Opinion

It’s the time of year in Arkansas public schools when ACT Aspire test results are released. These tests no more prove that a child or teacher is doing their job and learning is taking place, than quarterly grades determine a child’s success in life. Grading can be subjective, and some children are not adept at test taking.

Can you believe it is just about the end of summer? If your kids are anything like mine, the battle cries of, “We are bored!” and “What are we doing today?” have started to fill the time between waking up and finishing my first cup of coffee.

The filing period for candidates seeking city offices begins Wednesday and runs for one week. It might be a very interesting week, especially in Eureka Springs.

We’re entering a dangerous time in our society when people with knowledge and experience are largely ignored and people with no experience are revered. Suddenly it seems everyone in the world is an expert and anyone with an opinion feels they are an authority.

Sometimes I feel like a walking contradiction. For instance, I love breakfast food, but I hate getting up early.

I received an email last week from a reader who said he was “a little surprised” to see a follow-up report on state Sen. Bob Ballinger finally settling his debt for advertising in the Agriculture Appreciation Days program, especially “since the election is over now.”

Golf is the simple, yet complex, game of gentlemen. It is a game of respect and sportsmanship — a civilized sport played with propriety. Our society could learn a great deal from the basic etiquette of golf. It is a game of skill rooted in respect for others and for the course. My husband, Bobby, loves golf and he used to play every day. In fact, he used to make golf clubs for himself and other players. In the last year he has started playing again and is having fun trying to get his game back on track. Two of my nephews hit the links with him when they can.

Gogle and Facebook have enormous economic and political power in society — especially over the news industry. Many ask if they have played a role in the misinformation that erodes our free press and plagues our democracy.

I started kindergarten a few weeks before my fifth birthday. I wasn’t an immediate academic success.

Every four years, the National Intelligence Council provides a forecast of the world for the next 20 years. In March 2021, the council released the latest National Intelligence Forecast. As we could have predicted, the next 20 years looks turbulent. It appears we are living in the best of times, and we need to enjoy our way of life while we can. The future of the world will hinge on whether we allow technology and social media to unite us or divide us. So far, as a society, we are failing in the area of unification. The freedom that the internet allows has spurred some to create division and hate. And I don’t think many of us want to know the evils going on behind the scenes or underground on the World Wide Web.