Some think the word "crisis" is too strong to describe the national and regional affordable housing crisis. This article will focus on Fayetteville, where the …
Although I prefer to write about issues, today's essay will be about politics. Given that we will probably have two unacceptable choices for president, we need…
I was delighted that three readers were sufficiently moved by my Jan. 16 article about atheism and happiness to submit a responding article or letter. It's a d…
The United States is heavily invested in two major wars. Either one could spiral out of control and turn nuclear.
We've now seen five weeks of war in Gaza. Hamas, in a horrific attack, killed 1,400 innocent Israelis and captured an additional 242. The Palestinian Ministry …
Fayetteville needs more housing. The current shortage creates high prices that force poor people into homelessness, eat up middle-class income and make it fina…
The nation and the world are not doing well. Many Americans, especially young people, think we can do better. They will be heard in the 2024 elections.
In the wake of the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings and the release of the movie "Oppenheimer," it's a good time to talk about ending…
Aug. 6 is Hiroshima Day, marking the anniversary of the date the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city.
Humankind has finally achieved the first goal required to prevent disastrous global warming: Civilized people finally recognize this as a real threat caused by…
Pro-war propaganda has been bellicose and omnipresent since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Although Russia should not have invaded, the incessant U.S. refrain t…
I hope you read Gwen Faulkenberry's May 1 column (nwaonline.com/51refugee/) relating her religious story. We too often keep religious views to ourselves. World…
Among many good books about city planning, "How Cities Work" by journalist and urban designer Alex Marshall is tops. He writes in his introduction that "the st…
Some of my friends will disagree, but it would have been better for the long-term interests of peace and justice if New York City had not arrested former Presi…
The costs of a year of warfare in Ukraine have been enormous. Casualties (dead and wounded) include 20,000 Ukrainian civilians, 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers, 200…
I've been involved with global warming since the 1970s when I began developing a new kind of physics course called "Physics and Human Affairs" that is still ta…
It is one o'clock on the morning of Dec. 5, 2022, at the Lawrence-Livermore nuclear weapons laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF). A powerful laser hou…
The war in Ukraine drags on. Russia and Ukraine have each suffered more than 100,000 soldiers wounded and dead well before their time.
Although there are plenty of global and U.S. threats to worry about these days, three demographic trends offer grounds for long-term optimism.
This year's physics Nobel Prize was awarded for quantum physics experiments investigating "entangled quantum states." These are situations in which a pair of m…
Ten days ago, President Vladimir Putin announced that "any means necessary" will be used to defend the Ukrainian Donbas regions that Russia recently annexed. H…
Mother Earth has finally awakened most of us to the reality of global warming. As epic wildfires, unprecedented flooding, record heatwaves and devastating drou…
One of my favorite magazines, Science News, recently published an article titled "Misconceptions cloud abortion debate." It summarizes four misunderstood issue…
Following a 30-year effort involving 20,000 people around the globe at a cost of $10 billion, the James Webb Space Telescope is now at work imaging the cosmos.…
Americans are famous for driving everywhere and, indeed, we have one of the highest per capita vehicle ownership rates in the world. Yet few drivers are aware …
"Typically American" has taken on a menacing tone in the wake of gun violence since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. Mass shootings happen every day…
These days, I shudder as I switch on the PBS evening news. It often brings me to tears. The Ukraine tragedy, which could have been avoided by a more judicious …
This is my sixth, and hopefully last, consecutive column about Ukraine. War, in particular the irrational (on both sides) conflict in Ukraine, is the most depr…
Since Russia's immoral and foolish invasion, the world has been all too "interesting." This is my sixth (and hopefully last) consecutive column about Ukraine. …
Our president gave away the store last week. He just came right out and stated, "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power." He was, of course, referring…
On Feb. 8, during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an alarming answer to a reporter's ques…
European historian Richard Sakwa has stated that NATO's prime mission is "to manage the risks created by its existence." This applies today in spades.
Americans seem to have no idea of the degree to which fear of attack by the West motivates Russian behavior toward Ukraine.
As I've said before in these pages, U.S. global "leadership" is overly aggressive and militaristic. America cannot run the world.
Humans have long been fascinated with the sky . Our earliest stories speak of heroes laid to rest amidst the stars. Ancient structures such as Stonehenge were …
The recent two-week Glasgow meeting on global warming didn't move the needle significantly, but it did reflect a public alarmed by environmental catastrophes. …
British writer and historian H. G. Wells once said "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." What with gl…
Humankind's understanding of who we are has expanded enormously in recent decades, but educational institutions are failing to keep up. This applies in spades …
We were doing so well. After covid rose to grotesque levels last winter, medical science developed vaccines that rescued us. Arkansas, for example, experienced…
On Aug. 6, 1945, a single B-29 dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, a city of 400,000. Moments later the entire city, three miles across, lay in ruins. On Aug…
Now more than ever, and for better or worse, the world is in rapid transition. As the great scientist and naturalist Edward O. Wilson noted in his book "The Fu…
A key claim of those on the political right is that over-regulation, bloated government and taxation have robbed us of our freedom -- our ability to pursue lif…
If you are, like me, a newspaper addict who wants to keep a finger on the American pulse, you should follow the daily letters to the editor. Reg Edwards of Com…
Humans have long gazed at the starry sky, wondering how it works, what it means. We've probably pondered such matters since at least the evolution of the genus…
Like an interminable re-enactment of the Vietnam War, the Afghan war drags on as we continue propping up yet another unsustainable government.
America's weaknesses were sorely exposed during the riot on our U.S. Capitol building. Who are these people? With nods to Pogo, on Jan. 6 we met the enemy and …
The political atmosphere since Jan. 20 has been like a breath of fresh air. A rational fact-based national administration has replaced four years of brainless,…
Tomorrow's inauguration of Joe Biden as President brings partial relief from President Trump's foreign policy confusion. My previous column argued that the Ira…
In July 2015, the Obama Administration signed an agreement limiting Iran's nuclear weapons and ensuring enhanced monitoring in exchange for Iran's relief from …
