-
Positive reinforcement
What happens when you walk in the door at night? Do you dread coming home, or are you excited? A friend of mine has a long commute. It takes him an hour and a half to get home. When he walks in the door he’s …
-
Ledge update
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas is the first state in the country to launch Smart 911, an enhanced public safety and emergency dispatching system. Other cities and counties across the country have installed Smart 911, but Arkansas is the only place it is available on a …
-
Problems? You’re not the only one
There was a whole passel of sour looking fellows in the room that night, looking like deer caught in the headlights. Even our pastor wore a plastic smile, and he was the one who’d recommended this 12-session marriage building seminar. The class began innocently enough, …
-
Batesville’s connection to the Brooks-Baxter War
Elisha Baxter, a North Carolina native, came to Batesville in 1852 and opened a general store in partnership with his brother, Taylor. Elisha’s interest in politics probably contributed to the failure of the Baxter Bros. Mercantile, so he became a lawyer and also worked briefly …
-
Big plans for summer vacation
I’m really not sure how this happened. Somehow, I’m at the start of 12 weeks of beginner triathlon training at the age of 52 with my old Chi running coach, Mo Wills and his business partner, Laura Mele from Infinity Effect (www.InfinityEffect.com). Mo was the …
-
A friend’s girlfriend — or not
I hadn’t arrived home from New York very long before my cousin wanted to set me up with her roommate. I was very shy, and dating was hard for me. But my cousin was one of my best friends, and I trusted her a lot, …
-
GOP has Latino options
Mike Reagan “Making Sense” No wonder Republicans can’t even get 40 percent of Latino votes in a presidential election. When Mitt Romney made his first big push to appeal to Latinos earlier this week in Texas, he hammered the “Obama economy” for being “particularly hard …
-
If Barack Obama told today’s graduates the truth
Students, faculty and parents, it is my honor to deliver a commencement speech today. I am about to do something I have never done as president: tell it like it is. Back in 2008, I was nothing but an idea — a blank canvas upon …
-
Beware of outlaws
One hundred and fifty years ago, the Federal Army under the direction of Samuel Curtis, was steadily making its way toward Helena, Ark. Once there, he immediately began reinforcing the Mississippi port town for invasion. As Curtis began construction on Ft. Curtis within the first …
-
Smart people, miserable?
Ernest Hemingway once said, “Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” There’s a long-held belief that average people are happier than smart people. The premise — frequently touted at Mensa meetings and Unitarian cocktail parties — is that the super smart are …
-
Ledge update
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas education officials have applied to the federal government for a waiver from requirements in the No Child Left Behind law. They hope to get a favorable response to their application within a few weeks. Last week eight states were granted waivers …
-
Flawed leadership thinking leads to job losses
During the last 35 years, more American factories have been closed and more jobs lost due to competition from countries in Asia than from any other part of the world. The initial losses were to Japan and from there they spread to Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, …
