Columns

The stink bug political escape

I’d rather focus on stink bugs. The political season is at a fever pitch. Anger at those who disagree with others’ political views, the result of increasing polarization, is rampant. I don’t have the stomach for what our politics and public discourse have become. So I focus on stink bugs.

Storm exhaustion arrives

At the beginning of the year, the storm gurus said they were more confident than usual that this hurricane season would be busier than usual. They didn’t know how right they would be.

Documentaries are often misleading

Ever since FCC chief Newton Minow famously branded it a “vast wasteland” six decades ago, television has tried to polish its image. One way was with probing documentaries, pioneered by journalists like Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly.

What shall we say about 50 years of home ownership?

This is a year of double milestones: my mother’s house turns 75 and (as of October 30) she will have been living there for 50 years. She grew up as part of an itinerant sharecropping family during the Great Depression, so I’m glad she has enjoyed all these decades of stability.

Take a good, hard look at Kamala Harris

When Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate back a couple of months ago, it was historic. Third woman, first “woman of color” as we keep being reminded, first “child born of immigrants,” Harris was impressive if only because of her novelty.

Attack ads reflect of our discourse

If you’re looking for a high road in political advertising, you’ll find it somewhere between the South Pole and Hades. Short of Photoshopping devil horns on your opponent, anything goes. There are no rules. It’s Thunderdome, where truth is relative and context is but a rumor.

My favorite baseball story

This year’s all-too-brief prospect of an all-Chicago World Series would have renewed one of the few longstanding disagreements between my dad and myself. I have been a Cubs fan since I was a kid. He pulled for the White Sox.

Leadership advice: Be like Mike

This week, Louisiana mourns the loss of one of our state’s greatest leaders. Governor Mike Foster was a true original who brought his own unique style and brand of governing to Louisiana’s highest office.

Do you dread opening your car trunk?

My electronic key fob is putting more mileage on ME than on the car. For the past several months, I have tried to build up the nerve to do a thorough search of the contents of my trunk.

The banker always collected

It appears that the “Green House,” said to be one of the oldest houses west of the Atchafalaya Basin, has weathered another storm. Laura is the most recent of dozens of blows that have tested it since it was built about 1836.