One thing we have learned or have had reinforced from this pandemic is our need for human contact. And the important role of technology in communicating with others. There’s a skill to communicating efficiently and properly using technology. Even a basic text can be misunderstood without the element of facial expression; hence the creation of emoticons to assist in getting a message across.
I like machines. Occasionally, usually on the couch, I envision an idyllic future, like the one in The Jetsons, where a robot rolls over to me with a martini. In the timeless classic by Flight of the Concords, the song Robots, set in “the distant future, the year 2000”, it is Man vs. Robot. The song is so good I’m rooting for the robots! And who could forget Short Circuit, the 1986 film starring Steve Guttenberg alongside a delightful robot, Number 5? The picture also gave us the hit single Who’s Johnny, by El Debarge. Okay, fine. Most people forgot that film but I did not! #neverforget!
Dear Editior, I would like to thank the linemen from Entergy for working around the clock in terrible weather to repair the storm damage and restore power to Marion County. -- Representative Jack Fortner .
Dear (Your-Name-Here) Foundation: I have a plan. Your part is to help.
January is known as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. It is a time for us to educate ourselves about human trafficking and learn to spot the signs of trafficking.
Today I’d like to talk about how Arkansas has grown stronger over the last year and my plan for continuing that growth into the future. Thanks to the people of Arkansas, we have made this state one of the premier locations for business owners to put their roots down and conduct business that gives well-paying jobs to hard-working Arkansans and puts more money into our state.
Congress ended 2021 by strengthening national security and improving resources to our servicemembers and their families with passage of the bipartisan Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which will allow us to be better prepared for threats from our adversaries and protect our interests at home and abroad. The bipartisan support for this bill was a big accomplishment considering Congress spent much of the year debating the partisan agenda driven by the president and his allies in Congress. It’s time to leave that agenda behind and instead advance policies where consensus is possible, and members of both parties are invited to participate. I’ve introduced and championed legislation that gives us a good starting point.
LITTLE ROCK –Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced an almost $8 million-dollar civil settlement with Empower Healthcare Solutions, LLC (Empower). The false claims settlement was based on a joint investigation conducted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) of the Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. The investigation was initiated after the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Arkansas Medicaid Inspector General raised questions concerning how Empower was reporting expenses in 2020.
Little Rock- This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Arkansas Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the Lake View school funding case. In 2002 the court ruled that the state’s system of funding public school was unconstitutional.
Home, a simple word that strikes a chord deep inside of us. As they say, “Home is where the heart is.” Sometimes home isn’t a physical place any longer. It’s a place in time we long to return to again. Curly Putman wrote a song that has been sung by many people, that Porter Wagoner made popular in 1965, called, “Green, Green of Home” about a man sentenced to die in prison dreaming of home. Is there anything better than the feeling of coming home where your people love you just as you are? Home is forever in our memory. People in prison, hospitals, soldiers serving their country, nursing homes, kids away at camp, anyone physically away from their home place rely on their memory and recognize that deep desire for home. They know that home is often, people.