Subscriber Exclusive
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Similar signs
Some readers may recall previous columns where I described inexplicable GodNod experiences linked to my wife Jeanetta.
Stories by Mike Masterson
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Unraveling fabric
Jeanetta came in the other day fuming about the same thing I've noticed lately: The number of angry and hateful people appears to be rapidly expanding.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: So what about Thanksgiving?
With Thanksgiving 2023 behind us, our thoughts are focused on the weeks remaining until Christmas. Our home is already fully (and I do mean fully) decked out i…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: On expectations
Editor's note: The original version of this column was published in April 2002.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Mom’s gold ring
Roger Nelson of the random-number generator EGG Project at Princeton has had years to collect evidence of a global consciousness that connects us all as indivi…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: $17. 5 million miscarriage of justice
"It is better 100 guilty persons should escape than that one innocent person should suffer."--Benjamin Franklin
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Simple bliss
Philosopher Joseph Campbell advised those of us seeking fulfillment to seek our bliss. I can testify that his advice also applies to dogs.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Give thanks
In a few days, as we do each November, Americans will join in offering gratitude for things often taken for granted that have made their lives better.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Good news for Parkinson’s
My late friend Sheridan Garrison of Harrison suffered from Parkinson's disease in the final period of his life, as have other friends over the years. It was sa…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Nature of birds
"In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence."
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Killed by dogs
At least four preschool or elementary-aged children have been killed of late by pit bulls or pit mixes, including 4-year-old Colton Kline, who was mauled by th…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: ‘A prank or a surprise?’
I bring further word from the Internet this morning, valued readers. I should say it's yet another warning. The scammers are as active as ever and constantly c…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: The last leaf to fall
Years ago I wrote about watching the last remaining leaf break free from the top of its towering tree. This is an edited version of that column which, while or…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: When God nods
While some unexplained events in our lives are major physical events I know as GodNods, for others they are deeply personal spiritual experiences, yet just as …
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Leave Buffalo as is
An Arkansas LLC's exploratory idea to change the designation of our half-century-old Buffalo National River into a national park and preserve to promote "the b…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Halloween queen
If there is a home anywhere in Arkansas (maybe the country) with more Halloween decorations than ours, I'd be, well let's just say beyond flabbergasted.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Chancellor acts
Unlike some Ivy League Schools such as Harvard and Columbia, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues of Florida's 12-university system wants the Florida chapters of Students …
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Drive carefully
I realize I occasionally rant about how many motorists I see who somehow can't manage to keep their driver's side wheels on the right side of the highway's cen…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Benji’s lessons
As our years of sharing life with Benji, the 12-pound taco terrier pound pup, have ticked away, I've found taking the time to study his behavior has actually b…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: ‘Running rogue’
The school board in West Memphis could have used several classes in understanding and following our state's Freedom of Information Act. That might have saved i…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: ‘Culture of cruelty’
We have a neighbor with a windowless panel van equipped with a wall of cages she says she uses each week to travel to northern and eastern states where she del…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Matters of respect
Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Dec. 18, 2010.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Strengthen law
A coalition of Arkansas transparency advocates from different political affiliations have been working to strengthen, clarify and protect the Arkansas Freedom …
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: To change the world
The first thing all of us who survived boot camp endured with each dawn was making our bunks to rigid specifications. The sheets had to be folded just right, b…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Jamais vu
I was at my laptop writing a response to a reader the other day when I looked over at our Alexa and couldn't recall her name I'd called more times than I can …
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: On irresponsibility
It's difficult for me to believe the president would keep two German shepherds in our White House that enjoyed biting those employed there.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Alpha gal spreading
It's difficult to believe those tiny Lone Star ticks we've regularly picked off ourselves after spending time in the grass and weeds can be as dangerous in the…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Enshrining FOIA
The people of Arkansas have been forced by their state government's repeated attempts to disassemble our state's 1967 Freedom of Information Act to try to stre…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: More death by pit
I reassure readers that I'll not be dissuaded from continuing to write about people and their gentle pets being maimed and killed by dangerous unrestrained lar…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION I MIKE MASTERSON: Hunters benefit hungry
About 24 years ago, an idea began to percolate in Bob Barringer's brain. Isn't that how all great visions begin?
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Slobs in Senate
I awoke the other day thinking of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's decree last week that senators could dress on the Senate floor like garage mechanics,…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Benji's favorite (it's not Dad)
I’ve given up hoping to compete with Jeanetta for our taco terrier Benji’s adoration. I’ll forever just be his best buddy who pets and showers him with “good b…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Teachers claim defamation
A Jonesboro couple who accused conservative local public school teachers Nancy Best and Cindi Talbot of treasonous and criminal behavior (along with much more)…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: UK bans breed
After public outrage following a series of savage and sometimes fatal attacks, American XL bully dogs bred from pit bulls soon will be banned in the United Kin…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: The public spoke
The rushed "emergency" attempt by members of our Republican-led Legislature last week to demolish much of the state's venerable Freedom of Information Act of 1…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Faking ‘systemic racism’
It doesn't take many stories like this to make me wonder about studies that flow from so-called experts. And that's a shame.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Nice walk spoiled
Mary Barren, who lives in the Hillsborough area of west Little Rock, decided to take a walk through her neighborhood one pleasant evening a while back, somethi…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Costly ‘Goon Squad’
I'll begin this morning by emphasizing that I'm a strong supporter of police and the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to enforce our law…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Close encounter
Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Nov. 01, 2014.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: The people’s law
My favorite FOIA attorney "bulldog" Joey McCutchen of Fort Smith recently penned an opinion piece for Talk Business and Politics. With their permission, I'm sh…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: The master of her fate
Daughter Anna turned 46 last week after a difficult and troublesome life during her high-hormone teenage years. After dropping out of high school and having a …
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OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Growing trend
There's a chance in the not-too-distant future, if you're hanging around a major Southern city or on the open highway one evening, you'll happen across a mile-…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: In her own yard
Jeane Bennett of Blytheville went into her backyard on June 3 about 6:15 p.m., just as she had done countless times over the decades.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON:TWA 800 and a dream
After watching a story last week about the mysterious crash of Trans World Airlines Flight 800 27 years ago and recalling my brother's strange and detailed dre…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: On vicious dogs
I heard from a slew of voices statewide about my recent column about a Pulaski County court awarding Marcus and Jo Ann Higgins of Maumelle $1.2 million after h…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Ill-advised raid
A First Amendment dispute between the Marion County Record weekly newspaper in the small community of Marion, Kan., and its police chief who raided the paper's…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: An expensive lesson
A Maumelle man learned how expensive it can be to set his pit bull mixes free to maim a neighbor and kill the family's beloved Jack Russell terrier mix.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Disparate voices
Mayors and city councils alike across our state should take heed of a First Amendment lawsuit resolved in Paragould recently. It's illegal for city government …
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: What I believe
Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Nov. 23, 1014.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Struggling for survival
Some of my favorite restaurant chains have either cut back or shuttered many of their locations over the past three years thanks to the covid pandemic and bad …
