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Is time a friend or enemy?
The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and me were locked in a hopeless Mexican standoff. She was effectively arguing her side of the issue and I was, well, let’s say I was not agreeing. I will not say who won, just that it wasn’t me. …
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Dad, the fix-it guy
My 5-year-old daughter came to me and wanted me to put up a “Clo line” for her doll things. “Don’t you mean a clothes line?” I asked. “No,” she responded. “I only want it big enough to hang one clo on.” I had never thought …
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Fragile voting system
You would think that after more than two centuries of practice, we’d know all about running efficient and accurate elections. Voting, after all, is the great shared ritual of democracy. Elections make real the consent of the governed and provide legitimacy to our government. Registering …
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Romney: Down, pretty close to out in Grand Cayman
Rick Santorum has finally sauntered off the big stage, leaving him with plenty of time to lament the length of high school girls’ skirts and bark at the moon about its nocturnal promiscuity. So you’d think it would be high times for Team Romney, right? …
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It’s taxing
It’s time to pay the IRS a nice chunk of our earnings again. It’s the annual April reminder that we turn over part of our hard-earned money in a nod to the ideals of democracy. A lot of Americans may not see that connection right …
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Getting back on the wagon
Lacy Mitchell “Retro Active” Dang you, proverbial wagon. I was doing good until I fell off you! I’d blame it on car trouble that led to the purchase of a new one and all that goes with it, but I know I only have myself …
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Guillen, Castro and baseball
“I love Fidel Castro,” said Florida Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen to Time magazine. “A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that (expletive) is still here.” Guillen “respects” the Cuban despot. Guillen has since apologized profusely for …
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Rethinking ‘Rethinking Heaven’
The cover story in the April 16 Time magazine (“Rethinking Heaven”) reveals that the 85 percent of Americans who believe in an afterlife are not one monolithic entity. And their differing perspectives affect their lifestyles. Some take a “traditional” view and see this ol’ sinful …
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Kicking the fast food habit
Donetta Sterling “Say Anything” I’ve had to kick my fast food habit or at the very least, scale way back. Eating out is so handy, though. It’s on my way home and I think my car just drives itself to the drive-through. It’s cheap, fast …
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Hindsight is 20/20
Angelia Roberts “In Black And White” This week we spent two days in court listening to defense attorneys from the Arkansas Public Defenders Commission explaining why convicted murderer Steven V. Wertz had ineffective legal counsel during his 2007 trial. His guilt of killing Terry and …
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Jackson County rocks with rich musical heritage
It should be no surprise that the Arkansas Rock ’N’ Roll Highway begins at Newport. In the 1950s, clubs and joints along this stretch of highway from Newport to Pocahontas played host to Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Conway Twitty, Sonny …
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The lost state of Franklin (or Frankland)
Larry Stroud “What the ???” A proposed state that came within one vote (or two votes, depending upon the source of information) of becoming our nation’s actual 14th state has been so lost in history that few people today are even aware of it. Had …
