"The Top 10 Stories the Media Missed in the Past Year" as published in River Cities' Reader Issue 602 (October 11-17, 2006) might be called "10 more reasons why the ‘freedom of the press' will be abolished."

In January 2005, the results of a survey of students were published in which (only) 51 percent of the students believed that the press should be allowed to publish without permission from the government.

This survey should have awakened the press to the fact that they must inform the people of what is going on in our courts so that they can decide for themselves if our system of justice is fair.

Seen by themselves, the images aren't all that special: A race car. A big apple. The likeness of Bart Simpson.

But then you see the signatures next to the images.

The race car was drawn by Mario Andretti. The big apple by the Big Apple's Donald Trump. And Bart Simpson? By Bart Simpson him/herself - Nancy Cartwright.

These are just three of more than 100 celebrity scribblings available through live and silent auction during the Bettendorf Public Library's biennial Doodle Day event, taking place at the library from 6 to 9 p.m. on October 21. For the fifth time since 1998, Doodle Day offers patrons the chance to own - for a minimum bid of $25 - what library Director Faye Clow calls "an original little artwork" from luminaries in entertainment, sports, and literature, the proceeds from which benefit library programming.

According to The Oxford English Dictionary, "justice" is defined as "maintenance of legal, social, or moral principles by the exercise of authority or power; assignment of deserved reward or punishment," "the quality or fact of being just; (the principle of) just dealing or conduct; integrity; impartiality, fairness," and "conformity (of an action or thing) to moral right or to reason, truth, or fact."

The above definitions are foundational to our democracy. When these principles fail on any level, whether in our national arena, district courts, or local civil-rights commissions, this failure contributes to the overall erosion of our system.

The race for Congress in Iowa's First District is already bordering on the ridiculous - with the national Republican party trying to tag Bruce Braley as a Communist, for instance - so why not throw a pirate into the mix?