2nd Thought
Ebola’s Grim Math
GWYNNE DYERHere are two good things about the Ebola virus. It is unlikely to mutate into a version that can spread through the air, as some other viruses have done. And people who have been infected by Ebola cannot pass it on to others du...
Idolizing Ted
The Willis-Burton race for the Texas Senate has deep implications for Fort Worth.FRANK MATTHEWS
There is an old axiom that says all politics are local. Well, that may have been true years ago, but the political landscape has changed dramatically with the birth of the Tea Party. Take the District 10 race for the Texas Sena...
How to Vote
Remember the rules for getting registered, getting ballots, and getting your vote to count.DAVE McNEELY
There is a certain irony in the fact that while the Texas Photo Voter ID law is under court challenge by Democrats and the U.S. Department of Justice as being cumbersome and discriminatory, you can vote by mail without the need...
Wage Slaves
The minimum wage fight makes waves with Texas candidates for governor.DAVE McNEELY
Raising the minimum wage suddenly became a hot issue in the Texas governor’s race just after Labor Day, with Democrat Wendy Davis endorsing it and Republican Greg Abbott opposing it. The national campaign by fast-food workers...
The Unbearable Lightness of Being White
KEN WHEATCROFT-PARDUEOnce in the late 1970s, I was returning home on foot from a night of as much debauchery as I, a poor college student, could then afford, when I was stopped — it was about 8 a.m. — by a representative of the law. He waved me...
Whistling Dixie
Confronting white society’s role in Ferguson.E.R. Bills
This is a strange time in American history. I don’t recognize us. And by us, I mean white people. We seethe with hatred. We’re fed up and embittered. Things aren’t going our way, and somebody needs to pay. Someone deserve...
Armstrong’s Dip
A vast West Texas park was the brainchild of two leaders.DAVE McNEELY
BIG BEND RANCH STATE PARK – When Bob Armstrong first experienced the rugged majesty of this huge West Texas ranch in 1970, he told its owner that if he ever wanted to sell, Texas might want to buy. More than four decades afte...
Not So Revolutionary
Conformists may have forgotten what 1776 was all about.GRAYSON HARPER
Grant Wood’s most famous painting features an iconic farmer, his prim daughter and a pitchfork. His most satiric painting is “Daughters of Revolution.” Three white-haired ladies pose with raised teacups before a re-creati...
It’s Not Rocket Science
Being a higher education leader under Perry is tougher than that.DAVE McNEELY
Which is more challenging: performing a liver transplant on a small child or navigating the political rapids of public higher education during the reign of Gov. Rick Perry? Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, who will leave his job as chan...
The Spies Who Wouldn’t Stop
Germany’s trust in the U.S. is at an end.GWYNNE DYER
The question to bear in mind, in reading this sorry tale, is: If Americans are, on average, no stupider than Germans, then why are their intelligence services so stupid? After the most recent revelations about American spying i...