By JOHN KINDT

According to a March 13 Wall Street Journal editorial, "it's now official: The Land of Lincoln has the nation's most reckless and dishonest state government when it comes to pension liabilities." The WSJ concluded that the state's "accounting practices would get private market participants thrown in jail."

CHICAGO — Something bordering on the miraculous happened at my community high school the other night: The parents who speak only Spanish were included and respected in a meeting in a way that did not turn the whole thing into a big, fat mess.

A court decision, if upheld, will provide legislators more flexibility on the pension issue.

The seemingly endless debate over Illinois' public pension woes is not just the product of legislators' reluctance to anger powerful constituencies, like labor unions and retirees, but also of a vexing legal question involving constitutional guarantees of pension rights.

Missile defense, once derided as a dangerous dream, is now considered a military necessity.

The leaders of North Korea may come across as comic-book villains and their occasional threats thrown in the direction of their neighbors in South Korea and Japan and even the United States as empty bluster.