Columns

Some do the jobs they’re paid to do... without fail

I wrote a column a short while back about teachers who didn’t want to go back to school until they could be guaranteed that everything was safe.

America means freedom to them

A friend of mine can’t for the life of him understand why some Americans are clamoring to replace capitalism with socialism. Born in Vietnam, he was a young boy when he and his family barely escaped that communist nation amid gunfire.

Truth is relative with ‘Mostly Peaceful’ protests

Are the riots in major cities around the country really happening? It’s a question that should only require a simple “yes” or “no” answer, but in an age when relativism prevails and even gender is a state a mind, there are no simple questions. There are, however, a lot of dumb answers.

Are vertical farms on the up and up?

When I was a carefree lad watching “Lost in Space,” the Robinson family’s high-tech hydroponic garden sounded neat. Now I worry that the science fiction program sowed seeds that are taking us too far away from our roots of harvest festivals and “planting by the signs.”

Why teachers need to get back in the classroom

Teachers are now complaining about having to go back and do what they profess to love: Teach in a classroom.

Laughter really is the best medicine

I missed it again. So did the rest of America. July 1’s unofficial International Joke Day came and went without fanfare. That’s regrettable, because we could all use a good belly laugh right now — which gave me an idea.

Straight shooters from the bayous

Louisiana’s French speakers were in serious demand during World War II, especially when interpreters were needed as GIs fought their way across France after D-Day. But south Louisiana’s French speakers were also wanted for their fighting ability and even their typing skills.

Three cheers for a baseball obsessed former first lady

The 2020 Major League Baseball season is, in a manner of speaking, underway. Fans who can overlook the cardboard cutouts that have replaced them in stadium seats, or tolerate the piped-in music and masked players will be fine.

Must we live with one foot in the grave?

“Shower the people you love with love/ Show them the way that you feel.” — James Taylor With all due respect to the five-time Grammy Award winner, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain and I’ve seen sunny days when I wished people would put their advice where the sun DON’T shine.

Ballplayers do a spit-take

For the virus-plagued season, Major League Baseball has come up with special rules that players will find even more challenging than a sharp slider in the dirt. No showering at the ballpark. No sunflower seeds. No high-fives. In all, the pandemic protocol runs 120 pages.