Want to protect freedom? read - Or, put another way, there are ideas some people would just as soon no one think about.

Banned Book Week is intended to remind Americans to not take lightly the freedom to read and the freedom of expression. It honors the diversity of thought and ideas Americans are free to explore.

Now, note the word “explore” there. In America, we have intellectual freedom to explore ideas, whether they’re conventional or unorthodox, to learn about things that may be outside the norm for most people. That doesn’t mean we have to accept them or incorporate them into our lives, it merely means we have the freedom to learn about these ideas.

Teacher education called ‘pursuit of irrelevance’ - As critical as our system of public education is to our nation’s future, so too is the system by which we train our teachers. And a new report issued last week provides strong evidence that our teacher education system is broken.

That report, “Educating School Teachers,” concludes a 4-year study by Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and former president of Teachers College at Columbia University. It charges that “too often teacher education programs cling to an outdated, historically flawed vision of teacher education that is at odds with a society remade by economic, demographic, technological and global change.”

“Open government” - game has surprise winner - Here’s what I don’t get. Why would Hutchinson think that a coordinated effort would be of the slightest importance, let alone the most important thing ? Is he running out of campaign fodder already ? Surely not, although I’ll concede that to date the race has been pretty lackluster. Hindsight being what it is, I wonder if he realizes yet that instead of challenging Beebe, he should have one-upped him by releasing his questionnaires and then challenging Beebe to follow suit. 

Put it on our tab - The problem is, Arkansas is not the governmental equivalent of a Gates or a Buffet. Our wealth has limits and could easily be fleeting. We’re bucksup now, but our fortunes could change. Eventually, they will change.

We’re not a rich man with a bottomless bank account. We’re more like an average, middle-class person who’s had a run of good luck. If we see it that way, and husband our resources wisely, we can make our lives better for years to come. If we act as though we’re rich and throw money around like a high roller, we’ll soon wind up back where we started — with our pockets turned inside out and our brows furrowed.