Sam Fulwood III: Why economic disadvantage becomes educational disadvantage

  "Why are academically gifted students from poor families less likely to attend top-ranked colleges and universities than equally smart kids from wealthy families?"

Gary Palmer: AARP’s enviro-agenda assaults Alabama’s economy

  Recently the American Association for Retired People (AARP) sent a petition to the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) urging the PSC to reconsider their Report and Order issued regarding the Alabama Power Company rate structure.

  On the surface, the issue of the PSC doing a thorough review of the rates charged to customers by Alabama Power seems reasonable and within the scope and expertise of the PSC. But that is not what this is about. It is about pushing an environmental agenda that kills jobs and increases the cost of electricity for all Alabama Power customers.

Charles C. Haynes: When God-talk by kids is protected speech

  If you ask a class of 5th graders to write about someone they "look up to," don’t be shocked when at least one of them decides to write about God.

  That’s exactly what happened in Millington, Tenn., earlier this month when 10-year-old Erin selected God as her idol because, as she explained, "He is the reason I am on this earth."

  A red flag went up for Erin’s teacher, who told the student she couldn’t pick God and directed her to choose someone else.

Sally Steenland: There’s more than one way to start a revolution

  At a time when religion is a damaged brand to many people—especially the young—and when it seems synonymous with intolerance and bigotry rather than justice and mercy, the recent words of Pope Francis are occasion for joy. Or as Equally Blessed, a Catholic support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, people put it, his words are "rain on a parched land."

Charles C. Haynes: By removing Islam display, Kansas school surrenders to ignorance

  Back to school means back to culture wars for Minneha Core Knowledge Elementary School in Wichita, Kansas.

  On the very first day of school, someone snapped a photo of a bulletin-board display in the hallway featuring the Five Pillars of Islam and then posted it on Facebook.

  "This is a school that banned all forms of Christian prayer," said the caption under the photo. "This can not stand."

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The Republican exodus

  During the summer Alabama had a rash of major political figures step down from office in the middle of their elected terms. The first to go was 1st District Congressman Jo Bonner. Beth Chapman also quit her job as Secretary of State as did State Representative Jay Love of Montgomery, who chaired the powerful House Ways and Means Education Budget Committee. Love’s counterpart, Rep. Jim Barton of Mobile, who chaired the House General Fund Committee, quit his House seat. Elmore County Rep. Barry Mask also resigned. All five left in August for personal financial gain.

Jacob G. Hornberger: Free trade or fair trade?

  Statists on the left side of the political spectrum oftentimes attack "free-trade agreements" like NAFTA by claiming that they aren’t "fair-trade agreements." Free trade is fine, they love to say, but only if it’s fair. When they’re not fair, the "free-trade" agreements inevitably impose onerous conditions on workers, conditions that only government can rectify.

  There are at least three big problems, however, with this statist analysis.

Michael Josephson: The application of religion to our lives

  Most Americans say they’re religious and their beliefs are important to their lives, yet I’m astonished at how many blatantly ignore the moral expectations intrinsic to their religion.

  Religion isn’t about only worship and ritual; it teaches believers how to live. Thus, the holy books of every major religion are filled with precepts and principles about honesty, justice, fidelity, compassion, and charity that leave no doubt about the role ethics and personal virtue should play in our daily lives at home and at work.

Matthew Duss: Finally, Iran reciprocates

  The most significant part of NBC’s interview with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani this week was not his announcement that Iran would never seek to develop nuclear weapons. Iran’s leaders have repeatedly said so. Much more important was Rouhani’s assurance that his administration had the backing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—the key decision maker in Iran’s political system—to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. This signals a shift from Khamenei, who has been one of the biggest skeptics of efforts to repair Iran’s relations with the international community and with the United States in particular.

Jennifer A. Marshall: Responding to the call of ‘Duck Dynasty’

  "For the life of me, I can’t figure out why people are so attracted to our family," writes Phil Robertson. And that was before "Duck Dynasty," the Robertson family’s reality show, smashed records for a nonfiction cable program when 11.8 million viewers checked out the season premiere in mid-August.

  Phil, as nearly everyone calls him, is the bearded, 67-year-old progenitor of the backwoods Louisiana clan that made it big selling duck calls and found its way into millions of other American homes through the previous three seasons of "Duck Dynasty."