Opinion

By Gene Policinski, Freedom Forum Senior Fellow for the First Amendment There may be no worse assault on our freedom of speech than a law that would permit the government to tell us to “shut up” when it comes to discussion and debate on a major social issue of our time – and to punish us if we don’t. Freedom of speech under the First Amendment is rooted in the concept of a “marketplace of ideas,” where information and robust, uninhibited exchanges are protected to ensure all can speak and be heard.

By Chris Tomlinson, Business Columnist, The Houston Chronicle Reprinted with Permission RIGHTWING ACTIVISTS have found another three-letter acronym to generate rage against teachers, a routine tactic two conservative billionaires have used for years to gut Texas public education. The new bugaboo is Social and Emotional Learning or SEL for short.

Canadian River Art Center students Angel Martinez, Merissa Jimenez, and Adrian Avila each submitted entries for this year’s Backto- School Special Edition cover page. All three artists displayed their distinctive styles in these works and gave us a glimpse into their own thoughts as the start of the new school year approaches.

TONIGHT’S PUBLIC HEARING of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol laid responsibility for the crisis at the Capitol on former president Trump.

I GET THAT SOMETIMES it’s hard to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, but we should listen. We should all listen to each other, and especially to people whose journey we have an opinion on but have not lived. There is wisdom in experience.

GOOGLE 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.