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American Pravda, a nation of Benghazigate
Louis Brandeis, who served on the United States Supreme Court from 1916 to 1939, once warned, “Our government teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto …
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Good parenting doesn’t include ‘Twilight’
I can hardly believe it myself as I type the words, but this past weekend BOTH my daughters were in a … *gasp* PAGEANT. Now I know there are huge numbers of moms out there who think this is the greatest thing ever. They talk …
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Tips for vacation savings
As school lets out for the summer, vacations are on many families’ minds. A Credit Counseling of Arkansas (CCOA) website poll showed that 84 percent of families haven’t had a vacation in the past year. Many can’t afford to take one unless they pinch their …
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A zero TV household
Besides aliens with eyes in the back of their heads, a possible interracial baby mix-up at the maternity ward and “Bet he’ll laugh if I say ‘shoehorn,’” one of my most indelible memories of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” has proven strangely prophetic. Van Dyke’s …
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Worry about your own hog farm, please
Editorial from Harrison Daily Times A colorful poster in the window of a business on Spring Street in Eureka Springs asks passers-by: “Do you want hog factory waste in our beautiful Buffalo National River?” The city of Fayetteville recently staged a protest in Eureka Springs against …
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Indecent exposure, or is it? Gender identity’s slippery slope
Your 9-year-old daughter runs out of a public swimming pool shower, crying because a 45-year-old naked man is lounging in the sauna, “full monty.” You call the police. The police arrest you for violating the man’s rights and send both you and your daughter to …
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Reverse psychology vs. the Nanny State
Get this: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to ban the sale of cigarettes (now legal to people at age 18) to people younger than 21. Yeah, that ought to work! Bloomberg, as you may know, has become the nation’s poster child for nanny-state …
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Tragedies, technology reshaping free press, speech
Two national tragedies separated by six years and a day — the Boston Marathon bombing and the April 16, 2007, mass shooting at Virginia Tech University — also are notable in marking how technology is reshaping some uses of our freedoms of press and speech. …
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Good memories of Dogpatch!
The idea for Dogpatch, USA, came from Harrison realtor Oscar J. Snow in 1966. A trout farm at Marble Falls was listed for sale and Snow envisioned it as the perfect setting for the home of Li’l Abner, Daisy Mae and all the other hillbilly …
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This is what intolerance smells like
President Obama’s new “religious tolerance” consultant to the Pentagon, Mikey Weinstein, wants Christian military service members who openly talk about their faith in uniform to be charged with treason, which is a crime punishable by death according to military law. By employing his consulting services, …
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Adventures in journalism
Last week I got a phone call from one of the editors I work with. He wanted to “warn” me that a letter to the editor was being published in the paper about one of my columns and the person was NOT too happy with …
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A little girl who needed an angel
When I lived in New York, my main mode of transportation was a bike. I worked six days each week, and my bicycle thought that the one day I had free should be spent fixing it. That was what I was doing the day Emily …
