King: Don’t want government services? Pay now or pay later

Every society cares for its vulnerable. To do this humanely is a mark of a civilized people. Those who can't or won't care for their weaker members have fallen into barbarism.

King: Pessimists aside, we can make things better on our own

You've heard the definition of an optimist: Someone who lives with a pessimist. My husband of 57 years is the funniest man I know. He's smart, generous and empathic, but he is also a pessimist. And as is often the case with pessimists, he tends to get depressed.

King: Has a curse been placed on society?

"For everything there is a season..." - Ecclesiastes 3 "Things fall apart, the center cannot hold..." - William Butler Yeats My husband and I are of a certain age - a certain season. Things are falling apart. I've had a lingering respiratory problem. My husband is plagued with multiple skin cancers. The hot water heater sprang a leak and had to be replaced. The refrigerator started to beep. That's what many of our fancy machines ...

King: Irrational beliefs should be challenged

What do you say when you have said it all before? You repeat yourself, of course, but you better have a new twist or a catchy sound bite.

King: Man is changing earth over time; is it for the better?

Report after report tells us the U.S. is falling behind in math and science. How bad is it? According to one international assessment, our 15-year-olds rank 25th in the world. China is No. 1. This doesn't look good, but since I'm raising a bright 15 year-old who goes to a good school but absolutely sucks in math, I'm not convinced that this alone spells disaster. I'm not as concerned with test scores as I am ...

King: World will end soon enough if we don’t act

Our world will end, if we don't act May 21, the end of the world according to Howard Camping, came and went, and we're all still here. Of course, doomsday still may be lurking around the corner waiting for us. In fact, I can make a pretty good case that it is - if anybody will listen. But I don't have Preacher Camping's personal charisma.

King: Americans' soul bared by 2 news events

King: Why we still can't trust nuclear power

The Lockheed Constellation was a magnificent airliner in its day. Built in California between 1943 and 1958, it saw service in the Berlin airlift, was President Dwight Eisenhower's official aircraft, and carried commercial passengers for several major airlines.

King: Why we can’t trust nuclear power

The Lockheed Constellation was a magnificent airliner in its day. Built in California between 1943 and 1958, it saw service in the Berlin airlift, was President Dwight Eisenhower's official aircraft, and carried commercial passengers for several major airlines.

King: Target taxes where the money is

According to legend, when a reporter asked Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, he said, "cause that's where the money is."

King: Torture is not just for the bad guys

What kind of a person are you? Christians may describe themselves as sinners, but they don't actually mean they're bad people. Quite the contrary. And when we say we are a Christian nation, we mean we are a moral, law-abiding people.

King: World events keep the story going

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to record the voices of ordinary Americans and preserve them for future generations. The recordings consist of interviews by other ordinary people, usually a friend or family member.

King: A bit more empathy would serve us well

Ever watch teenagers interact when they meet someone their age for the first time? They exchange opinions about music, fashion, movies and the like. Trivia perhaps, but important when young people are struggling for acceptance.

King: US needs the children of immigrants

The situation in Egypt put the U.S. squarely between its interests and its ideals. U.S. interests were with Hosni Mubarak. He brokered and maintained peace with Israel. Without him, that peace might fall apart. It still could. On the other hand, American ideals were always with the Egyptian people who want nothing more than to control their own destiny. A similar situation exists in Georgia today, only this time our ideals and interests are on ...

King: Finding what’s ‘exceptional’ within us

In 1584, an Italian philosopher named Giordano Bruno said the universe was infinite and contained a countless number of suns surrounded by a countless number of earths. For this and other heresies, the church had him burned at the stake.

King: Root of gun violence can be found in human brain

Last week, NPR announced that a bullet had been successfully fired from a plastic gun. The big news is this: The gun came from a 3-D printer. So much for gun control, for background checks and any other measure to reduce the number of easily available handguns in the nation.