Do you know there is an assassin in our house that has killed more Americans than the entire Vietnam War? And it is only warming up? Fentanyl-related deaths have grown 10-fold in the last year. And fentanyl has become the leading cause of deaths by overdose (it is hard not to overdose, as it…

Methamphetamine remains the number one drug threat in Arkansas, with the northeastern part of the state experiencing the worst of it. Mexican cartels continue to flood the state with meth that is cheap and high potency. The drug has been problematic in the state since the 1980s, with no sign…

You’ve probably heard the saying, “If you don’t like the weather in Arkansas, just wait because it will change.”

George Stuart Benson was born on a farm in Dewey County in far western Oklahoma in 1898. His education was one of hard work on a dry, dusty farm on the Great Plains and the local public schools. As a young man, he enrolled at Oklahoma A&M College in Stillwater (which is now Oklahoma Stat…

President Joe Biden recently announced, with great fanfare, his Cancer Moonshot initiative. Biden used soaring and promising rhetoric about, at last, finding a cure for one of the world’s leading killers.

Inflation has captured the imagination of the public, and as expected the reaction to the August inflation rate of 8.4 percent has been mixed. The government’s position is that the Inflation Reduction Act will begin to reduce inflation. They cite falling gasoline prices as evidence that Bide…

An Arkansas governor’s race that had been uneventful since the May primaries made some news last week for two reasons – one political, one personal.

A desperate Vladimir Putin is a dangerous Vladimir Putin, and there are signs Putin’s situation in Ukraine may be becoming desperate.

Hereditary royalty is a conceit, a fairy-tale illusion. But people in a host of countries still see it as a useful organizing principle, at least for culture and communal ritual. The question now is whether, in Britain, the phrase “modern monarchy” turns out to be an oxymoron.

When Queen Elizabeth II died on Sept. 8, Matt Glassman, senior fellow with the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, tweeted that she had reigned for 30 percent of U.S. history.

The likelihood of children born illegitimately varies by mothers’ age, education, race and ethnicity. Births to unmarried U.S. women? 40.5% vs 15% worldwide, 70% for unmarried women over age 20; half of mothers’ first illegitimate births are by teenagers who have additional illegitimate chil…

The plan to forgive some student loan debt will not cost taxpayers $2,000 each as indicated in a previous letter. The cost is actually about $160 each.

At the University of Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium, 70,000 people turn toward the Stead Family Children’s Hospital at the end of the first quarter of each home football game, and wave for a few moments to the kids and their families inside.

If California, our most populous state, were its own nation, it would rank as the world’s fifth largest economy and boast the highest average household income (outside a handful of “countries” like Monaco or Luxemburg). And, yet, the governor is begging its citizens to stop using their appli…

‘The mind once enlightened can never again become dark,” wrote Thomas Paine generations ago. Progress in education has been an important feature of the development of the United States as it steadily moved to become an economic and scientific leader. Arkansas faced a difficult transition as …

When I was younger I used to enjoy talking politics with my father and a younger brother. It didn't usually take us long to conclude that the world would be a much better place if people in power would consult us before making any important decisions. Of course they never did!

A recent letter writer shared his struggles with addiction and seemed to advocate the legalization of all mind-altering drugs. I respect his candor and willingness to admit the long-term goal of many seeking to repeal the state ban on recreational marijuana use.

It’s good that we don’t have monarchs in America, though this past week showed they can be useful.

Progress towards the "opening in 2024" sports-complex is accelerating at breakneck speed. From the actions of the Advertising and Promotion (A&P) Commission, it appears that coordination amongst the entities are acting similar to an "emergency" at a Jonesboro City Council meeting.

The left has always hated cars – or at least the idea that there should be a car in every driveway. Now, it is stepping up its assault.

Watching BBC and Sky News coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, one is struck by the adjectives used by reporters, commentators and people interviewed outside Balmoral castle and Buckingham Palace: sense of duty, virtue, integrity, service. What astounds is that these and other charac…

On Election Night Nov. 8, I’ll be closely watching a U.S. Senate race, but not the one in Arkansas.

Speaking at a San Francisco fundraiser in 2008, Barack Obama sought to explain the reluctance of working-class Pennsylvanians to rally to his cause.

Every parent faces the question each day of what kind of world they will build for their children. Sometimes a better world can start with work as simple as going to work to provide a stable home or spending time with them. And sometimes brave souls upend the entire system to give everyone a…

President Biden last week fulfilled a campaign promise and forgave $10,000 in student loan debt, and $20,000 for students who received Pell grants. Given that the federal government is still receiving $2 billion annually in loan repayments out of a possible $6 billion, some students were sti…

Sen. Tom Cotton has made it clear in the past that he does not like ranked choice voting. Last week he tweeted that the system is a “scam to rig elections.”

Editor’s Note: This is an updated column that was originally published in 2020.

Back in June, when the Supreme Court issued its Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, attention understandably focused on the majority’s view of what the Constitution allows. In their decision, the six justices contended that if the right to an abortion could not be found in the Constituti…

The other day, President Joe Biden accused voters of the opposition party of turning to “semi-fascism.” This is probably the first time in American history a president has openly attacked the opposing party’s constituents in this way.

People who follow politics are familiar with the scenario. When a Republican “wave” appears likely, or a Republican presidential candidate develops a significant lead over the Democrat candidate, the media begin reporting “stories” that the wave is receding, and the Democrat is gaining ground.

My wife and I just returned from a vacation to Sedona, Ariz. The driving distance is almost exactly 2,000 miles and takes us about 20 hours spread over a couple of days (depending upon our rest stops). As we drove, we noticed the complete lack of EVs on the highway. Upon returning, I researc…

Truth: “When words fall into disuse the experience, meaning and practice go with them.” I’m sharing, alphabetically below, important disused words with replacements (in parentheses). No individual has all characteristics; the collective effect on society is devastating. Consider them and wha…

President Biden’s student loan announcement last week set off a cascade of “What about?” arguments.

‘We shape our buildings, and thereafter they shape us,” were the thoughts of Winston Churchill on the importance of architecture in a community. One architect’s imagination can shape a community. Architect Eugene Stern enjoyed a career that created many familiar sites across the state. In th…