Columns

The dive into the ‘maintenance hole’

I have a long history of dumb ideas. It was my idea buy a used, 1999 diesel Volkswagen Beetle. There’s a reason you don’t see many of them on the road today. It was my idea, as a boy, to play darts near our old gas furnace. How was I supposed to know a dart could puncture a gas line?

Earning big bucks in state government

How do you put a dollar value on the worth of a public official? Attorneys working full time for the LSU Health Sciences Center are asking to be paid more than $400,000 a year. So how do you justify such large increases? How about this idea?

The real injustice of rapper’s saga

Last week, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania (my old employer) ruled that rapper Meek Mill was entitled to a new trial on his 2008 drug conviction, the same conviction that kept him on probation for 11 years and dogged him all through his meteoric rise in the music industry.

Elderly, beware: Scams on rise

A phone scammer made a mistake when he called my mother. The young male caller pretended to be her grandson. He said he’d been arrested for fishing on an Indian reservation - unaware he was breaking the law — and needed bail money so a judge wouldn’t throw him in jail.

Planned Parenthood’s true mission

I’ve often been a critic of Planned Parenthood, because I believe that despite its arguments to the contrary, the organization is primarily a political tool for the abortion industry.

Tough Medicaid questions for governor debates

In response to State Rep. Beryl Amedee’s request (“Time to ask some tough questions about La.

Politicians: Act you’re a kindergartener

We could use a hearty dose of Robert Fulghum wisdom about now. Our political discourse is at a fever pitch. Our allegedly esteemed elected leaders are carrying on like unruly children — shouting and pouting and becoming increasingly strident with their political opponents.

If only Trump would channel George Costanza

My father once told me, “Sometimes, doing nothing is doing something.” It’s a little Yogi Berraesque, but it makes a lot of sense when you really think about it. This, of course, is not President Donald Trump’s philosophy of life. He’s more of a tweet-tweet-and-tweet-some-more kind of a guy.

Alzheimer’s advice: Heed it or fuhgeddaboudit?

According to NBC News, a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has offered a ray of hope for those who fear developing Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

Shining light on true abuse in the age of #MeToo

A few years ago, I wrote a column about Malala Yousafzai, around the time the young Pakistani activist was shot in the head by the Taliban. She was targeted for death simply because she wanted to help give girls the same educational opportunities as boys. Instead, Malala survived.