by - October 8, 2012 4:06 pm
Hit men
During a recent Friday evening event in Northwest Arkansas, a Republican legislator from the area walked up to another Republican legislator. This fella from Northwest Arkansas looked at me-the-media-hack and…
Opinion
by - October 7, 2012 5:54 pm
Community health
Many people in our community ask me a common question: “How is business?” Usually I give a very simple response: “OK.” However, I’ve begun to realize the reason I am…
by - October 7, 2012 5:44 pm
Obama playing a different game
Every media personality I’ve heard talking about the Oct. 5 presidential debate – from MSNBC to Fox News, from the traditional networks to PBS, and even including statewide bloggers –…
by - October 1, 2012 11:34 pm
Billy, Jeff and Chuck
Billy, the old friend from the college days at Arkansas Tech University, called again this week. He typically calls after a few beers on a Sunday afternoon, but wasn’t able…
by - September 30, 2012 1:43 pm
Debunking the ‘Job magnet plan’
Kindly allow me, City Council member and Democratic Candidate Adella Gray, to accept my invitation to respond to a well-written guest commentary from my opponent, Republican Representative Charlie Collins of…
by - September 27, 2012 5:27 pm
System pressures and opportunities
American higher education is at a crossroads. Federal and state funding cuts, rising student loan debt, an increased demand for graduates and competition from for-profit online institutions are challenging the…
by - September 23, 2012 7:19 pm
Yoakam’s Pears
Dwight Yoakam reached out to various pop culture influences, including the Beatles, to craft his newest album, “3 Pears.” Influences are not a surprise for this fan of Yoakam who…
by - September 23, 2012 3:57 pm
Speech tolerance
The opportunity to identify oneself as brilliant or boneheaded via free speech is a beautiful thing – maybe the best of things our American democracy bequeathed to us, its ideological…
by - September 23, 2012 3:41 pm
How stupid are you?
This past Friday morning I turned on the television in time to see a discussion between CNBC’s Squawk Box hosts and Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter and the school’s…
by - September 18, 2012 3:27 pm
More time for low rates?
After waffling on how long low mortgage rates are expected to stick around, some analysts have called for rates to not rise significantly through next year. Honestly, that’s about as…
by - September 16, 2012 8:37 pm
It’s your fault
The thing that pisses me off more and more with each election cycle is not the BS we hear from politicians or political groups, it’s the folks who allow the…
by - September 9, 2012 10:16 pm
That terrible day
The many memorials this week were as painfully sobering as they were respectfully appropriate. It has been one year since that day. What fell from the sky one year ago…
by - September 9, 2012 4:45 pm
Pondering the political aftermath
On a recent Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C., President Barack Obama told an adoring Democratic National Convention that the nation’s problems can be solved with “common effort, shared responsibility,” and…
by - September 9, 2012 4:36 pm
Passion pursuit
I wonder what the word count would be if you took all the negative and discouraging words spoken in, about, and around the Republican and Democratic National Conventions the past…
by - September 4, 2012 1:13 pm
Unglamorous ways to grow jobs
We keep hearing that the U.S. presidential election is all about jobs. So why aren’t we getting more concrete ideas from the candidates about how to create more of them?…
by - August 31, 2012 12:56 pm
Job magnet plan
Arkansans count on their elected officials to help improve the quality of life here, a worthy goal. Yet, numerous studies have concluded that we rank between 42nd and 48th among…
by - August 29, 2012 6:50 pm
Fiscal cliff not so bad
Just when you thought you could forget about the fiscal cliff and focus on the Republican and Democratic conventions instead, along comes the Congressional Budget Office to remind us of…
by - August 26, 2012 7:38 pm
A General question
Dear Attorney General Dustin McDaniel: What with all the time you spend fighting payday lenders and studying the layout of the governor’s office and responding to letters from Arkansas House…
by - August 26, 2012 3:31 pm
Medical marijuana a sensible choice
Words and phrases such as “medical marijuana,” “legal” and “the state of Arkansas” lack a history of spending much time together. After all, most people in these parts have for…
by - August 26, 2012 3:21 pm
The broom man
Tax season, for CPAs, can be hellacious. Clients are anxious to get their tax returns so you work long hours. A person tends to get tired, perhaps even a bit…