In politics, very little free speech is free. The more money a candidate spends, the better his chances to win the election. And the more money a candidate raises, the more favors the soon-to-be-elected official will owe.

For millennia, we thought our little solar system of eight planets — nine, if you count Pluto, as some sentimentalists still do — was unique in the universe. Then, in 1994, astronomers began to discover extra solar planets, and even though we weren’t alone anymore, it seemed as if we were still part of a pretty exclusive club.

A year ago, on the Friday before Martin Luther King Day, Gov. Paul LePage delivered a vulgar on-camera insult to the NAACP that has dogged him throughout his first year in office, and probably will stay with him for his whole administration.

The Chicago Tribune editorial page endorses swearing. Loudly. (We endorse swearing loudly, that is; our endorsement itself is sotto voce.)

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords returned to the scene of the crime for the first time on Sunday.

We have a juvenile justice system for a reason: As a society, we don’t believe that adolescents always have the capacity to make good choices, so when a young person commits what would be a crime if it was committed by an adult, the justice system is focused on rehabilitation, not punishment.

We tolerate a certain amount of risk every time we get behind the wheel of a car or truck, but as a society we make and enforce rules to minimize that risk.

Hazing is a chameleon activity: one minute it can be harmless, the next minute it can be hazardous, or worse. The centuries-old practice still draws strong rebukes and surprising defenses from those who think it’s more about tradition than foul play.

You’d think that dominant banks, utilities and telecommunications companies would have learned the lesson by now. Consumers are sick and tired of being nickel-and-dimed, and won’t take it anymore.

Iran’s announcement that it had test-fired two missiles at the end of 10-day naval exercises in the Persian Gulf was a sharp reminder of regional instability, whether in countries emerging from decades of dictatorship or still subject to arbitrary rule.