Day.

I understand people are excited, but this is moving awfully fast. Let’s remember that Obama was only elected three days ago, and hasn’t been sworn in or, you know, done anything yet, so the flush to hero worship seems a little hasty. At this rate, I expect someone will be seeing his face in a tortilla by about this time next week.

Huntsville Motel Owner Hoists Confederate Flag

By David Kinkade - November 6, 2008 10:07 am

The owner of the Faubus Motel in Huntsville, Ark., replaces his U.S. flag with a Confederate model the day after Barack Obama’s election to the White House, Channel 40/29 in Fayetteville reports. Probably just a coincidence.

UCA Combats Identity Theft

By David Kinkade - November 6, 2008 8:24 am

The University of Central Arkansas student accounting society hosted an event yesterday to spread awareness about the dangers of identity theft, bringing shredders to campus to give students a chance to destroy credit card offers, sensitive paperwork and incriminating documents:

UCA’s Beta Alpha Psi chapter says college students make up 31 percent of the nation’s identity theft victimes each year. It said half of all college students receive credit card applications weekly and that many are tossed out without being shredded.

Some colleges also post grades by Social Security number, another possible source for fraud, the accounting society said.

I used to worry a lot about identity theft, until I realized that anyone who stole my identity would be dead within 24 hours from the sheer thrill of being me, physically and psychologically overwhelmed because my life is so glamorous and awesome. Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe I just heard Arkansas Project Girlfriend (APG) yelling from the kitchen that my microwave burrito is ready.

‘Alex, I’ll Take “Wynne Natives” for $200′

By David Kinkade - October 29, 2008 7:08 pm

Wynne native Anders Reynolds on Jeopardy

A loyal Arkansas Project reader sends along a tip that Arkansas native Anders Reynolds will be a contestant on long-running nerdfest game show “Jeopardy.” This week? I think it’s this week. Political connection: Reynolds is a staffer for Democratic U.S. Rep. Marion Berry of Arkansas’ Mighty First District.

Click here to watch a video of Reynolds making a horrible pun on his hometown’s name. Ooooh, he’s a quiz show contestant AND he makes terrible puns! I’ll bet he gets all the ladies. And by “all the ladies,” I of course mean “none of them.” But all good luck to him nonetheless.

Duggar Watch: Wedding Reception Report

By David Kinkade - October 18, 2008 6:02 pm

Anna and Josh Duggar

Arkansas Watch blogger Mark Moore has been inspecting his web traffic statistics and has learned the hard lesson I learned: No one cares what we think about politics or issues; our readers only want more about the Duggar family. I swear, sometimes I feel like I hardly know you.

An astute reader of market signals, Moore is giving the people what they ask for with a report from the wedding reception held up in northwest Arkansas for newlyweds Josh and Anna Duggar, with numerous candid photos. Head over to the Watch for much, much more, since you’re so damn obsessed.

Unintentionally Funny Arkansas Headline of the Day

By David Kinkade - October 13, 2008 7:21 pm

From the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas, with apologies to our Carroll County readers (click image for larger version):

Duggars ‘17 and Counting’ Review in NYT

By David Kinkade - October 8, 2008 1:44 pm

Arkansas' first family

Since I’ve recently discovered that Arkansas Project readers are nutso for all things Duggar, here’s a little something for you: The New York Times offers a review of the “17 and Counting” reality show on TLC focusing on the massive northwest Arkansas brood and their wacky misadventures:

“17 Kids and Counting” maintains a compassionate tone toward the Duggars. But its existence seems designed to make anyone watching it feel righteous. The mother of the well-spoken only child gets to feel smug. The religious mother of six gets to feel as though Christian families are sacred. This show doesn’t exploit the people in it; it exploits the divisions among everyone watching.

Arkansas Fat Kids Get Off Easy

By David Kinkade - October 8, 2008 8:28 am

"I'm not fat! I'm big-boned!"

Since the state began measuring body mass index in schools five years ago, there has been no increase in taunting of overweight children, Rob Moritz of the Arkansas News Bureau reports.

The results came in a special study by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Says Dr. Joe Thompson, Arkansas surgeon general: “We took some pretty major steps to safeguard the children and I’m pleased with the findings because it shows our safeguards work.”

I, for one, am deeply discouraged by these findings. If kids don’t taunt fat girls, where will they find the motivation to lose weight and turn into smokin’ hotties? How will the tough kids of tomorrow hone their skills at intimidation and bullying without picking on the fattest among us?

Sure, they’ve got the stupid, the uglies, the sissies and the weirdos to pick on, but picking on the fat kids is a vital part of that formative experience.

I’m just kidding, of course. I’m a Republican in Little Rock, Arkansas, so I know how serious bullying is. Why, just the other day, I was going to lunch at Loca Luna when a bunch of Democratic kids in “Obama” shirts pushed me down in the gravel and played “keep-away” with my hat.

UCA Lands ‘Exquisite Corpse’

By David Kinkade - October 1, 2008 10:51 am

How’s that for a seemingly nonsensical headline? The University of Central Arkansas announced today that the “major literary journal” Exquisite Corpse: A Journal of Letters and Life will be making its home at UCA.

Along with the perennial money-loser Oxford American, this brings the total number of UCA’s distinguished literary journals that everyone gushes over, but nobody actually reads, to two.

Here’s the Exquisite Corpse website, if you want more of the publication’s flavor. And over there is a still from “Night of the Living Dead,” because naturally my first thought upon reading the publication’s title was of zombies, because I am a hopeless philistine.

That Duggar Kid Got Married

By David Kinkade - September 30, 2008 9:24 am

Josh and Anna Duggar

Josh Duggar, eldest of the gigantic northwest Arkansas Duggar clan (17 kids and counting), was married to Anna Keller in Florida on Friday, Sept. 26. The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville has a nice write-up, and there are a whole bunch of photos at the couple’s wedding website, but please don’t ask me why they’re wearing matching polo style shirts.

Yes, I know I noted this a few days ago, but it turns out that was one of the highest trafficked posts of the last week, so I figure I’ll give you people more of what you want. And imagine, here I was thinking that what you wanted was more of Dan Greenberg’s thoughts on public education reform.

Helena Withstands ‘Good Morning America’ Attack

By David Kinkade - September 25, 2008 2:48 pm

I kind of forgot about this, but “Good Morning America,” your leading source for unnecessary early morning cheeriness, broadcast from Helena, Ark., this morning. Did anyone watch it?

I checked out the GMA website to see if I could find any video, but all I found was this blog post capturing a bit of local color. It’s actually fairly colorless, but I’ll provide more if I come across anything. In the meantime, you can go over to the GMA website and watch their exclusive interview with former American Idol Clay Aiken. He’s a gay dad!

The Arkansas Project first reported on the GMA visit to Arkansas last week.

Wedding Bells for Duggar Kid

By David Kinkade - September 23, 2008 10:51 am

The Duggar clan

The cycle begins anew as 20-year-old Josh Duggar of the prolific and telegenic northwest Arkansas clan announces he’ll tie the knot on Sept. 26 in Jacksonville, Fla. The blushing bride, Anna Keller, is a Florida native. Congrats to the happy couple. (If you’re keeping count, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have 17 kids and one’s on the way).

And a reader sends along this link to the young couple’s nuptial web page.

Click over to the Duggar family website for more information on the whole gang.