Columns

Why price controls don’t work, even for pencils

Why do some politicians and bureaucrats constantly forget that when governments meddle in our mostly free market that bad things happen?

Did fish tales lure movie moguls?

Promoters were not subtle when they tried to lure fishermen to Lake Catahoula in St, Martin Parish in 1921, “Every throw brings in a fish,” the notice in the St, Martinville Messenger promised. “Some of our local sports catch as many as four 18-inch perches at one throw.

Vance elevated himself out of the dysfunction he was born into

About a week ago, I attended a JD Vance rally. It had aspects of one of those rousing Trump “I’m Proud to Be An American” events.

Are we all federal criminals in Louisiana?

U.S. Justice Neil Gorsuch has written a new book called “Over Ruled.” The premise is simple. There are just way too many federal and state laws on the books. He concludes that there are numerous average citizens that are slapped down by overbearing prosecutors.

Government-mandated vacations

Sen. Bernie Sanders has sponsored a bill to mandate paid vacations for all employees. Like so many of Bernie’s proposals, it sounds good until you get into the nitty gritty.

Have you hugged an engineer lately?

I’m sure the summer break will fly by faster than the drone my son Gideon has been maneuvering. Gideon recently received his bachelor’s degree in mechatronics engineering and – after a short breather – will plunge into the graduate program in engineering management.

Relishing the memory of a hot dog

Somewhere toward the middle of baseball season, I invariably begin to think about hot dog relish, and it’s not as disconnected as you think. The best hot dogs I have ever eaten came from the concession stand beneath the stadium at Legion Field in Lake Charles.

Kamala Harris’ response to a protest illustrates an attitude

A few years ago, when the U.S. Senate was considering the nomination of Jeff Sessions as attorney general under Donald Trump, Elizabeth Warren started reading into the record some comments that impugned the character of the nominee.

Serve your country then get ‘swift boated?’

Well here they go again. Political extremists who work behind the scenes in both national political parties have dusted off their old playbook by attacking the military record of both vice presidential candidates. Such attacks even have a name. It’s called “Swift boating.

Survivor of a baby boomer childhood

Editor’s Note: This column is an except from Tom Purcell’s book, “Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood.” The MSNBC.com article said that kids raised in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s are survivors.