Sherry Goodrich: Fifty fun Halloween facts

1. Halloween is held on October 31st which is the last day of the Celtic calendar.

2. The Halloween custom has evolved from the ancient Celts' belief that the border between this world and "the Otherworld" becomes thin on All Hallows Eve. People wore costumes to disguise themselves and avoid harm.

3. The day after Halloween is called All Saints Day. Christians dedicate this day to all those saints who don't have a special day of their own.

Darrio Melton: We’re standing up for our communities

  Twentieth Century author Eric Hoffer once pointed out an illogical truth about humans: "People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them."

  Such is true with the duality of our political perceptions in Alabama: we lament the Federal government's role while holding out our hand for more than $3 returned to our state for every dollar we send to Washington DC.

  We talk about "welfare queens" and support legislation to cut food stamps for our neediest children, yet we never discuss the $13 billion in food stamp dollars that goes back into WalMart's coffers as it pays employees poverty-level wages that forces them to live off assistance programs in the first place.

Craig Ford: Where’s the beef?

  After five years of Republican leadership in Alabama, are you asking yourself the same thing I am: where's the beef?

  Do you remember that old Wendy’s commercial with the older lady asking, “Where’s the beef?” The point of the commercial was that Wendy’s competitors didn’t deliver what they promised and, more importantly, didn’t give the customer what they wanted.

  When I think about Alabama politics and what’s going on in our state government, I find myself asking that same question: where’s the beef?

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: A look at the 2016 Republican presidential primary

  The most pressing political event on the radar is next year’s presidential contest. It will be an interesting and protracted campaign. In fact, it has been ongoing for well over a year.

  Like our 2018 governor’s race, the 2016 presidential race will be void of an incumbent seeking reelection. Barack Obama will have served his eight-year constitutional limit. Therefore, we will have an open oval office for political hopefuls to fill.

David L. Hudson Jr.: Supreme Court to consider ‘association rights’ of public workers

  In the late 19th century, Oliver Wendell Holmes, then a jurist on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, wrote in McAuliffe v. City of New Bedford that a “petitioner may have a constitutional right to talk politics, but he has no constitutional right to be a policeman.”

  The ruling meant that police officer John McAuliffe did not have a free-speech right to engage in any politics while on the police force. This crabbed view of public employee First Amendment rights dominated the legal field for much of the 20th century.

Todd A. Cox: Congress should act to make criminal justice reform history

  Over the past two weeks, Congress has taken historic steps to reform the nation’s broken criminal justice system. The impact of mass incarceration resonates throughout the United States. Between 70 million and 100 million—or as many as one in three—Americans have a criminal record. A criminal history erects lifelong barriers that can block successful participation in society and carries broad implications, not only for the millions of individuals who are prevented from moving on with their lives and becoming productive citizens but also for their families, communities, and the nation as a whole.

Craig Ford: State leaders need to abandon the extreme and get back to the mainstream

  When even the Republican leader in the state senate says you're out of touch, you know things have gone too far. But that is where we are in Alabama politics these days. It’s about the mainstream versus the extreme, and right now the extreme is winning!

  In a recently released recording of a meeting between the governor and the Alabama Republican Party’s governing committee, Republican Party chair Terry Lathan said that the Republican Party brand had been damaged by Sen. Del Marsh’s (R-Anniston) support for a lottery.

Michael Josephson: Money is the icing, not the cake

  Despite the advice of preachers and philosophers warning us of the shortcomings of money, it’s hard to argue with Gertrude Stein’s observation: “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Rich is better.”

  Although money is better at reducing suffering caused by poverty and relieving anxiety caused by debt than it is at making us happy, it can buy lots of things that make us feel good and important.

  But wealth is not a certain road to happiness. A poor person with good relationships is much more likely to be happy than a rich person with lousy ones. And people who earn moderate wages, but love their work, are much more likely to be happy than those who earn a lot but hate what they do.

Jacob G. Hornberger: How can anyone still be an interventionist?

  Given the ongoing disasters in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and the rest of the Middle East, how can anyone in his right mind still be an interventionist?

  Look at Iraq. The U.S. invasion and multi-year occupation of that country was supposed to bring a paradise of peace, prosperity, and harmony to the country. That’s what killing all those Iraqis was about — sacrificing them for the greater good of a beautiful society. Wasn’t it called Operation Iraqi Freedom?

Protecting public health in the fallout of the Volkswagen pollution scandal

  Four years ago, President Barack Obama was joined by the CEOs of 13 major automakers to announce new tailpipe emissions standards for cars and trucks sold in the United States. One notable absence from this gathering was Jonathan Browning, the then president and CEO of Volkswagen, or VW, Group of America. Browning released a statement refusing to endorse the tough new standards because of the company’s commitment to diesel engines. We now know that VW’s commitment to diesel engines may have led them to violate the law.