Columns

Pie was the best shooter ever

In days long gone by, when people thought we could shoot as many ducks as we could hit, and when they were in big demand at New Orleans restaurants, hundreds of sharpshooting market hunters earned a good living in the south Louisiana marshes. People said Florine “Pie” Champagne was the best of them.

A wrong direction for prosecutors

I once had a client from a country where the instability of the government led to widespread chaos. He had supported a candidate who was running against the president in a hotly contested election, and was severely beaten because of his affiliation with the perceived “enemy of the state.

Will’s wit soothes a taxing time

Tax returns are due next week and many Americans are surely stressed out as they scramble to get their financial records in order. I can’t think of a better time to revisit the wit and wisdom of Will Rogers.

Hey, Medicare, I’m counting on you

I will qualify for Medicare coverage in five years and, much to my surprise, I can’t wait to get government health coverage — because my current coverage is pricey. I recently finished a consulting assignment, which provided me full health benefits.

Urgent calls from college

Having two of my semi-grown daughters in college simultaneously has truly been an adventurous journey for our family – the kind where you enjoy amazing new experiences, but your expensive designer luggage gets stolen and you have to request an extra air-sickness bag.

St. Mary native raced around world

When Nellie Bly died in 1922, the New York Evening Herald called her “the best reporter in America.” She pioneered investigative journalism, feigning insanity to get herself committed to an asylum and expose its horrid conditions.

Banking crisis: An honest analysis

The worst inflation in 40 years has now morphed into what appears to be a global banking crisis — all of which appears to be the result of bad government policies.

Refusal to be blunt about mental illness leads to chaos

When an entire kindergarten class was murdered by Adam Lanza two weeks before Christmas in 2012, I was paralyzed with grief. Usually, when tragedies occur to other people, I say a prayer and move on. But that all changed with Newtown.

American families need cost of energy lowered

Louisiana knows a thing or two about energy.

Dumbing America down — digitally?

IQs have dropped for the first time in American history, and the experts aren’t quite sure why. According to Neuroscience News, a new Northwestern University study finds that our average IQ scores have decreased in three out of four cognitive measures.