-
Timing the American experience
My parents’ generation timed it just right. Born in the thick of the Great Depression, they were taught from an early age how to pinch a penny. Though they were little at the time, they experienced the sacrifices of World War II. My father was …
-
October surprises
When the end draws near and prospects darken, and polls solidify in the wrong direction, and the base sinks lower than the toenail clippings of a Galapagos turtle, does the practiced political operative give up? No sir, they whip out their secret weapon. Not the …
-
Anti-abortion plan raises costs for women
A prominent anti-abortion scholar recently made public what abortion-rights advocates have long suspected: One puwrpose of restrictive abortion laws is to impede access to the procedure by making it less affordable for women. Veering from traditional arguments — such as claims that the restrictions are …
-
State Capitol Week in Review: Non-violent offenders shifted into probation to free up space
Preliminary studies show that legislation enacted last year has freed up prison space for dangerous offenders by shifting more non-violent offenders into probation. The legislature passed Act 570 of 2011 to control skyrocketing growth in the Arkansas inmate population, which had doubled in 20 years. …
-
‘The Kitchen Debate’
In the summer of 1959, then-Vice President Richard Nixon flew to Moscow to speak at the opening of the American National Exhibition. The exhibit was intended to showcase the advantages of American capitalism to the Soviets. Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, accompanied by an …
-
Success of ‘Bronco Billy’
“Bronco Billy” Anderson, a true pioneer of the motion picture industry, was born in 1880 in Little Rock. His actual name was Gilbert Maxwell Aronson, but he was known as “Max” until moving to New York about 1900. Aronson joined a theatrical group called the …
-
Compliment echoes years later
It’s hard to get down on how you look when you’ve been complimented by someone considered a 1960s sex symbol and thought to still be one at the age of 71. Needless to say it wasn’t Andy Williams I went to see at his theater …
-
Columbus Day: Time to abandon ship?
In Fourteen Hundred Ninety-Two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In the year of our Lord Two Thousand Twelve, they’re trying hard his day to shelve. Even under the best of circumstances, the national Columbus Day is a beleaguered holiday (22 states don’t give their employees …
-
Thieves steal more than just ‘things’
On Monday I found out my sister Kathy’s storage building had been broken into and nearly everything she had was gone. I am so angry at whoever did this. There wasn’t anything in there that was worth a whole lot of money but the thieves …
-
Communism on parade? High school marches to Marx, Lenin
Editor’s note: A version of this piece first appeared at FoxNews.com. “What do you think of this?” So began a phone call from Todd Starnes of FoxNews radio. Starnes asked me for a comment on a shocking story: A band at a high school …
-
Grapette: Secret is out
When I wrote my “Back on shelves after 30 years” column about Grapette in May 2001, I was told that Walmart’s grape drink was Grapette’s exact formula but not to tell it. The secret is out now because the store’s brand has contained, for quite …
-
Can Arkansas electorate have votes back?
Editorial from Northwest Arkansas Times, Sept. 23, 2012 State Treasurer Martha Shoffner — a walking, talking free advertisement for term limits — is back in the news. Making news from one of Arkansas’ low-level constitutional offices like treasurer or auditor or land commissioner is …
