Art Hobson
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Recent Stories
Drive-By Shooting Reported
SPRINGDALE — Police are investigating a drive-by shooting reported on Braxton Drive on Friday night.
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Council Does Not Represent The People
REQUEST TO CANCEL PUBLIC VOTE PROMISED ONE AND A HALF YEARS AGO IS ARROGANT, WRONG
In August 2010, the Ozark Regional Transit governing board, a representative body comprising mayors and county judges, set an election date for a quartercent sales tax to support the transit system. Continue reading...
The World Needs Scientific Literacy
ALL NATIONS SHOULD REQUIRE STUDENTS TO PURSUE GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE SCIENCES
When I speak to groups about scientifi c literacy, I often begin by asking audience members to shout out a signifi cant global problem. A typical list of responses might include poverty, prejudice, overpopulation, the economy, environment, gasoline prices, terrorism, drugs, crime, war, pollution, biodiversity, nuclear weapons, disease — you get the idea. Now, think through the causes and solutions of these problems. I think you’ll agree that nearly all are related to science and technology. Continue reading...
Who Put The Phosphorus In The River?
STREAMS ARE SENSISTIVE TO EXCESS POLLUTION, WHICH TURNS WATER GREEN, SUFFOCATES FISH
Phosphorus pollution in the Illinois River continues to fester. Recently, the Northwest Arkansas Council, a regional business group, asked Washington and Benton counties and five cities to finance yet another study of the problem. A new scientifically objective study might help. Continue reading...
Why Is America No Longer On Top?
CITIZENS NEED TO RECOGNIZE OUR NATION’S REAL PROBLEMS IN ORDER TO SOLVE THEM
Americans are beginning to realize that we’re no longer number one. In significant categories such as health, poverty, mortality, homicides, sexually transmitted diseases, teenage abortions, income disparity, marriage duration, transportation, and incarceration, we’re not even in the top 15. My column of June 5 discussed this in more detail. The only area in which we’re far-and-away number one is military muscle — a dubious distinction. Continue reading...
PEOPLE & PLACES
Williams Marks 98th Birthday Continue reading...
No Excuse For America’s Oil Burden
UNITED STATES’ IMPORT PROBLEMS NOT CAUSED BY SHORTAGE OF DOMESTIC OIL PRODUCTION
America’s oil imports burden us with enormous environmental, social, strategic, financial and political costs. During the 2000-09 decade, we paid $1.7 trillion, or 30 percent of that decade’s trade deficit, for foreign oil. Oil imports exceeded 60 percent of total oil consumption every year since 2000. Continue reading...
Blame Taxes For Stasis
TODAY’S INEQUALITY LIKE THAT OF THE ROARING ’20S
Are you working harder just to stay in the same place economically? If so, welcome to the crowd. Among prosperous nations, America is unique in favoring the rich and slamming the middle class. The ratio of the average income of our richest 10 percent to that of our poorest 10 percent is higher in the U.S. than in any other prosperous nation. The same is true of the richest and poorest 20 percent. As measured by these ratios, the income disparity of most other advanced nations is about half of ours. And the U.S. finishes last among prosperous nations in the United Nations’ index of income equality. Continue reading...
Area Transportation At A Crossroads
AMENDMENT TO CREATE 10-YEAR, HALF-CENT SALES TAX FOR MORE FOUR-LANE ROADS TO BE ON BALLOT
LITTLE ROCK — America’s carcentered transportation system puts us at a disadvantage. Other nations do far more pedestrian, bicycle, bus and train travel, resulting in fewer accidents, less pollution, more exercise, better health, less sprawl, less oil consumption, reduced expenses and better mobility for the elderly and disabled. Continue reading...
United States No Longer Top Nation
EXAMINATION OF FACTS LEADS TO DOUBT, AND DOUBT IS BEGINNING OF WISDOM
There was once a floating utopia, regarded by her creators as beyond compare, No. 1. Such hubris led to disaster. On her maiden voyage, she carried her proud name to the bottom of the sea: “Titanic.” Since at least the ancient Greeks, humankind has known that excessive pride destroys nations. From Easter Island to the great Mayans to the ancient Romans to Hitler’s Germany, many a proud culture has shunned reality and thus collapsed. Continue reading...
